In spite of trying your best to protect your computer from online threats, viruses have a way of getting through to your system and comfortably placing themselves on a browser’s homepage. Obviously, you need to get rid of any virus that infects your system. This Techspirited write-up will help you with the issue of the Conduit Search virus.
Did You Know?
India is one of the most computer virus infected countries in the world. India ranks in the top 20 in the ‘Countries with the Most Online Virus Threats Detected’ list.
Web browsers are developed to serve the purpose of retrieving and displaying information of various websites on the Internet. However, when the browser settings are changed by scammers without a user’s permission, the whole functioning of the browser is jeopardized. These activities include the overriding of authentic pages by forged ones by hijackers. That is, they replace the homepages or search pages with their own. A very common example would be ‘search.conduit.com’, which often confuses the user into installing malware onto his/her system.
The Conduit Search virus gets installed on a system without the user even realizing it. This virus then changes the DNS settings and takes control of the other browsers too that are installed on the system. It keeps a track of all the websites viewed by the user, and continuously monitors ongoing Internet activity. Sensitive data such as login credentials, credit card details, etc., are then passed on to cyber criminals, who use it for illicit purposes. You need to know how to get rid of search.conduit.com from the browsers, and keep your system clean and safe. Here’s what all you need to do.
Conduit Search Virus Removal
Manual Virus Removal
Method I
Go to: Start Button ► Control Panel ► Programs (deinstall a program).
Check the list to find conduit tool bar programs and deinstall them.
OR
Method II
Do a Ctrl+Alt+Delete ► Start Task Manager ► Click on the ‘Processes’ tab in the Windows Task Manager.
Check if ‘conduit.dll’ process exists. If it exists, ‘end task’ the same.
Go to C drive ► Program Files ► Conduit (delete it).
Once you are done with either of these two methods, go to ‘browser homepage settings’ and change the URL from ‘http://search.conduit.com’ to the desired URL that you want as default. This needs to be done on all the browsers installed on your system. Then, for each browser, follow the procedure mentioned below.
For Mozilla Firefox
Step 1) Open Mozilla Firefox browser. Type Ctrl+Shift+A
Step 2) Check ‘Extensions’ and ‘Plug-ins’ tab for any conduit files, and remove them.
For Google Chrome
Step 1) Open Chrome browser. Click on Customize and Control Google Chrome (top right corner) ► Tools ► Extensions.
Step 2) Check for any malignant files and delete them.
Step 3) Customize ► Settings ► Advanced Settings ► Reset Browser Settings.
For Microsoft Internet Explorer
Step 1) Open Internet Explorer. Type Alt+X (Tools – (top right corner))
Step 2) Manage Add-ons ► Tool Bars and Extensions. Check for any malicious files and disable them.
Step 3) Again type Click on Alt+X ► Internet Options ► Advanced ► Reset ► Reset Internet Explorer Settings ► Delete Personal Settings.
Note: On completing these settings, always restart the browser for the changes to take effect. It would be best to restart the system.
Automatic Virus Removal
STOPzilla
Step 1) Download and install this software onto your machine.
Step 2) Click on ‘START SCAN’. On completion of the scan, a list of all infected files will be displayed. Click on ‘REPAIR NOW’ to destroy these threats.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Step 1) Download and install (free or full version) this virus killing aid.
Step 2) Run the application to scan the system. On detection of malware, it will display a list of destructive files, which then need to be removed.
Spy-Hunter
Step 1) Download and install this malware removal software.
Step 2) Run the program. It will automatically scan the system and detect any threats present. If you have the premium (paid) version, it removes all files and registry entries created by conduit. If you are using the free trial form, then you can adopt manual methods to terminate the unwanted files.
Note: On completion, it is always better to restart the system.
Easier said than done, make sure you visit only authentic websites on the Internet, and install trustworthy software, so as to enjoy a hassle-free experience online.