Softonic hijacker - How to remove

Softonic browser hijacker was first detected in 2013, and many people were dissatisfied by the fact that their browsers’ preferences were modified. From the first glance, it could seem that Search.softonic.com search engine is no worse than Google or Yahoo. To be fair, all browser hijackers could be mistaken for legitimate search engines. Hijackers like Findgofind.co and Search.openpdf.pro could be taken as safe platforms for searching.

However, it was extremely wicked for Softonic to bundle the malicious Softonic Toolbar with every download from their site. Despite being immediately considered as malicious, the Softonic search engine is still available in 2018. Our recent analysis revealed that this browser hijacker has currently affected many people from Mexico, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Argentina. Therefore, Spanish-speaking countries are the main targets.

Another feature that disturbed people was the fact that Search.softonic.com hijacker had a tendency of showing online advertisements. This sponsored content still appears to be injected into the results to search queries (delivered by Softonic hijacker). In the top-places, you will see ads that are related to the search query you entered into the search box. If you download software from Softonic, we hope that you will be careful not to agree to download their unique Softonic toolbar. Softonic has been involved in many disturbing reports, claiming that the website has been involved in the distribution of malware:

In recent years, Softonic has been under fire from various online communities for the alleged turnaround of free and copyrighted software made by third parties, embedding the software with malware, adware, and viruses.

Despite these accusations, Softonic continuously increases their repository of free software, and has created a custom installer for delivering the targeted software along with various other optional programs. Many online creators warn users against using Softonic as a downloading agent and recommend downloading the software from the creator’s own website

Main symptoms of the Softonic malware parasite

Softonic hijacker is a browser extension that infiltrates into computers without user’s consent. It is considered to be a potentially dangerous program as it increases the chances of getting the system infected and disturbs your normal work with PC. Softonic hijacker changes your homepage and a default search engine to search.softonic.com. Unfortunately, it doesn’t provide the same search results as most of the popular search engines, for example, google or bing. The search tool displays lots of unknown links making your search results irrelevant. Its main aim is to promote specific pages.

Softonic hijacker infiltrates to browsers bundled with other programs that computer users download from the Internet (Google: Unwanted bundled software is way more aggressive than malware). Although it is possible to avoid installing this application, many users don’t give much attention to the installation steps when they are adding some program. In order to protect your computer from changes that Softonic hijacker makes you should remove the check box for its installation when adding the main program. If you do not do this it will be infiltrated to the computer automatically.

Many users complain about this application because it is not that easy to get rid of it and it causes many problems. As already mentioned it doesn’t provide accurate search results. In addition, it constantly redirects you to unknown websites and causes a risk to get your system infected. If you got this unwanted program on your computer too, you are highly recommended to remove it as soon as possible. Go to Control Panel -> Add and Remove programs list and uninstall Softonic from there.

It is important that you remove all other programs installed with the hijacker, as some of them might redownload or reset back browser settings. Scan with Spyhunter as it identifies such programs quite well. You should also check browser extensions for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. If you do not see Softonic listed, you should use antimalware tools like Spyhunter and scan your computer with it. Uninstalling the program from your computer doesn’t change your search providers, it only stops ads appearing on your computer. You will have to do it manually by yourself. Depending on the browser you are using, follow the instructions below:

On Internet explorer:

1. Click arrow on the right of search box.
2. Do the following: on IE8-9 choose Manage Search Providers, on IE7 click Change Search Defaults.
3. Remove Softonic from the list.

On Firefox :

1. Enter “about:config” in url bar. This will open settings page.
2. Type “Keyword.url” in the search box. Right click it & reset it.
3. Type “browser.search.defaultengine” in the search box. Right click it & reset it.
4. Type “browser.search.selectedengine” in the search box. Right click it & reset it.
5. Search for “browser.newtab.url”. Right-click and reset. This will make sure that the search page won’t launch on each new tab.

On Google Chrome:

1. Click 3 horizontal lines icon on browser toolbar.
2. Select Settings.
3. Select Basics ->Manage Search engines.
4. Remove unnecessary search engines from list.
5. Go back to Settings. On Startup choose Open blank page ( you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal