Do you know what Search.searchdirex.com is?
The fact that the home pages of your Internet browsers have just been changed to Search.searchdirex.com without your permission should not be ignored. It is a serious indicator that you have recently installed some program or browsed unreliable websites distributing unwanted programs. To restore the former settings, you should remove Search.searchdirex.com from your browsers and also reconsider your browsing habits in order to prevent more serious security-related issues in the future. If you are sure that you have not agreed to have the home page changed to Search.searchdirex.com, that means that your browsers are hijacked.
The browser hijacker is known to be capable of altering the home page of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. If you find that only one of your browsers is affected, shifting to an unaffected one does not solve the issue. A malicious program downloaded alongside the one distributing Search.searchdirex.com may be running silently in the background of the system and, for example, collecting information about you. Any information that is important to you may be used against you by the attackers, which is why even a simple change in the home page settings should not be ignored.
Visually the search engine Search.searchdirex.com, or simply searchdirex.com, does not possess any intriguing or disturbing characteristics. Search.searchdirex.com offers shortcuts to Gmail, YouTube, Google Maps, TaxAct, and some other websites, which are likely to be incorporated to the home screen to ease your browsing sessions. Additionally, the search engine features a toolbar containing another search box, widget updating weather forecast, and a button directing to a news website.
Visual features aside, it is possible that you will not be satisfied with the search results provided by the searchdirex.com engine. The search engine redirects the users to Yahoo! Search, which is a well-known search provider. Nevertheless, the search engine is also known for its multiple advertisements displayed around the organic search results. Sometimes, the natural search results may be displayed below the fold, which sometimes may be annoying and distracting. In any case, if you do not go against Yahoo! Search result, we recommend that you remove Search.searchdirex.com first and only when set your preferred search engine as your home page.
Search.searchdirex.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
Additionally, the Search.searchdirex.com browser hijacker may provide you with search result generated by remote attackers. This scheme is used to gain more traffic to specific websites and earn revenues. In order not to be tricked into clicking on a fake link, you should take action to remove Search.searchdirex.com from the browsers and computer.
Another reason that should encourage you to take action to remove Search.searchdirex.com is the fact that this browser hijacker is very similar to the browser hijackers bearing names such as Search.searchlttrn.com, Search.yourinterestscenter.com, Search.yourmapscenter.com and Search.searchlttrn.com. These search providers are also known to be spread by bundled software installers, which may be distributing both reliable and unreliable programs.
Closer attention should be paid to your browsers if this instance of browser hijacking is not new to you. When unauthorized changes are made from time to time without your interference, it is time to take serious measures to prevent data loss and system’s malfunctions.
In order to shield the system against browser hijackers such as Search.searchdirex.com and more dangerous threats, it is worth installing a reputable security program which would efficiently defend the computer from a variety of infections circulating on the Internet. Use the following instructions as the guide to remove Search.searchdirex.com from the browsers and set a new startup page.
How to remove Search.searchdirex.com
Internet Explorer
- Press Win+R.
- Type in regedit and press Enter.
- Follow the path HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main|Start Page.
- If the value data of the value Main|Start Page is set as search.searchdirect.com, delete the URL and replace it with a preferred one.
- Delete the following registry key HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A} or open and alter these values:
- FaviconURL
- FaviconURLFallback
- TopResult
- URL
Mozilla Firefox
- Access the location %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\*, where * stands for a random symbol.
- Open the file prefs.js and delete the string user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://Search.searchdirex.com")
Google Chrome
- Access the directory %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default and delete or modify these files by setting a new startup page: Preferences, Secure Preferences, Web Data.
In non-techie terms:
Search.searchdirex.com is a search engine that can be set as the home page of Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. The changes are likely to be done without your permission when installing programs which you have downloaded from free software distribution websites. Even though you can try removing Search.searchdirex.com manually by making some tweaks in the Registry, this may be insufficient as the system is likely to remain unprotected. Hence, consider whether you want to have only the browser hijacker removed without any online protection.