Search.searchlivesp.com Removal Guide

Do you know what Search.searchlivesp.com is?

Search.searchlivesp.com is a newcomer in a large and infamous family of questionable search engines that include Search.classifiedseasy.com, Search.searchlypackage.com, and Search.memethat.co. This infection may show up as your new home page “out of the blue” as you may not even recall installing it. Our researchers say that it is highly unlikely that you install it from official sources, which makes it quite possible that this threat source sneaks onto your system in questionable ways. As a matter of fact, our researchers have labeled it as a browser hijacker due to its capabilities. Of course, we are not saying that this is a major hit and you need to look for cover right now “to save your life.” Yet, even a hijacker is capable of causing certain virtual security issues that are better kept away from your computer and your files. If you want to protect your system from further threats, we recommend that you remove Search.searchlivesp.com as soon as possible.

This infection belongs to the group of browser hijackers that are not promoted officially as useful browser extensions and tools. In fact, it is possible that you will only find this hijacker spreading over the web in questionable freeware bundles. Obviously, the main idea behind bundling is to promote third-party programs, such as ad-supported programs, in order to generate money to support software developers so that they can continue to produce their free software. However, this same method has been exploited by schemers to infect unsuspecting computer users with a bunch of malware infections.Search.searchlivesp.com Removal GuideSearch.searchlivesp.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions

Since by installing a bundle carelessly you can infect your system with adware programs, Trojan programs, browser hijackers, backdoors as well as potentially unwanted applications among others, you need to be very careful when you are installing one. In fact, you can even avoid such packages if you observe a couple of basic rules of web surfing. For example, you should steer clear of suspicious websites that host an annoying number of third-party ads (banner and pop-up ads), such as torrent, freeware, gaming, gambling, and pornographic sites. Also, you should refrain from clicking on third-party content in general if you do not want to end up on malicious pages or with a bundle on your system.

As a matter of fact, you may still have a chance to cancel the installation of unwanted elements during the installation of a bundle. But you need to be cautious and read the agreement, choose the custom option, or watch out for the designated checkboxes. If you were to leave the checkboxes of browser settings changes ticked, you would basically install the changes by default. This is why most users do not even remember how such a browser hijacker entered their system. If you notice this threat in your browsers, you should not hesitate to run a reliable malware scanner after you delete Search.searchlivesp.com from your browsers to make sure that you are aware of all the possible threat sources on your computer.

This search engine page features websites that are associated with live sports, such as news and streaming content, as well as local weather, which are all available as easy-access buttons from a toolbar at the top of the page. This toolbar also contains the usual search tool on the left. Unfortunately, there is a possibility that this browser hijacker collects information about you and “surprises” you with relevant-looking third-party ads injected into promoted webpages. But this is not even the only way this infection can harm you.

Our researchers have found after testing this search engine in our internal lab that its search results could be manipulated and therefore contain questionable third-party ads and links as well. Although you will find yourself on a Yahoo results page after entering your keywords and hitting the Enter key, you should not be misled by the apparently reputable search engine as this hijacker may modify those results. The risk you are taking by using this search engine and clicking on content provided by it is that you may open new tabs and windows with malicious websites or download infections directly. This could lead to losing money from your bank accounts, sharing your personal details with cyber criminals, and more headaches. If you want to avoid these possible scenarios, we advise you to remove Search.searchlivesp.com right away. Here is what you can do to eliminate this browser hijacker.

This malware infection appears to mainly affect your home page settings in Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. Therefore, we suggest that you restore these settings in your browsers. We have included a guide to assist you with the necessary steps if you are unfamiliar with them. If you were to still notice this hijacker coming up in your browsers, it is possible that you need to reset them. Although you would lose all your preferences, settings, and added extensions, at the same time, you would also get rid of all browser-related infections, such as bad toolbars, ad-supported browser extension, and so on. We also recommend that you go through the installed programs list in Control Panel and weed out all suspicious applications. If you want to be more effective though, we suggest that you download and install a reputable malware removal tool, such as SpyHunter that will automatically detect and eliminate all existing malware infections and protect your PC from future attacks.

How to remove Search.searchlivesp.com from browsers

Google Chrome

  1. Press Win+E simultaneously.
  2. Open the “%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default” folder.
  3. Bin the following files: Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data
  4. Empty the Recycle Bin.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Press Win+E simultaneously.
  2. Open the “%AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}” folder.
  3. Edit the prefs.js file in a text editor.
  4. Modify the user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.searchlivesp.com/") string with a home page URL address of your choice.

Internet Explorer

  1. Press Win+R simultaneously.
  2. Type in regedit and press OK.
  3. Modify the value data of “http://search.searchlivesp.com” with a URL address of your choice in these registry keys:
    HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page (64-bit)
    HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page
    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page
  4. Close your Registry Editor.

In non-techie terms:

Search.searchlivesp.com may be able to convince you that it is a useful tool in your browsers with its easy access to live sports-related third-party sites as an extra feature in addition to the search engine, but we must warn you that it is actually a browser hijacker infection. This malware can spy on you and expose you to potentially unreliable third-party content through modified search results. Another even greater system security-related issue presented by the presence of this browser hijacker is that it can enter your system in the company of other malicious software installers. Therefore, we suggest that you remove Search.searchlivesp.com as soon as you can. If manual removal is out of the question for you, we advise you to use a professional anti-malware program instead.