MetroWhiz Toolbar

MetroWhiz Toolbar was classified as a potentially unwanted application (PUP) designed to replace your browser’s homepage address and show advertisements and serve promotional links in the search results. It comes from Mindspark Interactive, an unreliable company dedicated to advertising via web traffic redirection. Therefore, you ought to remove it. It is an unreliable company because its toolbars do not explicitly state that they are ad supported. Also, it is likely that you can get its toolbars accidentally as they are distributed using software bundles. This toolbar is compatible with Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Internet Explorer, so if you use any one of these browsers, you might want to find out more about this toolbar.

Mindspark Interactive Network belongs to IAC Search and Media Europe based in Dublin, Ireland. Mindspark claims to offer its users tools to improve their browsing experience, but the fact of the matter is that this company is more interested in generating ad revenue than providing their clients with a safe and reliable service. This company has been around for some time now and has released hundreds of similar toolbars since it started. We have recently tested other toolbars released by this company. These new toolbars include Formfetcherpro, AtoZManuals Toolbar, and WorldOfNotes Toolbar. All of these toolbars functions pretty much the same as they only contain links to third-part websites in the toolbar.

Our research has revealed that MetroWhiz Toolbar has several distribution channels. You can download this extension from its dedicated distribution website at Metrowhiz.com for all compatible browsers. It is worthy of a note that you can get redirected to this website automatically by clicking the download button on websites such as ZippyShare.co. Also, you can get it from the Chrome Web Store for Google Chrome specifically. However, these two distribution channels do not involve deception. Nevertheless, this third cannel does. We have found that it comes bundled with third-party software featured on freeware sharing websites. This toolbar is bundled with other software and is installed on a browser by stealth, although may be given the opportunity to deselect its installation.

Once on your computer, MetroWhiz Toolbar will replace your browser’s homepage address with Search.myway.com. This search engine uses Google’s search results but is unreliable because it can modify the search results to include promoted links that will redirect you to Mindspark’s advertising partners’ websites. These promoted links can be potentially misleading and untrustworthy, so you should not use Search.myway.com to search the web.

In order to present you with relevant promotional links that you may be more inclined to click, this hijacker can collect some non-personally identifiable information about you. This information is collected automatically, and it includes things such as your IP address, Internet Service Provider (ISP) domain name, browsing history, entered search terms, browser type and version, operating system type and version, and so on. This information is collected legally through web beacons, browser cookies, and other information collection technologies. However, this information is used for tailoring shady ads and promoted links, you should not allow this search engine to collect it.

We conclude that this browser extension is highly unreliable and recommend that you delete it as soon as you can because it offers nothing of value and can change your browser’s homepage without your consent and show shady promoted links. See the guide below to remove this extension from your browser.

Removal Instructions (Internet Explorer only)

Windows 10/8.1/8

1. Right-click the Start menu/Start screen.
2. Click Control Panel and go to Uninstall a program.
3. Find the program and right-click it, and then click Uninstall.

Windows 7/Vista

1. Click Start located at the bottom left side of the screen.
2. Select Control Panel and click Uninstall a program.
3. Find the program and click Uninstall.

Windows XP

1. Press the Windows Key and click Control Panel.
2. Go to Add or Remove Programs and remove the software.

Remove this toolbar from other browsers

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Ctrl+Shift+A.
2. Click Extensions.
3. Find the unwanted toolbar.
4. Click the Remove button.

Google Chrome

1. Press Alt+F and open More tools.
2. Select Extensions.
3. Find the add-on.
4. Click Remove.