Remove Searchtodo.com Redirect (Virus Removal Guide)

Searchtodo is a browser hijacker that is bundled with other free software that you download off of the Internet. When installed this browser hijacker it will set the homepage and search engine for your web browser to http://www.searchtodo.com/en/….

This itself is not considered malicious as there are many legitimate programs that change these settings as well. What is considered malicious, though, is that it will also append the argument http://www.searchtodo.com/en/ to random Windows shortcuts on your desktop and your Windows Start Menu.

Searchtodo homepage got on your computer after you have installed a freeware software that had bundled into their installation this browser hijacker. Unfortunately, some free downloads do not adequately disclose that other software will also be installed and you may find that you have installed this malicious program without your knowledge.

For example, when you install NowUSeeIt Player, you will also agree to change your browser homepage and default search engine to http://www.searchtodo.com/en/.
However when you uninstall NowUSeeIt Player from your computer, your web browser’s default settings will not be restored. This means that you’ll have to remove searchtodo.com homepage from your favorite web browser manually.

searchtodo.com uses a variety of Registry entries to hijack your browsers even after you clean your shortcuts or change your homepage settings. For example, this browser hijacker adds the HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Policies\Google\Chrome\HomepageLocation and HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Policies\Google\Chrome\RestoreOnStartupURLs\1 registry policies that will automatically open Chrome to the http://searchtodo.com site even if your shortcuts are cleaned and you have your homepage set to another location.

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

How to remove searchtodo.com redirect (Removal Guide)

This page is a comprehensive guide which will remove searchtodo.com redirect and any other adware program that be installed on your machine.
Please perform all the steps in the correct order. If you have any questions or doubt at any point, STOP and ask for our assistance.

STEP 1: Remove searchtodo.com homepage with AdwCleaner
STEP 2: Remove searchtodo.com redirect with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
STEP 3: Double-check for the searchtodo.com browser hijacker with HitmanPro
(Optional) STEP 4: Clean up the various Windows shortcuts that have been hijacked by searchtodo.com
(Optional) STEP 5: Remove searchtodo.com from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge

If you are using an Apple Mac OS X operating system, please follow this Remove virus from Apple Mac OS X (Pop-up Ads and Adware) guide to remove the searchtodo.com redirect

STEP 1: Remove searchtodo.com homepage with AdwCleaner

The AdwCleaner utility will scan your computer and web browser for the adware and unwanted browser extensions, that may have been installed on your computer without your knowledge.

You can download AdwCleaner from the below link.
ADWCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “AdwCleaner”)
Before starting AdwCleaner, close your web browser, then double-click on the AdwCleaner icon.

If Windows prompts you as to whether or not you wish to run AdwCleaner, please allow it to run.
When the AdwCleaner program will open, click on the “Scan” button as shown below.

AdwCleaner will now start to search for adware and other malicious files that may be installed on your computer.
To remove the malicious files that were detected in the previous step, please click on the “Cleaning” button.
AdwCleaner will prompt you to save any open files or documents, as the program will need to reboot the computer to complete the cleaning process. Please do so, and then click on the “OK” button.

When your computer reboots and you are logged in, AdwCleaner will automatically open a log file that contains the files, registry keys, and programs that were removed from your computer.

STEP 2: Remove searchtodo.com redirect with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free uses industry-leading technology to detect and remove all traces of malware, including worms, Trojans, rootkits, rogues, dialers, spyware, and more.
It is important to note that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware works well and should run alongside antivirus software without conflicts.

You can download download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from the below link.
MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free”)
Once downloaded, close all programs, then double-click on the icon on your desktop named “mbam-setup” to start the installation of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

You may be presented with a User Account Control dialog asking you if you want to run this file. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
When the installation begins, you will see the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Setup Wizard which will guide you through the installation process.

To install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on your machine, keep following the prompts by clicking the “Next” button.
Once installed, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program, and that a scan has never been run on your system. To start a system scan you can click on the “Scan Now” button.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for malware. When Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is scanning it will look like the image below.
When the scan has completed, you will be presented with a screen showing the malware infections that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has detected. To remove the malicious programs that Malwarebytes Anti-malware has found, click on the “Remove Selected” button.

Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now quarantine all the malicious files and registry keys that it has found. When removing the files, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot your computer, please allow it to do so.

After your computer will restart, you should open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and perform another “Threat Scan” scan to verify that there are no remaining threats

STEP 3: Double-check for the searchtodo.com browser hijacker with HitmanPro

HitmanPro is a second opinion scanner, designed to rescue your computer from malware (viruses, trojans, rootkits, etc.) that have infected your computer despite all the security measures you have taken (such as anti-virus software, firewalls, etc.). HitmanPro is designed to work alongside existing security programs without any conflicts. It scans the computer quickly (less than 5 minutes) and does not slow down the computer.

You can download HitmanPro from the below link:
HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “HitmanPro”)
Double-click on the file named “HitmanPro.exe” (for 32-bit versions of Windows) or “HitmanPro_x64.exe” (for 64-bit versions of Windows). When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below.

Click on the “Next” button, to install HitmanPro on your computer.
HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for searchtodo.com malicious files.
When it has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found as shown in the image below. Click on the “Next” button, to remove searchtodo.com virus.
Click on the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.

(Optional) STEP 5: Clean up the various Windows shortcuts that have been hijacked by searchtodo.com

This infection has hijacked your browser shortcuts, so in this step we will need to manually clean them by removing the http://www.searchtodo.com/en/ argument.

Search for your browser shortcut (Desktop, Taskbar or Start Menu Shortcut), then right click on it and select Properties.

To view the Properties menu for the browser shortcuts pinned to your Task Bar, right-click on the browser shortcut from the Taskbar, then right-click again on the browser icon as see in the below image. Alternatively, you can just Unpin the browser shortcut from your task bar, then you can add it back after you have removed the “http://www.searchtodo.com/en/” argument from the original browser shortcut.
In the Shortcut tab, in the Target field, remove the http://www.searchtodo.com/en/ argument. Basically, there should be only the path to browser executable file. Nothing more.
These are the default shortcut path that should be in your Target box, if the http://www.searchtodo.com/en// argument is there, then you should remove it.

Internet Explorer

Default Target value: C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe

Google Chrome

Default Target value:
C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” for Windows 32 bit
OR
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” for Windows 64-bit

Mozilla Firefox

Default Target value:
“C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” for Windows 32-bit
OR
“C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe” for Windows 64-bit

(Optional) STEP 5: Remove searchtodo.com from Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge

If you are still experiencing issues with the searchtodo.com browser hijacker in Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome, we will need to reset your browser to its default settings. This step needs to be performed only if your issues have not been solved by the previous steps.

Reset Internet Explorer

You can reset Internet Explorer settings to return them to the state they were in when Internet Explorer was first installed on your PC.

Open Internet Explorer, click on the “gear icon” in the upper right part of your browser, then click again on Internet Options.
In the “Internet Options” dialog box, click on the “Advanced” tab, then click on the “Reset” button.
In the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” section, select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click on “Reset” button.
When Internet Explorer has completed its task, click on the “Close” button in the confirmation dialogue box. You will now need to close your browser, and then you can open Internet Explorer again.

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If you’re having problems with Firefox, resetting it can help. The reset feature fixes many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill information, browsing history and open tabs.

In the upper-right corner of the Firefox window, click the Firefox menu button (), then click on the “Help” () button.
From the Help menu, choose Troubleshooting Information.
If you’re unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting information page.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button in the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page.
To continue, click on the “Refresh Firefox” button in the new confirmation window that opens.
Firefox will close itself and will revert to its default settings. When it’s done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click on the “Finish“.

Note: Your old Firefox profile will be placed on your desktop in a folder named “Old Firefox Data“. If the reset didn’t fix your problem you can restore some of the information not saved by copying files to the new profile that was created. If you don’t need this folder any longer, you should delete it as it contains sensitive information.

Reset Google Chrome

Google Chrome has an option that will reset itself to its default settings. Resetting your browser settings will reset the unwanted changes caused by installing other programmes. However, your saved bookmarks and passwords will not be cleared or changed.

Click on Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three horizontal lines (). When the drop-down menu appears, select the option labeled Settings.
Chrome’s Settings should now be displayed in a new tab or window, depending on your configuration. Next, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Show advanced settings link (as seen in the below example).
Chrome’s advanced Settings should now be displayed. Scroll down until the Reset browser settings section is visible, as shown in the example below. Next, click on the Reset browser settings button.
A confirmation dialog should now be displayed, detailing the components that will be restored to their default state should you continue on with the reset process. To complete the restoration process, click on the Reset button.

Reset Microsoft Edge

In the upper-right corner of the Microsoft Edge window, click the “More actions” icon (three dots), then click on the “Settings” option.
Under the section labeled “Open With“, select the option “Start page“.

Your computer should now be free of the searchtodo.com browser hijacker. You can remove AdwCleaner from your machine, however we recommend that you keep Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and HitmanPro installed and perform regular computer scans.

If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove searchtodo.com redirect from your machine, please do one of the following:

Run a system scan with Zemana AntiMalware
Start a new thread in our Malware Removal Assistance forum.

Here are 10 basic security tips to help you avoid malware and protect your device:

To avoid potential dangers on the internet, it's important to follow these 10 basic safety rules. By doing so, you can protect yourself from many of the unpleasant surprises that can arise when using the web.