Iminent Search - How to remove

Search.iminent.com and Start.iminent.com viruses are annoying browser hijackers. They’re related to Iminent (no, that’s not a typo – that’s just what it’s called) – a free browser add-on. Iminent is described by its owners as providing “value-added services and an application for instant messaging and communication”. However, all that Iminent virus does is change your browsers’ preferences and force you to use an unknown search engine.

About Iminent search virus:

Classification	Browser hijacker, adware.
How Iminent affects the browser	Changes the look of your search results, replaces the home page/new tab with Search.iminent.com or Start.iminent.com.
How it’s installed	Budled with free programs, downloaded from the Iminent.com site.
How to remove the Iminent search virus	Uninstall Iminent and other unwanted extensions, remove other malware, use antivirus programs, such as Spyhunter and do it manually.

Search.iminent.com replaces the default search engine

We first discovered the Search.iminent.com malware parasite in 2013, and it’s still relevant in 2020. According to web traffic analysis, the main Iminent.com site is still popular: it’s it the top-40K in the worldwide rankings of most visited websites. It is currently the most visited by people from Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, and France. Looks like Iminent is mostly active in Spanish-speaking countries.

Also, it’s apparent that the MySearchDial hijacker is associated with the Iminent virus.

The Start.iminent.com and Search.iminent.com pages look a lot like Google.com in many ways. Don’t be fooled. Iminent has nothing to do with Google. For one, it uses the engine aggregator Infospace.com.

If the Search.iminent.com virus is set as your new tab page, the home page, and default search provider, you are in danger of being exposed to potentially malware-laden content, delivered thru redirection, online adverts, and other hackers’ strategies (Computer Viruses and Malware Facts & FAQs).

Search.iminent.com virus shows advertisements

Iminent NewTab is a browser extension that offers emoticons, winks, and fire nudges that could be used in online communications such as AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, Google Talk, AOL Mail, Gmail, and Yahoo! Mail.

The owners of Iminent NewTab are located in Paris, France. If you visit the toolbar’s official website, you can still find a lot of information on its usage and features, some of which might be very annoying. Alas, upon installing Iminent toolbar you agree to bear with them, e.g. pop-up advertisements, redirections to Search.iminent.com or Start.iminent.com:

When you download, install or use any component of the Application to access and use various components thereof, including Iminent Minibar, SearchTheWeb (or StartWeb) and the IMINENT TOOLBAR, you acknowledge and agree that the IMINENT homepage, accessible at search.iminent.com or start.iminent.com, will be your default internet browser homepage as a result of such action.

IMINENT may also redirect your Web Browser’s about:blank and new tabs functionality to the IMINENT search page during your use of the Application.

IMINENT will serve advertisements to you as part of your use of the Application.
While using the Application, you agree that the display of such advertisements is likely to modify the web pages you are browsing. In that respect the application will not modify the layout of such web pages but solely add advertisements on those pages in the form of banners or totems, depending on the concerned web pages.

By now, the old versions of Iminent NewTab have been removed and can no longer be downloaded. Nevertheless, Iminent.com continues to distribute installation files, hijack people’s searches, and fill their browsers with unwanted ads.

Iminent gets installed without asking

Although the Iminent virus is not malicious itself and does not directly infect with malware, it is recommended to remove it. Especially if you did not install it intentionally.

Usually, unwanted applications like this one are distributed using the bundling method: after a person installs wanted software, e.g. Super Video Converter, or downloads freeware like uTorrent, she may get Iminent toolbar added with it (Malware increasingly uses peer-to-peer communications, researchers say).

In addition, people who still use Internet Explorer are vulnerable to having Iminent automatically download a malicious installer – Virustotal.com. As you can see, antivirus programs detect Iminent as Riskware, Adware, Unwanted, or just by the name “Iminent”.

How to remove Iminent

If your search engine and your home page have been changed to Search.iminent.com or Start.iminent.com without your consent, if advertisements alter the web pages you visit, then you need to remove the Iminent extension. The most reliable way to do this is by using antimalware tools like Spyhunter. It will not only remove all the files automatically but also detect any other adware or browser hijackers that could have been installed with the Iminent NewTab. For example, Iminent is known to be related to the Illivid toolbar which attempts to collect information about your browsing habits and later send it to various marketing companies that use this information for their personal needs.

To remove the Iminent extension manually and restore browser settings, follow the instructions below. Depending on your browser, it’s a slightly different process.

If the problem persists, then please look at the information in Remove Google redirect virus.

Automatic Malware removal tools

TopHow to remove Iminent Search virus from Internet Explorer:

How to remove Iminent Search virus from Internet Explorer (older versions):

• Click on the arrow on the right of the search box.
• Do the following: on IE8-9 choose Manage Search providers, on IE7 click Change search defaults.
• Remove the Iminent Toolbar from the list.

How to remove Iminent Search from IE 11:

• Click on the Settings icon (top right) → Manage Addons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to Iminent Search and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Select Search Providers.
  
• If any of these search providers is not available, follow “Find more search providers” in the bottom of the screen and install Google.
  
• Close the Options.
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Gear icon on the top right corner to open the Internet Explorer menu, select Internet options and choose General tab. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Apply.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Iminent Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Gear icon→Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset
• Select “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopHow To remove Iminent Search from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Iminent Search, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Iminent Search from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Iminent Toolbar, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove Iminent Search from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Iminent Search related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Iminent Search, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

Manual removal