Hello, I’m just stuck at this fake webpage Search.shockmute.com. I have searched on the internet and know that it is actually a kind of browser hijacker. And I always get interrupted by many popups supported by this site. Endless popups can’t be stopped easily. I click X on one ad then other ads pop up again. It seems everything is messed up on my system. Some program prompts that its location is not found. How does that happen? I guess there is other malware staying on my computer system and then causes this problem. IE has been added into some unwanted extension but it comes back again and again after I delete it and restart IE back. Could you experts help me completely clear up this browser hijacker?
Belief Introduce of Search.shockmute.com Hijacker
Search.shockmute.com is a kind of browser hijacker that uses browser helper objects and third party malware including sponsored adware and spyware platforms to change the default homepage and browser settings without your permission. It can easily affect such well-known web browsers as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and even Safari. This webpage appears like a safe and useful page that can users get what search results that users want to know. But in reality it cannot improve the web browsing quality but show anything related to the key words you enter. And you will be surprised by all the evil activities it does on your machine. You may see this Search.shockmute.com or its URLs loading every time you open web browser or open a new tab. It won’t allow you to change back the browser settings and get back to your previous homepage and search engine provider. And crazy pop-up ads keep showing up on every corner of your infected browser like IE, which actually helps sponsor or cyber hacker to promote useless products, malware, rogue program or spyware. Every pop-up may link you to vicious websites containing adware, latest rogue program and spyware. Hence, browser hijacker like this one is very dangerous actually to computer security.
Search.shockmute.com hijacker creates junk files, temporary files or useless registry entries to occupy too much system resources. So eventually browser hijacker will lead to sluggish PC performance and unstable Internet connection. In addition, browser hijacker spies on your browsing activities and records your search keywords, websites that you frequently visit most, usernames and login passwords you use on your browser. All the collected information might be transferred to third-party advertisers to help them produce more interesting promotions and generate more and more ads. It causes potential risk for both computer security and personal details. Anyway, browser hijacker like this Search.shockmute.com just forces computer users to visit third party websites and click sponsored ads repeatedly. Its final aim is to use the artificial traffic to boost affiliate payments and collect user’s important personal information. So if you notice that the homepage is changed with no reasons, you should figure out an effective way to get rid of it.
Symptoms Caused by Search.shockmute.com Hijacker
-Can change your homepage or the default search engine and it totally prevents you from changing them back
-Can always redirect you to other websites
-Can pop up various advertisements and sponsored links randomly to interrupt your online activities
-Can create many junk files which occupy a lot of space in hard drive
-Can download other malicious programs into computer, which make further damage.
-Can collect and send data concerning your search history and other browsing activities.
-Your sensitive information can be tracked and stolen by hacker who can access to your computer with the help of browser hijacker.
NOTE: If you find any of these symptoms on your computer, that proves your PC is under attack and seriously infected with Search.shockmute.com hijacker. If you are not a computer savvy, Please contact YooSecurity Online PC Experts to remove this browser hijacker for you.
The Screenshot of Search.shockmute.com Hijacker
Manual Removal Guide of Browser Hijacker (For Computer Literate)
There is a removal guide of Search.shockmute.com hijacker provided here; however, expertise is required during the process of removal, please make sure you are capable to do it by yourself.
Step 1: Press CTRL, SHIFT and ESC these three keys together at the same time to pull up Windows Task Manager; click Processes tab on top and scroll down the list to find and end odd processes related to this Search.shockmute.com hijacker. Names of the processes are random.
Step 2: Open Control Panel from Start Menu, then open Programs, click on Uninstall a program. Find suspicious programs or tool-bars related to the Search.shockmute.com hijacker. Right click on it and select Uninstall.
Step 3: Go to Folder Options in Control Panel, select the View tab, and then mark “Show hidden files, folders, and drivers” and unmark “Hide protected operating system files” (Recommended) and then click Apply or OK.
Step 4: Go to Registry Editor to delete the path of the related items with the Search.shockmute.com browser hijacker.
Step 5: Clear all history, data and cookies of your infected web browser.
Browser hijacker has the ability to insert into web browser and spy on user’s online activities, so it is suggested to delete all history, data and cookies of the infected web browser before a complete removal. Take Internet Explorer for example:
a. From the “Tool” menu button in the upper-right corner of the Internet Explorer window, choose “Safety” > “Delete browsing history…“.
b. Then tick Cookie and website data and History, click Delete.
Step 6: Change your homepage of the infected web browser (Take Internet Explorer as Example)
From the Navigation toolbar in Internet Explorer, click Tools menu and select Internet Options, then click General tab, and input the URL you want into the Home page box and then click OK.
Similar video on browser hijacker removal:
Conclusion:
Search.shockmute.com is not a normal webpage and a useful search tool. web browser will first perform improperly. Browser often gets stuck, hang or unresponsive. DNS server settings of some websites are changed and you’re blocked to access the site. Strange and unexpected toolbars, bookmarks, add-ons will stay on your web browser. When you’re browsing online, you will be disturbed by tons of endless irrelevant pop-ups. But you don’t click on any of them as your computer system can be attacked by more other virus or malware. Search.shockmute.com hijacker also has a bad effect on computer performance. It will slow down performance of computer, which will let computer run slower than before. Your computer may get hang or frozen for some time while you runs many programs or perform many tasks at the same time. even worse, this browser hijacker can assist cyber hackers to collect your personal information stored on the Internet and computer disk in order to gain more illegal benefits. Please get rid of this browser hijacker as soon as possible before any damages and data loss caused by it.
Suggestion: To follow removal guide that mentioned above, a level of computer knowledge is needed. Still can’t get out of browser hijacker? Contact online experts for help now!
Published by Tony Shepherd & last updated on December 18, 2016 12:52 pm
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