Remove Scour Toolbar and Scour.com (Uninstall Guide)

Scour is a program that offers a web search engine (Scour.com) and toolbar which are being promoted via other free programs, and once installed on your computer, they will hijack your browser homepage and replace your default search engine.
Furthermore, this program will display ads and sponsored links in your search results, and may collect search terms from your search queries.
[Image: Scour Toolbar]
Scour Toolbar got on your computer after you have installed another free software or add-on that had bundled into their installer this browser hijacker. For example, when you install VcPlay , you’ll also install the Scour Toolbar, set your browser homepage to http://Scour.com/search and change your default search engine to http://Scour.com.
However, when you uninstall VcPlay from your computer, your web browser’s default settings will not be restored. This means that you’ll have to remove Scour Toolbar from your favorite web browser manually.

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You should always pay attention when installing software because often, a software installer includes optional installs, such as this browser hijacker. 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.

Scour Toolbar – Virus Removal Instructions

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STEP 1 : Uninstall Scour Toolbar from your computer

Scour has installed a program (Scour Toolbar developed by Scour) on your computer, which we will need to uninstall.

  1. To uninstall Scour Toolbar 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. Search and uninstall Scour Toolbar from your computer.
    [Image: Uninstall Scour Toolbar]

Please note that on some computers these programs might be renamed or missing,search for any program developed by Scour, and uninstall it from your computer.


STEP 2 : Remove the Scour Toolbar residual damage from your browser

Scour has installed a browser extension, has changed your homepage to scour.com, and has changed your default search engine.

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Remove Scour Toolbar from Internet Explorer

  1. Open Internet Explorer, click on the gear icon [Image: icongear.jpg] (Tools for Windows XP users) at the top (far right), then click again on Internet Options.
    Internet Options in IE
  2. In the Internet Options dialog box, click on the Advanced tab, then click on the Reset button.
    Reset Internet Explorer
  3. In the Reset Internet Explorer settings section, check the Delete personal settings box, then click on Reset.
    Internet Explorer back to its default settings
  4. When Internet Explorer finishes resetting, click Close in the confirmation dialogue box and then click OK.
  5. Close and open Internet Explorer again.

Remove Scour Toolbar from Mozilla Firefox

  1. At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu (on Windows XP, click the Help menu at the top of the Firefox window), and select Troubleshooting Information.
    Firefox Troubleshooting Information
  2. Click the Reset Firefox button in the upper-right corner of the Troubleshooting Information page.
    Firefox default settings
  3. To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens.
  4. Firefox will close and be reset. When it’s done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish

Remove Scour Toolbar from Google Chrome

  1. Remove Scour Toolbar extensions from Google Chrome.
    Click the Chrome menu 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 Scour Toolbar and New Tab extensions from your Google Chrome.
  2. Set Google Chrome default search engine from Scour.com to google.com .
    Click the Chrome menu 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 Scour.com in the Search Engines list, and click the X that appears at the end of the row.
    Set Google as your default Search Engine in Chrome
  3. Change Google Chrome homepage from scour.com to its default.
    The Scour Toolbar 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 Chrome menu  button, then select Settings and click on One the New Tab page in the On Startup section.
    [Image: Change Google Chrome homepage to its default]

STEP 3: Remove Scour Toolbar 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. Adwcleaner utility
  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.
    [Image: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware final installation screen]
  3. On the Scanner tab, select Perform quick scan and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer.
    [Image: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Quick Scan]
  4. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer as shown below.
    [Image: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scanning for Scour Toolbar]
  5. When the Malwarebytes scan will be completed, click on Show Result.
    [Image: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scan results]
  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.
    [Image:Malwarebytes removing malware]

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.
    HitmanPro installation
  3. HitmanPro will start scanning your computer for malware, as seen in the image below.
    HitmanPro scans for Scour Toolbar
  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.
    HitmanPro scan results
  5. Click Activate free license to start the free 30 days trial and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
    HitmanPro 30 days activation button

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

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