TrackId=sp-006 - How to remove

Has recently your Chrome or Internet Explorer started displaying the search results in German? Are you having issues with the system working slower and slower each time you use it? Have you noticed your every URL enhanced with a ‘?trackid=sp-006’ string at the end? If any of these issues are familiar to you, most likely you have been infected with the TrackID virus.

Trackidsp 006 Virus quicklinks

• Automatic Malware removal tools

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(Win)

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This parasite is not a typical browser hijacker that shows off by changing the homepage and search engine or displays plenty of ads. It’s more subtle and it can take you a bit longer to notice that your system is actually infected. Meanwhile, it still keeps a track of your browsing activity, search queries records keystrokes and alters the World Web Wide that you see.

From the practice, we know that trackid=sp-006 is installed together with other malware and does result in OS security reduce, that is why on top of the installed threats, the new ones find it easy to enter your PC as well. To save your personal data, avoid credit card or bank information stealth, increase the speed of your system/browser and to have a clean machine, we recommend you to read further this article to learn how to get rid of the annoying ?trackid=sp-006 virus once and for all.

In short, ?trackid=sp-006 is dangerous, but fixeable.

Why do you need to remove TrackID=sp-006 virus

TrackId infection is not as spectacular as browser hijackers, ransomware, adware and etc. While the functions are pretty much the same, yet unlike the others, this virus is fairly specific and mainly affects users that have Chrome or IE as their main browsers with Google search engine. That allows the parasite to stay unnoticed longer and to save on making visual designs and etc. while still getting the evil job done.

After hacking the system with the help of other PUPs, adware, trojans ?trackid=sp-006 threat starts adding its string to every address linking the user to german pages and search results. Some people notice that their default Google main page changes to www.google.de (Germany) and sometimes www.google.com.br (Brazil) and the rest of the time it is displayed as www.google.com/?trackid=sp-006 instead of the simple www.google.com.

No matter how hard you try to delete the irritating string, reset the default settings to the previous ones, the trackid=sp-006 threat would still come back after half an hour or not disappear at all. Victims keep being routed through German sites, provided with useless searches in German, and having their browsers work so slow that it takes a while to type anything because OS can’t keep up with a keyboard.

These irritating features are just a cherry on top for the other malevolent behavior that TrackID hijacker does. It has the ability to track everything you put online and enter on your keyboard when the browser is open. It can be names, numbers, birth dates, credit card numbers, passwords, cryptocurrency data, contacts, medical records, messages and etc. Some of the information is later used to improve online marketing tactics and the more personal data can be sold on the DarkNet to other hackers to use it against you.

Personal data can be used to perform targeted phishing attacks and even used to hijack your bank account. Exposed private data help with other ways to steal money, such as hijacking an e-shop account which has a credit card associated with it. While ?trackid=sp-006 hijacking your browser does not mean that your financial data has been exposed, it’s always important to keep an eye on your transactions.

While trackid=sp-006 only can work in a browser’s frame without doing much damage to the Windows itself, yet it monitors your connection to the internet and can invite/communicate with malware that does compromise the whole system. You should be really careful because just as TrackId didn’t ask a permission to get installed into your PC, it will not ask for you to consent other malicious software installations.

How did TrackID=sp-006 malware infect your PC

Judging from the sea of comments in Malware removal forums, ?trackid=sp-006 infection happens as a consequence of some malicious software or PUP installations like WSE Vosteran, Astromenda Search Engine, Trovi, but also people have reported that even their brand new computers come already with a TrackId virus.

Cyber threats don’t walk alone, therefore once you decide to download some sort of a program or browser extension that is shady (or legitimate but from the unauthorized website), most likely it will come with a few additional surprises, possibly TrackID=sp-006 too. Infection caused by careless behavior is easy to understand. You simply see a program that you think is real, install it without giving it a second thought, and realize that actually it is just a package full of malware and now the system is compromised.

However, you can get the TrackID infection even if you are a very cautious user. These people that had their new computers already ruined by ?trackid=sp-006 virus have mentioned that the OS came with a pack of starter programs – the basic software people tend to use such as pdf viewers, photo editors, note-taking applications, engine optimization tools and etc. And this most likely is a problem.

It doesn’t mean that every computer that has pre-installed programs will have this, but some of the vendors will download a bundle of Freeware from the websites like download.com, snapfiles.com, filecluster.com and etc.. These websites are not bad and have a lot of Shareware that you do not need to pay, but sometimes inside their distributed bundles there can be one or two PUPs that can later cause more serious infections. Especially to the new computers that don’t come with a sophisticated antivirus.

Once you open a dubious setup it gives you a tiny window that asks whether you want to install Optional/Additional programs together with the main one. Most people quickly skip this step without even noticing that the checkboxes are set to install them as a default and you end up with risky software that you did not even agree to install.

How to remove TrackID virus

At the very beginning of this infection, 2015, many antiviruses and anti-malware programs were not able to detect the irritating ?trackid=sp-006 string. They would remove the initial cause of the problem, which was some sort of PUP, but the browser settings would still stay modified and resetting them would not help to get rid of the unnecessary URL extension.

Although, the trackid=sp-006 threat is not an actual parasite and it is harder to detect it for programs that are made to hunt really malicious viruses, yet the current databases allow them to that pretty well now, furthermore the good thing is that at the same time it removes the rest of the viruses that got into computer as well. From the anti-spyware programs that were able to detect the trackid=sp-006 virus we recommend the Spyhunter.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual ?trackid=sp-006 virus removal methods

As for the manual removal, forums suggest that the best solution if nothing works is to change the default search engine back to Google. Here is how:

1. Go to Chrome’s Menu and select Settings
2. Find the “Search engine” section and click on the Manage search engines
3. Click on Default search settings to edit Google’s URL.
4. Replace the current URL with https://www.google.com/search?q=%s
5. Once finished click Done and Reset the Browser.

This simple trick should bring back your normal search engine and in your preferred language. But in order not to have the browser reinfected, we advise you still run a scan with anti-malware tools. 

TopRemoving TrackId=sp-006 from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to TrackId. Click on the trash bin icon next to ?trackid=sp-006 or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to TrackId=sp-006, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset 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 TrackId=sp-006 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 TrackId=sp-006, 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.