Search.certified-toolbar.com Virus Removal Guide
What is Search.certified-toolbar.com?
Search.certified-toolbar.com is a browser hijacker that
often hides in some unknown free programs to wait for a chance to intrude in
your PC.
After successful invasion, it
hijacks your Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Then your
homepage and search engine are set to search.certified-toolbar.com. Because of
this browser hijacker, random tabs and websites can’t be opened normally. Each
time you select a tab or open another window, you are redirected to Search.certified-toolbar.com.
How annoying it is! Apart from redirection, this browser hijacker also installs
many unwanted browser extensions and toolbars like
FindMeFreebies Toolbar against
your will.
The
actions of this browser hijacker might bring in nettlesome pop-up viruses. By
that time, you would be mad. Another reason why hackers inject this virus into
random computers is because they want to collect your Internet habits and
crucial information. It stealthily records what websites you visit and what
searching keywords you make. Later the collected information may be sent to
third parties. If you find that Search.certified-toolbar.com appears on your
browser, you should take steps to fix it. It is not recommended to keep this virus
on your computer not only because of pesky pop-ups and redirection but also
because more viruses you will get in future.
Easy Way to Remove Search.certified-toolbar.com Redirect Virus
Step
1: Restart your computer and hit F8 key incessantly. When some mode options
show up, please select the safe mode with networking by arrow keys.
Step
2: Press Alt+Ctrl+Delete keys at the same time to open Task Manager. When it is
done, find out Stats.mydatastatssrv.com process in Processes tab and click End
Process button.
Step
3: Disable any suspicious startup items that are made by infections. Click start
menu and type msconfig in the search bar. When you open System Configuration
Utility, please disable all possible startup items generated.
Step
4: Click the Start button and choose Control Panel, clicking Appearance and
Personalization to find Folder Options then double-click on it. In the pop-up
dialog box, click the View tab and uncheck Hide protected operating system
files (Recommended). Clean all the malicious files about Search.certified-toolbar.com as below.
%CommonStartMenu%\Programs\Protected
Search\
%CommonStartMenu%\Programs\Protected
Search\Protected Search Settings.lnk
%AppData%\CertifiedToolbar\
%AppData%\CertifiedToolbar\CertifiedToolbar.dll
Step
5: Press Win+R keys to open RUN box, then input regedit to open Registry Editor.
Then you need to find out and clean up all registry entries of Search.certified-toolbar.com
step by step.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AppDataLow\Software\Simplytech\Certified
Toolbar
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\CertifiedToolbar.DLL
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AppDataLow\Software\Simplytech\CertifiedToolbar
"ShowToolbar"= "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\CertifiedToolbar
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ProtectedSearch
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet
Explorer\SearchURI "(Default)" = "http://search.certified-toolbar.com?si=42098&bs=true&tid=2873&q=%s"
…
Step
6: Reboot your computer
