Remove Claro-search.com Redirect (Claro Search Engine and Toolbar)

Are scammers switching to online ads? It certainly seems so, because PUAs and spyware toolbars have increased dramatically since… well, I can't actually remember since when, probably a few months after the FBI raided a few key scareware networks and shut down payment gateways. What I know for sure, is that soon after these events some cyber crooks who were distributing rogue antivirus products switched to ransowmare and others switched to malicious web browser toolbars, potentially unwanted add-ons and rogue search engines that redirect search results through ad networks or even malicious websites. Of course, there are hundreds of different toolbars out there. Some are legit and convenient but from what I've seen most of them are either malicious or unwanted. Usually, users can't figure out how they got them and most importantly how to get rid of them, for example claro-search.com redirect and toolbar.

What is Claro-search.com?

It's a search engine that promises better searches. It also installs itself as a browser helper object that shows up as Claro Toolbar in your web browser. It promises instant access to social networks, free games and controversial video players. Nothing very useful, really. Besides, it clutters up your screen and pushes down the content. Your web browser may crash from time to time or become unresponsive. What it does all the time though, it logs your web surfing activity, sites you visit, links you click and generally tries to collect as much information as possible about your interest and may later show you target ads. As far as I know it doesn't show pop-ups but it does redirect your searches through claro-search.com and adds targeted ads according to your most search keywords or recently browsing activity. There’s nothing wrong with that if you knowingly installed Claro Search. Unfortunately, most users do not know where did it come from and what it actually does.

How did you get hijacked by the Claro-search.com search redirect?

The best way to avoid the headaches claro-search.com search redirect is not to install toolbars from unknown and rogue sources. What is more, avoid toolbars bundled with freeware even when downloading from trusted sources such as Cnet or SourceForge. At least pay careful attention to all the pre-checked boxes that appear during a software installation, usually you can decline third party software installation saving yourself time and maybe even money. Sadly, but there are many silent installers and misleading software bundles, sometimes even delayed installers, that do not clearly present EULAs and additional 'offers' to users during the installation. Very often, pesky toolbars and search engines are distributed through free download sites or video streaming websites. I have also noticed lately that there are 2 check boxes for these toolbars. One is for the permission to install the Toolbar and change your home page plus search providers and the second one is for whatever service to become your start page. You should uncheck both boxes, not just the first box. Otherwise, you will see that you have given permission to change your start page. Later, it may be difficult to change it back since isearch.claro-search.com and similar toolbars won't go away easily.

How to remove Claro-search.com?

Clearly, Claro-search and toolbar should be removed but that can be difficult. Start with the Windows uninstall program. Find the Claro toolbar and BrowserProtect and attempt to uninstall them. Even if it appears to be uninstalled, it may come back. Besides, you need to remove the leftover traces (modified settings and Windows registry keys) of this toolbar and browser hijacker manually. Hopefully, you will be able to remove Claro-search.com redirect following the removal instructions below. This browser hijacker is compatible with all major web browsers. I made separate removal instructions for each of them.

Do you have any additional information or questions on the claro-search.com? Post your comment or question below. Good luck and be safe online!

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Claro-search.com removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Remove Claro-search.com Search Engine and Toolbar and/or related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.



If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".



Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.



3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following entries:

• Claro Toolbar
• Claro Chrome Toolbar
• BrowserProtect

Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

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Remove Claro-search.com from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Go to Tools → Settings.



2. Click Set pages under the On startup.


Remove claro-search.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.



3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.



Select Use the New Tap page and click OK to save changes.



4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.



Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.



Select Claro Search from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

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Remove Claro-search.com from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the Claro Search search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....



2. Choose Claro Search from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.



3. Go to Tools → Options. Under the General tab reset the startup homepage or change it to google.com, etc.

4. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.



Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.



In the search filter at the top, type: claro-search



Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Claro Search. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

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Remove Claro-search.com from in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.



2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).



3. Select Claro Search and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.



4. Go to Tools → Internet Options. Select General tab and click Use default button or enter your own website, e.g. google.com instead of http://www.claro-search.com. Click OK to save the changes.

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Remove Delta-search.com Redirect (Delta Search Engine and Toolbar)

If your web browser suddenly behaves in undesirable ways or as most of us would say "behaves funny" then you may be a victim of browser hijacking. Without getting too technical, browser hijacking is an attack by malware or potentially unwanted applications. If the culprit is a piece of malicious software, then the search redirect modules are probably injected into system files or hidden so well that you won't be able to detect or remove them manually. But there are less malicious programs – PUA, which means potentially unwanted application. Normally, such application does not hide its presence on the system but might cause lots of problems and difficulties too. Let's take Delta-search.com redirect for instance.

What is Delta-search.com?

At first, I thought it was a search engine that uses its own algorithms for crawling and indexing websites but I was wrong. It seems that Delta-search.com is a custom search page that uses Yahoo! Search API to return search results. It basically redirects your searches through yhs.delta-search.com then ad-sponsored networks and combines them with Yahoo! Search results. So, what you get is a bunch of sponsored links at the top of the page followed by search results loaded from Yahoo! There's no reason to use this search page when you can use Yahoo! directly, plus you won't see ads that might not be even related to your search queries. Besides, we don't know who controls those ad-networks and how strictly they check ads for malicious software. What is more, delta-search.com changes your homepage, adds additional search providers, modifies certain web browser's settings and may even bother you with pop-ups. But wait, there's more. Very often web browser keep getting hijacked even when you remove the core components of this search engine and toolbar. Why? Because it modifies Windows registry and user profiles so that when you restart your web browser, this browser hijacker overrides default values which is not only annoying as hell but also very rude and illegal I believe.

How did you get hijacked by the Delta-search.com search redirect?

There are many ways you can install this browser hijacker without even knowing what it is and what it does. Typically, Delta-search.com and similar toolbars + search engine are distributed through free software, codec packs, video converters, fake Flash player updates, etc. In simple terms, scammers mislead users into installing junkware. Sometimes they include a few lines about the additional product in EULA and sometimes they don't. I've seen many examples of software distributions that do not clearly indicate about bundled toolbars or other browser helper objects. Sadly, it’s becoming a rather common practice and we can't just block all toolbars or forbid software bundling because even antivirus companies have their own toolbars.

How to remove Delta-search.com?

My first advice would be to remove all recently installed toolbars and freeware because I'm almost certain delta-search.com browser hijacker came with one of these. You may not find anything called Delta Search or Delta Toolbar. But there might be something called Yontoo or maybe Babylon toolbar, Whitesmoke. There are many more. Once the possible culprits are removed, you need to restore web browser settings manually. It gets a bit complicated if you are using Google Chrome, IE and Mozilla Firefox have a one click reset button. Please note, you should save your bookmarks and browsing history before restoring default web browser’s settings. More detailed Delta-search.com removal instructions are available below.

Do you have any additional information or questions on the delta-search redirect? Post your comment or question below. Good luck and be safe online!

Added: There are many quality programs and browser helper objects out there being developed and offered for free. Though you may deliberately install them to serve a specific purpose, these programs can turn into potentially unwanted applications if you are not aware of all the activities they conduct on your computer. To avoid being exposed to malware, adware pr browser hijackers through these programs, it's important to know which programs are reliable and to exercise caution when installing them.

A lot of these programs bundle unwanted toolbars or applications with them, inlcuding delta-search.com, so it's necessary to develop the habit of reading through an installer and the agreement policies to be found in it. Others programs occupy a grey area of functions that anti-virus and malware programs might classify as suspicious. To prevent having an out of control PUA wreaking havoc in your system, make sure that these applications are reputable in themselves, come from trusted sources, and are functioning the way you've intended them to. Implementing any one of these measures will considerably lower the risks of your system being attacked or threatened through unwanted toolbars, browser hijackers or potentially unwanted applications.

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Delta-search.com removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Remove Delta-search.com Search Engine and Toolbar and/or related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.



If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".



Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.



3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following entries:

• Delta
• Delta Toolbar
• BrowserProtect
• Yontoo

Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

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Remove Delta-search.com from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Customize and control Google Chrome icon. Select Settings.



2. Click Set pages under the On startup.


Remove Delta-search.com by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.



3. Click Show Home button under Appearance. Then click Change.



Select Use the New Tab page and click OK to save changes.



4. Click Manager search engines button under Search.



Select Google or any other search engine you like from the list and make it your default search engine provider.



Select Delta Search from the list and remove it by clicking the "X" mark as shown in the image below.

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Remove Delta-search.com from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on the Delta Search search icon as shown in the image below and select Manage Search Engines....



2. Choose Delta Search from the list and click Remove to remove it. Click OK to save changes.



3. Go to Tools → Options. Under the General tab reset the startup homepage or change it to google.com, etc.

4. In the URL address bar, type about:config and hit Enter.



Click I'll be careful, I promise! to continue.



In the search filter at the top, type: delta-search



Now, you should see all the preferences that were changed by Delta Search. Right-click on the preference and select Reset to restore default value. Reset all found preferences!

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Remove Delta-search.com from in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons.



2. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Live Search search engine and make it your default web search provider (Set as default).



3. Select Delta Search and click Remove to remove it. Close the window.



4. Go to Tools → Internet Options. Select General tab and click Use default button or enter your own website, e.g. google.com instead of http://yhs.delta-search.com. Click OK to save the changes.

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Removing Adware PriceGong Popups (Uninstall Guide)

There's always a thin line between good software, adware, BHOs and potentially unwanted applications. Some BHOs or plug-ins may indeed be very useful. Normally, people install such applications voluntarily. They know what a certain application is and what it does. Unfortunately, there are many misleading apps, too many perhaps, that mislead people or sometimes even collect information and then sell it to third parties, make unwanted modifications, redirect search results, etc. Antivirus applications do not ring alarm bells when installing such apps because it's truly difficult to tell whether you are knowingly installing it which means you agree on the EULA and you are aware of all the potentially unwanted modifications or the application is being installed without your consents and agreement. This is how we can actually differentiate the standalone installers and popular software bundles or even silent installers.

From time to time, luckily not too often, I get messages from my readers about the PriceGong price comparison application. Usually, they want to know if it's malicious or not? Well, honestly, that's not an easy question. First of all, I don't have anything against this application and its authors. I don't want to ruin their reputation I just want to share my thoughts about it and give the right answer to my readers.

What is PriceGong?

PriceGong is a browser helper object (BHO) compatible with the major web browsers. The idea is very simply: the application analyzes visited websites, search queries and then helps you to find the products you are looking for. It compares prices and hopefully shows the best deals. What could be possibly wrong with that? Nothing, except that "it opens advertisements that appear independently outside the context of the program, website, or other source the advertisements are promoting", according to Microsoft. Another well known and reputable antivirus company Dr.Web states pretty much the same and identifies PriceGong as Adware.Shopper.305. By the way Microsoft classifies this application as Adware:Win32/PriceGong. The entry was updated recently.

Distribution and symptoms

"Powered by PriceGong" pop-up windows clearly indicate the presence of PriceGong adware. If you see such pop-up windows you can be sure this application or some of its components are installed on your computer. Of course, technically it does more than that. A quick scan through software EULA uncovers the following entries: advertising, search terms, promotional messages, third party, web sites addresses, without notice. The last one just doesn't sound good. But this doesn't solely apply to PriceGong, pretty much any other adware or potentially unwanted application have similar or exactly the same EULAs. This is why, you MUST carefully consider what you're installing and do not click Next Next without actually reading what each screen says.

PriceGong add-on can be downloaded from PriceGong's website, pricegong.com. Please note, this is a stand alone version. However, this add-on may come as a part of a toolbar or other software, for example WhiteSmoke toolbar. In such case, you need to remove the toolbar because there's not other way to stop the PriceGong pop-ups. It's not surprising at all that some people get really angry when they see ads but they can't find any program called PriceGong. They go into the add/remove program feature or even search for it manually and they can’t find a damn thing. I totally understand them and agree that such practice is very bad and ruins company's reputation. On the other hand, such well known companies as Java, Adobe, Cnet offer toolbars and BHOs as well. If you have a popular program, I mean a really popular one, you can make $100k each year for simply promoting toolbars and other products such as Price Gong. Money or reputation? You decide.

How to remove PriceGong?

Normally, it can be easily removed via the Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs. If you removed it but still get annoying pop-ups, then there's probably an extension still installed and active and it needs to be removed manually. If you can't see anything, program or extension, called PriceGong, then it most certainly came bundled with other software. Remove recently installed programs. I made a short list of PriceGong associated applications below. There's a good chance that the culprit is one these.

If you have something to say about this adware or you need help removing it, please post comments and questions below. Good luck and be safe online!

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PriceGong removal instructions:

1. First of all, download recommended anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this browser hijacker. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Remove PriceGong and/or related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.



If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".



Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.



3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following entries (if exist):

• PriceGong
• WhiteSmoke Toolbar
• Yontoo
• Conduit

Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

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Remove PriceGong from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.



2. Select Extensions. If any of the extensions listed above exist, click on the Remove button next to each one. If you can't find the Remove button, then simply click on the Disable button.

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Remove PriceGong from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.



2. Click on the trashcan icon and remove the extensions listed above if they are present:

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Remove PriceGong from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons. If you have the latest version, simply click on the Settings button.



2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. If any of the extensions listed above exist, select it and then click on the Remove/Disable button to remove it from Internet Explorer.




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