How to Remove Www-searching.com

What Is www-searching.com?

Www-searching.com redirect is caused by Search Module Plus, a browser hijacker distributed via freeware downloads. After getting installed, Search Module Plus changes your default search engine and your homepage to http://www-searching.com/ or one of the similar search websites. If you try to change these back, they will just be altered again. When you search for something on www-searching.com, you’ll get the results from thesmartsearch.net, and these results might bring you on suspicious sites. To get rid of www-searching.com hijacker, follow this step-by-step guide.

How Did Www-searching.com Hijacker Get on My PC?

Www-searching.com site hijacks users’ browsers after users install Search Module Plus. That program usually comes bundled with various free software or download managers from the Internet. Installing free-of-charge software has the risk of installing some unwanted programs together with it. There are tricks to minimize that risk: carefully read everything on installations screens and in license agreements to know what is going to get installed and what these programs will do; choose advanced or custom installation if prompted; remove checkmarks responsible for optional installs; if there’s no possible way do decline other programs installation better close the window and don’t install this app at all.

How to Remove www-searching.com hijacker

The easiest method to uninstall www-searching.com hijacker is to run an anti-malware program capable of detecting browser hijackers in general and www-searching.com hijacker in particular. SpyHunter is a powerful anti-malware solution that protects you against malware, spyware, ransomware and other types of Internet threats. SpyHunter is available for Windows and macOS devices.

Download SpyHunter

Other software that may be able to get rid of www-searching.com hijacker:
Norton (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android) The link may not work correctly if your country is currently under sanctions.

You can also try to remove www-searching.com hijacker by hand using the following instructions.

Remove Www-searching.com Hijacker From Programs and Features

Go to Programs and Features, uninstall Search Module Plus and any other suspicious programs, programs you don’t remember installing, or programs you installed just before Gogletab.com appeared on your browsers. When you are not sure if a program is safe, look for the answer on the Internet.

Windows XP:

1. Click Start.
2. In the Start menu select Settings => Control Panel.
3. Find and click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Look for Search Module Plus in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
5. Click Remove.

Windows Vista:

1. Click Start.
2. In the Start menu select Control Panel.
3. Find and click Uninstall a program.
4. Look for Search Module Plus in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
5. Click Uninstall.

Windows 7:

1. Click Start.
2. In the Start menu select Control Panel.
3. Find and select Programs and Features or Uninstall a program.
4. Look for Search Module Plus in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
5. Click Uninstall.

Windows 8 / Windows 8.1:

1. Press and hold Windows key and hit X key.
2. Select Programs and Features from the menu.
3. Look for Search Module Plus in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
4. Click Uninstall.

Windows 10:

1. Press and hold Windows key and hit X key.
2. Select Programs and Features from the menu.
3. Look for Search Module Plus in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
4. Click Uninstall.

Remove www-searching.com hijacker From Browsers

To get rid of www-searching.com, either reset browser settings or remove any suspicious extensions (add-ons) from browsers and set new tab page and default search provider.

Reset Google Chrome Settings:

Note: This will disable your extensions and themes, clear cookies and site data, as well as change content settings, start page, new tab page and search engine to default.

1. Open a new tab.
2. Copy and paste into the address bar: chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings
3. Press Enter.
4. In the dialog box click Reset.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of www-searching.com hijacker in Google Chrome:

1. Click on three dots menu button (three bars in older versions of Chrome).
2. Select More tools ⇒ Extensions.
3. To remove an extension, click on a trashcan to the right of it.
4. Click Remove in the dialog box.
5. Right-click the address bar and select Edit search engines….
6. Select the search provider you want and click Make default next to it.
7. Click an x button next to hijacker search engine to remove it from the list.
8. Click Done.
9. Under On startup section select Open the New Tab page.

Reset Mozilla Firefox Settings:

Note: Your extensions and themes, among other things, will get deleted.

1. Click on menu button .
2. Click on help button and select Troubleshooting Information.
3. Click Refresh Firefox… in the top-right corner.
4. In the dialog box click Refresh Firefox.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of www-searching.com hijacker in Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on menu button and select Add-ons.
2. Go to Extensions tab.
3. To uninstall an add-on, click on Remove button next to it.

Note: If the extension is impossible to delete, click on => => Restart with Add-ons Disabled…. In the dialog boxes click Restart => Start in Safe Mode. Restart Firefox in normal mode after you are finished.

4. Click on the search icon in the search bar and click Change Search Settings.
5. Select search engine you want from the drop-down menu.
6. Highlight the hijacker search engine in the table below and click Remove.
7. Go to General tab.
8. Under Startup section click Restore to Default.

Reset Internet Explorer Settings:

Note: This will remove most of your saved browser data, including extensions, passwords and the majority of browser settings.

1. Click Tools button in the top-right corner.
2. Select Internet options.
3. Go to Advanced tab.
4. Click Reset… button.
5. Put checkmark in Delete personal settings checkbox.
6. Click Reset.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of www-searching.com hijacker in Internet Explorer:

1. Click Tools button in the top-right corner.
2. Select Manage add-ons.
3. In the drop-down menu under Show: select All add-ons.
4. To delete an add-on, double-click it, in the new window click Remove.
5. Go to Search Providers tab.
6. Right-click the search engine you want and click Set as default.
7. Right-click on the hijacker search engine and click Remove.
8. Click Close.
9. Click Tools button .
10. Select Internet options.
11. Under Home page section click Use new tab.
12. Click OK.

Reset Opera Settings:

Note: This will delete all saved data including bookmarks and passwords and return the browser to freshly installed state.

1. Exit Opera browser.
2. Open File Explorer.
3. Go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera\Opera, where username is the name of your Windows account.
4. Find and delete Operapref.ini file.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of www-searching.com hijacker in Opera:

1. Press Ctrl +Shift + E keys to open extensions manager.
2. To remove the add-on, click on the x button next to it.
3. Click OK when asked to confirm.
4. Click on the top-left corner, select Settings.
5. In the Search section select one of search engines from the list.
6. In the On startup section select Open the start page.
7. Click OK.

Delete http://www-searching.com/ URL from Browser Shortcuts

1. Right-click Internet Explorer shortcut on Desktop.
2. Select Properties.
3. Target text field under Shortcut tab should only contain the path to .exe file, put in quotes. If there’s a URL after the closing quotation mark, delete it.
4. Click OK.
5. Repeat the steps with Internet Explorer shortcuts on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen and in Start Menu.
6. Repeat the same with all other browsers’ shortcuts.

Delete Files, Folders and Registry Keys Left by www-searching.com hijacker

Delete These Folders:

%ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Goobzo\
C:\ProgramData\SearchModulePlus\

Delete These Registry Keys and Values:

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How to Protect Your PC From Www-searching.com and Other Browser Hijackers

• Get a powerful anti-malware software, capable of detecting and eliminating PUPs. Having several on-demand scanners would be a good idea too.
• Keep Windows firewall enabled or get a third-party one.
• Keep your OS, browsers and security utilities updated. Malware creators find new browser and OS vulnerabilities to exploit all the time. Software writers, in turn, release patches and updates to get rid of the known vulnerabilities and lesser the chance of malware penetration. Antivirus program’s signature databases get updated every day and even more often to include new virus signatures.
• Adjust your browsers’ settings to block pop-ups and to load plug-ins only when clicked.
• Download and use Adblock, Adblock Plus, uBlock or one of the similar trustworthy extensions for blocking third-party advertisements on web-sites.
• Don’t just click on any link you see while browsing the web. That applies particularly to links in comments, on forums, or in instant messengers. Pretty often these are spam links. Sometimes they are used for increasing the traffic to websites, but often enough they will land you on pages that will try to execute a malicious code and infect your computer. Links from your friends are suspect too: the person who shares a cute video might not know that the page contains threatening script.
• Don’t download software from unverified web-sites. You can easily download a trojan (malware that pretends to be a useful application); or some unwanted programs could get installed along with the app.
• When installing freeware or shareware, be sensible and don’t rush through the process. Choose Custom or Advanced installation mode, look for checkboxes that ask for your permission to install third-party apps and uncheck them, read End User License Agreement to make sure nothing else is going to get installed. You can make exceptions for the apps you know and trust, of course. If declining from installing unwanted programs is not possible, we advise you to cancel the installation completely.