CustomSearchPlus.com virus - How to remove

CustomSearchPlus.com virus is a browser hijacker that is distributed via free downloads. It can affect Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome browsers. Once installed, it changes your homepage and sets your default search provider to CustomSearchPlus.com. These modifications are made without asking for a user’s authorization and they complicate your work on the Internet.

The main goal of CustomSearchPlus.com virus is to advertise sponsored websites and increase their traffic. It adds these websites to your search results and tries to make you click on them. The more clicks it gets, the bigger traffic and page raking in search results it guarantees for these pages. Although this hijacker does not have any direct damage on your computer, it uses dishonest ways to infiltrate and promote affiliate websites and for this reason it is considered to be a potentially unwanted program.

If you have recently installed any freeware to your system, CustomSearchPlus.com virus has probably been infiltrated bundled to one of these programs. It can also be added to a custom installer on some download websites, like Brothersoft, CNET or Softonic. Be careful when downloading freeware from such pages and always follow the installation steps of your new software. If you find any already selected confirmation boxes suggesting you to download additional programs, make sure you deselect them.

To remove CustomSearchPlus.com virus, go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs list and uninstall it from there. It is recommended to delete ALL programs added on the same date as problems have appeared. Some versions of this virus install software that blocks browser settings from changing. To identify them, scanning with Spyhunter or other reputable antispyware tool might be useful. Then you can uninstall the extensions and reset settings in your browsers. 

Special removal instructions of CustomSearchPlus.com virus

How to remove CustomSearchPlus.com virus from Internet Explorer (older versions):

1. Click on the arrow on the right of the search box;
2. Do the following: on IE8-9 choose Manage Search providers, on IE7 click on Change search defaults;
3. Remove CustomSearchPlus.com from the list.

How to remove CustomSearchPlus.com virus from IE 11:

1. Click on the Settings icon (top right)->Manage Addons;
2. Select Search Providers;
3. Change the default search engine to Bing or Google;
4. If any of these search providers is not available, follow “Find more search providers” in the bottom of the screen and install Google.

How to remove CustomSearchPlus.com virus from Firefox:

1. Enter “about:config” in url bar. This will open settings page;
2. Type “Keyword.url” in the search box. Right click and reset it;
3. Type “browser.search.defaultengine” in the search box. Right click it and reset it;
4. Type “browser.search.selectedengine” in the search box. Right click it and reset it;
5. Type “browser.startup.homepage” in the search box. Right click it and reset;
6. Search for “browser.newtab.url”. Right-click and reset. This will make sure that the search page won’t launch on every new tab;
7. If the settings revert and scan with anti-malware programs are clean: close Firefox, open file explorer and enter %AppData% in the address bar. Enter user.js in the search box. If this file exists, rename it and start Firefox again. You will have to repeat the steps above.

How to remove CustomSearchPlus.com virus from Google Chrome:

1. Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on the browser toolbar;
2. Select Settings;
3. Select Basics ->Manage Search engines;
4. Remove unnecessary search engines from the list;
5. Go back to Settings. On Startup choose ‘Open blank page’ (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too);
6. If your New Tab page is hijacked, you will have to scan with anti-malware program or use New Tab Redirect extension from Chrome Store.

Remove shortcut hijack (all browsers) (optional):

If your browser opens CustomSearchPlus.com page on startup only, try this:

1. Right click on your browser icon. Choose Properties;
2. Open Short cut tab;
3. Delete CustomSearchPlus.com part from target field.

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