Search.searchuts.com

Even if Search.searchuts.com redirects you to yahoo.com the results you receive might still be unreliable. Thus, we recommend reading the article for anyone who encountered this suspicious search tool or decided to use it for surfing the Internet. According to our researchers, Search.searchuts.com is most likely a browser hijacker, and it may enter the system through bundled software installers. It is possible that after hijacking the browser, the tool could show users suspicious advertising content through a modified Yahoo search engine. Naturally, our researchers advise not to take any chances with such doubtful application and remove it at once. To help with its deletion, we prepared instructions located at the end of the article. Before using them, it might be a good idea to read the text first as further in the report we will tell you more details about the browser hijacker.

As we already mentioned in the beginning, Search.searchuts.com might be spread with bundled software installers. Therefore, it is entirely possible you might have received the search engine while installing unrelated but similarly unreliable programs. For example, the bundled setup file could have been downloaded from P2P file-sharing web pages or another untrustworthy source. The truth is users could avoid such threats quite easily by simply paying more attention to the installation process. Usually, suggested software can be deselected if you choose advanced installation settings, so all that is left to do is read the given terms carefully and reject all the unwanted suggestions. However, before even starting the installation process it is important to research the program you want to install in the first place, for example, you should read a couple of expert or user reviews on web pages unrelated to the software. In case more protection is needed, it would be smart to acquire a reputable antimalware tool. It could warn about suspicious programs and protect the computer from harm.

What could be expected from Search.searchuts.com? At first, the browser hijacker may settle in by replacing the user’s default homepage, search provider, or new tab page preferences. All of these changes are most likely made just to convince you to use the search application. Some users might decide to endure it just because they do not know how to get rid of it. The problem is, it might be not so easy since the application may do the mentioned changes by modifying particular Registry entries or other data belonging to the user’s browser. Our researchers say the search engine should be unable to hijack Microsoft Edge, but it may affect browsers like Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Mozilla Firefox.

The difference between results displayed by Search.searchuts.com and original yahoo.com is that the browser hijacker’s provided results could contain additional advertising content, which you probably would not see while searching with Yahoo. As you see, the threat could gather results matching your submitted search keyword with this search engine, but then inject them with the content of its third-party partners, for example, pop-up ads, banners, sponsored links, and so on. The primary reason why we would recommend keeping away from such advertising is that there is not knowing where it may come from. In other words, there are no guarantees the advertisements cannot be unreliable. Meaning, there is a chance some of them could redirect you to websites containing other similar threats to the browser hijacker or even malicious software.

Of course, we do not say anything bad will necessary happen to your system if you continue using Search.searchuts.com as it is not malicious, but the content it could display might appear to be possibly dangerous. Since there are more reputable search tools available, we do not think it is worth to keep the application on your browser. Provided you think so too; we encourage you to use the instructions located below the article and delete the hijacker manually. The given steps could look a little too complicated for less experienced users and in such case we would advise using a reliable antimalware tool instead. After all, it can detect the unwanted application automatically while performing a system scan. During the scan, it could help users identify other possible threats as well, so it might be a good opportunity to clean up the system.

Remove Search.searchuts.com

Internet Explorer

1. Press Win+R.
2. Type Regedit into the box.
3. Select OK to launch the Registry Editor.
4. Navigate till you find this path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
5. Right-click a value name called Start Page.
6. Click Modify and replace http://Search.searchuts.com with a trustworthy website.
7. Press OK and go to HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}
8. Locate value names called FaviconURL, FaviconURLFallback, FaviconURLFallback, and URL.
9. Right-click the listed value names separately and select Modify.
10. Replace their value data (http://Search.searchuts.com) with links of web pages you prefer and select OK.
11. Exit the Registry Editor.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Win+E.
2. Find the following location: %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{user profile}
3. Right-click a file called prefs.js and open it in Notepad.
4. Search for a specific line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://Search.searchuts.com”).
5. Replace http://Search.searchuts.com with a trustworthy website and press Ctrl+S.
6. Close the file.

Google Chrome

1. Tap Win+E to launch the Explorer.
2. Look for the exact same location: %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
3. Locate files called Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.
4. Right-click them separately and select Delete.
5. Leave the Explorer.