What is Websearch.search-mania.info?
Websearch.search-mania.info is a search engine that is associated with the Websearch browser hijacker family. We think that it was not your intention to change your default search provider and this program entered your computer without your permission. Yes, it is true: You have been infected with a browser hijacker. Fortunately, it is not too complicated to remove Websearch.search-mania.info from your system. This is not a Trojan or a ransomware application that would be extremely hard to remove manually. Yet, having a browser hijacker might lead to such infections, so you better take care of this issue right away. You can find the manual removal instructions below this article.
Where does Websearch.search-mania.info come from?
As mentioned, Websearch.search-mania.info belongs to a big family of browser hijackers. We have surely encountered similar programs before in many other forms. For example, you can easily see that this search engine is related to Websearch.homesearch-hub.info, Websearch.hotfindings.info, Websearch.goodfindings.info, and so on. The list of similar search engines is endless because the clones are practically identical, and so the people who publish these programs do not need to work hard on newer versions.
Also, it is rather easy to distribute these programs across the web because they employ bundled installers for spreading around. To put it simply, there are multiple third-party websites that host and promote freeware. Sometimes, when you look for a particular program, a file hosting website appears higher in your search results list than the actual homepage (if there is one in the first place), and you click it automatically.
When users download programs from third-party websites, they seldom realize that the installer may bundle several programs together. Going through the installation process automatically is rather irresponsible because then you clearly miss the opportunity to deselect the unwanted applications. Eventually, this is the most common scenario of how Websearch.search-mania.info enters target systems.
What does Websearch.search-mania.info do?
Once this browser hijacker gets installed on your computer, it modifies your default browser settings without your permission. Just like other programs in the same family, this threat affects Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer by hijacking your homepage and changing the default search engine.
One of the most disturbing facts about this program is that some users may consider it a reliable search provider. That is so because endorses a color scheme similar to that of Google. Hence, some users might think that Websearch.search-mania.info is part of the Google package, not to mention that the hijacker does provide you with various search results.
However, if you were to perform a web search through this website, you would get modified search results. This means that the search results you see will be customized according to your latest browsing history. The program will try its best to make you click these provided links because that is how it earns money for its creators. The hijacker does not care whether the links you click are safe or not. As long as you help it generate profit via the pay-per-click system, it might as well redirect you to a malware-related website.
And this is why it is really dangerous to keep browser hijackers on your computer. Albeit the program itself is not extremely dangerous, it is very intrusive and it can be easily exploited by cyber criminals to distribute and promote malware. Therefore, it is clear that you have to delete Websearch.search-mania.info from your computer right away.
How do I remove Websearch.search-mania.info?
This browser hijacker does not have an entry in the list of installed programs, so it is not possible to uninstall it via Control Panel. Also, restoring your browser settings is not much of a use because this browser hijacker can cancel the modifications and come back again and again.
To get rid of this annoying infection, please follow the instructions below. You will need to delete particular files and registry entries manually, but it is neither difficult nor complicated. When you are done with that, be sure to scan your system with a computer security tool of your choice.
As mentioned, this program might have come bundled with freeware, so there is a good chance that there are other unwanted and potentially harmful programs running on your computer. You have to do everything in your power to protect your PC from harm.
Manual Websearch.search-mania.info Removal
Internet Explorer
- Press Win+R and the Run prompt will open.
- Type regedit into the Open box and click OK.
- Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
- On the right pane, Right-click the Start Page value.
- Select Modify and delete Websearch.search-mania.info.
- Type in a new homepage address and press OK.
Mozilla Firefox
- Press Win+R and type %AppData%.
- Click OK and go to Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\.
- Open the folder with the unique user ID.
- Open the prefs.js file with Notepad.
- Delete the user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://Websearch.search-mania.info"); string from the file.
- Save changes and exit the file.
Google Chrome
- Press Win+R and enter %AppData% into the Open box.
- Press Enter and go to Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.
- Delete the Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data files from the directory.
tested removal of Websearch.search-mania.info*
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