Remove “Search Protect” by Client Connect LTD (Virus Removal Guide)

Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd is a potentially unwanted program that is designed to protect its bundled programs and make sure they remain installed or unchanged by other third party programs. The Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd program is a part of the “Search Protect” program, and is developed by Trovi, a company known for their malicious programs.

Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd it’s technically not a virus, but it does exhibit plenty of malicious traits, such as rootkit capabilities to hook deep into the operating system, browser hijacking, and in general just interfering with the user experience. The industry generally refers to it as a “PUP,” or potentially unwanted program.
Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd is an ad-supported (users may see additional banner, search, pop-up, pop-under, interstitial and in-text link advertisements) cross web browser plugin for Internet Explorer (BHO) and Firefox/Chrome (plugin) and distributed through various monetization platforms during installation. The browser extension includes various features that will modify the default or custom settings of the browser including the home page, search settings and in some cases will modify Internet Explorer’s load time threshold, place a lock file within Firefox to prevent competing software from changing its settings as well as disable the browser’s Content Security Policy in order to allow for cross site scripting of the plugin.

Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd got on your computer after you have installed a freeware software (video recording/streaming, download-managers or PDF creators) that had bundled into their installation this browser hijacker. Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd is designed to prevent other competing web browser plugins from changing the homepage and search settings that are created by the Trovi OurToolbar from being changed automatically. It is typically installed with various Community toolbars.
Upon installation the program will add three background startup options to Windows in order to make sure the program runs on each reboot. This includes a StartUp run activation on user login for both the current user as well as one for all users. Additionally a Windows Service is added (CtlMngSvc). During setup, the software will connect to the Internet and download a file called SPSetup.exe from integration.download.Trovi-services.com which is loaded from the user’s web browser temporary folder.

For example, when you install VPlay, you will also agree to change your browser homepage to search.Trovi.com, install the Free Ride Toolbar, set your default search engine to search.yahoo.com, and install the Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd program.

However when you uninstall VPlay from your computer, your web browser’s default settings will not be restored. This means that you’ll have to remove Search Protect by Client Connect Ltd and search.Trovi.com from your favorite web browser manually.

How to remove Search Protect by Client Connect LTD redirect (Removal Guide)

• To remove “Search Protect” by Client Connect LTD browser hijacker, follow these steps:
• STEP 1: Uninstall “Search Protect” by Client Connect LTD from Windows
• STEP 2: Use Zemana AntiMalware Portable to remove Search Protect by Client Connect LTD browser hijacker
• STEP 3: Scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to remove Search Protect by Client Connect LTD malware
• STEP 4: Double-check for malicious programs with HitmanPro
• (OPTIONAL) STEP 5: Reset your browser to the default settings

STEP 1 : Uninstall “Search Protect” by Client Connect LTD from Windows

In this first step, we will try to identify and remove any malicious program that might be installed on your computer.

1. Go to the uninstall menu.
   

   Windows 10 or Windows 8

   1. To uninstall a program on Windows 10 or Windows 8, right-click on the Windows Start button and choose “Control Panel” from the pop-up menu.
      
   2. When the “Control Panel” window opens click on the “Uninstall a program” option under “Programs” category.
      

   Windows 7 or Windows Vista

   1. If you are using Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, click the “Start” button, then click on the “Control Panel” menu option.
      
   2. When the “Control Panel” window opens click on the “Uninstall a program” option under “Programs” category.
      
2. When the “Programs and Features” screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and uninstall “Search Protect“.
   To view the most recently installed programs, you can click on the “Installed On” column to sort your program by the installation date. Scroll through the list, and uninstall any unwanted programs.
   The malicious program may have a different name on your computer. If you cannot find any unwanted programs on your computer, then you can proceed with the next step.
   If you are having issues while trying to uninstall the Search Protect by Client Connect LTD program, you can use Revo Uninstaller to completely remove this unwanted program from your machine.

   

STEP 2: Use Zemana AntiMalware Portable to remove Search Protect by Client Connect LTD browser hijacker

Zemana AntiMalware Portable is a free malware scanner which can detect malicious programs that your antivirus has failed to find.

1. You can download Zemana AntiMalware Portable from the below link:
   ZEMANA ANTIMALWARE PORTABLE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will start the download of “Zemana AntiMalware PORTABLE”)
2. Double-click on the file named “Zemana.AntiMalware.Portable” to perform a system scan with Zemana AntiMalware.
   
   You may be presented with an User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow Zemana to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   
3. When Zemana AntiMalware will start, click on the “Scan” button to perform a system scan.
   
4. Zemana AntiMalware will now scan your computer for malicious programs. This process can take up to 10 minutes.
   
5. When Zemana has finished finished scanning it will show a screen that displays any malware that has been detected. To remove all the malicious files, click on the “Next” button.
   
   Zemana AntiMalware will now start to remove all the malicious programs from your computer.

STEP 3: Scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to remove Search Protect by Client Connect LTD malware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a powerful on-demand scanner which will remove the Search Protect by Client Connect LTD redirect from your machine. It is important to note that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will run alongside antivirus software without conflicts.

1. You can download download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from the below link.
   MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link open a new page from where you can download “Malwarebytes Anti-Malware”)
2. When Malwarebytes has finished downloading, double-click on the “mb3-setup-consumer” file to install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on your computer.
   
   You may be presented with an User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow Malwarebytes to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   
3. When the Malwarebytes installation begins, you will see the Malwarebytes 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.
   
4. Once installed, Malwarebytes will automatically start and update the antivirus database. To start a system scan you can click on the “Scan Now” button.
   
5. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for malicious programs.
   This process can take a few minutes, so we suggest you do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan to see when it is finished.
   
6. 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 has found, click on the “Quarantine Selected” button.
   
7. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now quarantine all the malicious files and registry keys that it has found.
   To complete the malware removal process, Malwarebytes may ask you to restart your computer.
   
   When the malware removal process is complete, you can close Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and continue with the rest of the instructions.

STEP 4: Double-check for malicious programs with HitmanPro

HitmanPro finds and removes malware, adware, bots, and other threats that even the best antivirus suite can oftentimes miss. It’s designed to run alongside your antivirus suite, firewall, and other security tools.

1. 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”)
2. When HitmanPro has finished downloading, double-click on the “hitmanpro” file to install this program on your computer.
   
   You may be presented with an User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow HitmanPro to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   
3. When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below. Now click on the Next button to continue with the scan process.
   
4. HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for malware.
   
5. 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 malware.
   
6. Click on the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   
   When the process is complete, you can close HitmanPro and continue with the rest of the instructions.

(Optional) STEP 5: Reset your browser to the default settings