Remove Privitize VPN and search.privitize.com (Removal Guide)

Privitize VPN is a virtual private network program, which  comes bundled with additonal free software (MagniPic and Searchou), and once installed it will set your home page to google.com/webph and change your browser default search engine to search.privitize.com.

Privitize VPN is promoted via other free downloads, and has bundled into its installer MagniPic and SearchTab programs.

When you install Privitize VPN, you will also agree to change your default browser home page to google.com/webph and default search engine to searchou.com.

However, when you uninstall Privitize VPN from your computer, your web browser’s default settings will not be restored. This means that you’ll have to remove Privitize and MagnicPic extensions from your favorite web browser manually.
You should always pay attention when installing software because often, a software installer includes optional installs, such as this Privitize VPN.Be very careful what you agree to install.

Always opt for the custom installation and deselect anything that is not familiar, especially optional software that you never wanted to download and install in the first place. It goes without saying that you should not install software that you don’t trust.

Privitize VPN- Virus Removal Instructions

STEP 1 : Uninstall Privitize VPN from your computer

Privitize VPN has installed three programs (Privitize VPN, MagniPic, and toolbar for IE and Chrome) from Industriya) which you’ll need to uninstall.

1. To uninstall Privitize VPN program from your computer, click the Start button, then select Control Panel, and click on Uninstall a program.
   If you are a Windows 8 user, you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there, then select Uninstall a program.
   
2. Seach and uninstall Privitize VPN,MagniPic and toolbar on IE and Chrome programs from your computer.
   

Please note that on some computers these programs might have a different name, search for any program developed by Industriya and uninstall it from your computer.
Because Privitize VPN is installed with other additional programs, we recommend that you search and uninstall any other unwanted or unknown programs from your computer.

STEP 2 : Remove the Privitize VPN residual damage from your browser

Privitize VPN has installed two browser extensions (Privitize.com and MagniPic), has changed your homepage to google.com/webph, and set your default search engine to www.searchou.com,

Remove Privitize Search from Internet Explorer

1. Remove Privitize Search extensions from Internet Explorer.
   Open Internet Explorer,then click on the gear icon (Tools for Windows XP users) at the top (far right) and then  select Manage add-ons.
   
   From the Toolbars and Extensions tab, select Privitize helper Object, MagniPic and Privitize extensions, and click on Disable.
   
   NOTE: Privitize VPN may have added additional add-ons which you will need to remove. We recommend that you remove any unwanted or unknown add-ons from Internet Explorer.
2. Set Internet Explorer default search engine from Privitize Search to Bing.
   To change your default search engine, click on the gear icon , select Manage Add-ons, and then, under Add-on Types, click Search Providers.
   Select Bing and on click the Set Default button.
   
   To remove Web Search from Internet Explorer, select Privitize VPN and click on Remove.
   
3. Change your Internet Explorer home page from google.com/webph to its default
   To change your home page, click on the gear icon , select Internet Explore options, and in the General tab,under the Home page section, click on Use default to restore Internet Explorer default home page.
   

Remove Privitize Search from Mozilla Firefox

1. Remove Privitize Search extensions from Firefox.
   At the top of the Firefox window, click the orange Firefox button, then select Add-ons.
   
   Select the Extensions tab, then remove Privitize.com and MagniPic extension from Mozilla Firefox.
   
   NOTE: Privitize VPN may have added additional extensions which you will need to remove. We recommend that you remove any unwanted or unknown extensions from Mozilla Firefox.
2. Reset your default search engine and home page from search.privitize.com to their default.
   To reset your search engine and homepage to their default, we will use the SearchReset extension.This add-on is very simple: on installation, it backs up and then resets your search preferences and home page to their default values, and then uninstalls itself. This affects the search bar, URL bar searches, and the home page.
   You can download SearchReset from the below link, and then we will just need to install it to revert Firefox to its default settings.
   SEARCHRESET DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open another web page from where you can download the SearchReset Firefox extension)
   

Remove Privitize Search from Google Chrome

1. Remove Privitize Search extensions from Google Chrome.
2. Click the Chrome menu   button on the browser toolbar, select Tools and then click on Extensions.
   
   In the Extensions tab, remove (by clicking on the Recycle Bin) the Privitize.com and MagniPic extensions from Google Chrome.
   
   NOTE: Privitize VPN may have added additional extensions which you will need to remove. We recommend that you remove any unwanted or unknown extensions from Google Chrome.
3. Set Google Chrome default search engine from Privitize Search to Google.
   Click the Chrome menu   button, then select Settings and click on Manage search engines in the Search section.
   In the Search Engines dialog that appears, select Google and click the Make Default button that appears in the row.
   
   Search for Search The Web (Privitize) in the Search Engines list, and click the X button that appears at the end of the row.
   
4. Change Google Chrome homepage from google.com/webph to its default.
   Privitize VPN has modified your Google settings to open their webpage whenever you start your browser, so we will need to revert this change.
   Click the Chrome menu   button, then select Settings and click on One the New Tab page in the On Startup section.
   

STEP 3: Remove Privitize VPN registry keys with AdwCleaner.

1. You can download AdwCleaner from the below link.
   ADWCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will automatically download AdwCleaner on your computer)
2. Before starting this utility, close all open programs and internet browsers.
3. Double click on adwcleaner.exe to run the tool.
4. Click on Delete, then confirm each time with Ok.
   
5. Your computer will be rebooted automatically. A text file will open after the restart.
6. NEXT, double click on adwcleaner.exe to run the tool.
7. Click on Uninstall, then confirm with yes to remove this utility from your computer.

STEP 4: Run a computer scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

1. You can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free from the below link, then double click on it to install this program.
   MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a download page in a new window from where you can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free)
2. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the setup process. DO NOT make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware checked, then click on the Finish button.
   
3. On the Scanner tab, select Perform quick scan and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer.
   
4. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer as shown below.
   
5. When the Malwarebytes scan will be completed, click on Show Result.
   
6. You will now be presented with a screen showing you the malware infections that Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has detected.Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image. Make sure that everything is Checked (ticked) and click on the Remove Selected button.
   

STEP 5: Run a computer scan with HitmanPro

1. Download HitmanPro from the below link, then double click on it to start this program.
   HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download HitmanPro)
2. HitmanPro will start and you’ll need to follow the prompts (by clicking on the Next button) to start a system scan with this program.
   
3. HitmanPro will start scanning your computer for malware, as seen in the image below.
   
4. Once the scan is complete,you’ll see a screen which will display all the infected files that this utility has detected, and you’ll need to click on Next to remove these malicious files.
   
5. Click Activate free license to start the free 30 days trial and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   

If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove Privitize VPN from your machine, please start a new thread in our Malware Removal Assistance forum.