Search.shareazaweb.net

Search.shareazaweb.net is the webpage of Shareaza search engine by Bandoo Media Inc. You may recognize the name from either their P2P file sharing client or their Music Toolbar, a.k.a. Shareaza Toolbar. After seeing their website, you may not be clear on whether you should remove search.shareazaweb.net. The site looks professional, offers search in twenty three languages and in various options: web, maps, videos, images and quite a few others. You will also see Shareaza Search that offers music file search. However, that is one of the main points why using search.shareazaweb.net is problematic.

The latter quite obviously requires some explanation. There are two main reasons why you would do better to delete search.shareazaweb.net than to use it. The smaller reason is that the results it displays can be completely irrelevant, even if you are very specific with your query. That is quite a nuisance, but it pales in comparison with the second reason. If you have tried looking for music using the Shareaza search, you already have noticed that they offer a “download” function. However, you will not be able to take advantage of it if you do not have their peer to peer file sharing client. This is where it becomes sticky: while P2P program itself and even sharing via it is actually legal, sharing copyrighted material is strictly prohibited by law in the majority of countries worldwide. This means that if you are downloading music using search.shareazaweb.net, you may very well be breaking the law, as the majority of music is copyrighted material.

However, that is not the only alarming thing about search.shareazaweb.net. If you were to read their Privacy Policy, you would see that it is, in fact, very professional and guarantees safety of your information. Except if you use third-party services accessible via some of the search features, and if you have tried their Web Search, you have noticed it redirects you to Ask search results. You should note that this is what the policy says about the usage of such affiliated providers:

<…>However, even if the third party is affiliated with us, we have no control over these linked sites, each of which has separate privacy and data collection practices independent of us. <…>As such, we are not responsible for, or have any control over, the content or the privacy policies of those third party websites <…>These linked sites are only for your convenience and you therefore access them at your own risk.<…>

So, even though the search by itself is not malicious, it may very well be a better option to remove search.shareazaweb.net than to continue using it. It is essentially useless and the legal issues it introduces you to are definitely not worth worrying about when you can easily avoid them. If the search is set as your home page and/or default search engine and you are not sure how to change those, please read below to find detailed instructions for Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome users. After you reverse the settings, please make sure to scan your computer’s system, because the potentially unsafe third party links could have led to a computer infection.

Search.shareazaweb.net Removal Guide

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click the icon indicating your current search on the left of the search box (located on the top of your browser).
2. Choose Manage Search Engines…
3. Click on and Remove Shareaza search.
4. Close the dialogue box.
5. Click the search icon again.
6. In the list that pops up, click the icon of the search you want to use.
7. Press Alt+T.
8. Select Options.
9. Go to the General tab.
10. Under Home Page, click the Restore to default button.

Internet Explorer:

1. Press Alt+T.
2. Go to Internet Options.
3. Under Home page, click the Use default button.
4. Press Alt+T.
5. Select Manage Add-ons.
6. Click the Search Providers tab on the left.
7. Choose a search you want to use, click Set as default.
8. Select Shareaza search and click Remove.

Google Chrome:

1. Press Alt+F.
2. Open Settings.
3. Under Search, click Manage search engines…
4. Hover over the search you would like to use, click Make default.
5. Hover over Shareaza search, click the X that appears to delete it.
6. Under Appearance, below Show Home button, click Change.
7. Remove the address and enter a new one.
8. Under On startup, select Open the New Tab page.