Search.rapidserach.com

Search.rapidserach.com is nothing more than yet another browser hijacker that must be avoided at all times and removed immediately if it is ever found up and running on your PC. Ignore any claims that you might come across stating that it could be used to enhance your online activities as it is nothing more than a marketing gimmick used to trick naive Internet users into downloading and installing a program that essentially does the opposite. What this hijacker does, in reality, is it makes undesirable changes to your web browser's default settings, which ultimately disrupt your online experience. Unfortunately, that it is not the worst thing about this devious application; in some instances due to the hijacker in question, your operating system might be exposed to suspicious and even dangerous web content, which might lead to infecting your PC with other dubious programs. Make sure to read the rest of our report to find out more about Search.rapidserach.com and to learn how you can remove it.

During the initial investigation of Search.rapidserach.com, our researchers have discovered that this browser hijacker is closely related to other programs of this classification such as Search.yourpackagesnow.com, Search.youremailnow.com, and Search.yourinterestscenter.com. Thus, it is not surprising whatsoever that the hijacker in question works in virtually the same manner as its counterparts. Once it enters your operating system, it modifies certain files and registry entries of major web browsers such as Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. All the affected files and registry entries are directly related to default settings of a homepage. What this means is that once the alterations are made, you will no longer be presented with a homepage of your choice once you launch your web browser; instead, you will see a suspicious third-party website every single time you will start an online session. While this is annoying enough, you must know that the seemingly useful features within the site are in reality questionable, to say the least. Our research team has discovered that the search function is rather ineffective as it could provide sponsored results which might not be helpful in any way. The quick access links are also dubious as they are not always working. All in all, having Search.rapidserach.com on your personal computer will make surfing the web an annoying and frustrating experience. To surf the web the way you are used to, you need to delete this browser hijacker in its entirety; otherwise, the alteration of your default homepage will continue to bother you.

Even though the invasive and annoying features alone are bad enough, you must be aware of the fact that there is something much worse about Search.rapidserach.com than you might anticipate. As it turns out, using the homepage set as your default one by the hijacker in question could lead you to suspicious websites. During the analysis, our malware specialists have discovered that in some instances you could come across search results that are hosting redirect links. Unfortunately, such results are presented randomly; thus, you never know when you could come across one. Therefore, we highly recommend refraining yourself from using the search field within the site set as your new homepage. It is crucial to do so since a simple redirection to a site crafted by malware developers could lead to a system infection. This could happen if the web page designed by cyber crooks runs something known as arbitrary code execution exploit, which allows a code to be run remotely and so trigger a silent installation of some unknown malware. It goes without saying that Search.rapidserach.com is a major virtual threat. Make sure not to take any chances with this hijacker and delete it immediately if it is found up and running on your personal computer.

The removal instructions that we provide below must be executed with precision as a missed step could mean that Search.rapidserach.com was not deleted entirely. This might mean that you would still be bothered by the suspicious site as your default homepage. If this, in fact, is the case even after you are done with the manual removal, you need perform a detailed analysis of your operating system for traces of Search.rapidserach.com. If any leftovers of this hijacker are found active, they must be removed right away. In case you believe that manual removal is a too challenging task for you, we highly advise you to delete Search.rapidserach.com by using a professional antimalware tool as it can detect and terminate everything related to it automatically.

How to remove Search.rapidserach.com

1. Click the Windows button.
2. Type regedit into a search box and then select it.
3. Navigate to to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
4. Right-click a registry value entitled Start Page and select Modify.
5. Replace the unwanted URL with a new one and then click OK.
6. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}.
7. Modify the unwanted URL's in the following registry values:
   a) FaviconURL.
   b) FaviconURLFallback.
   c) TopResultURL.
   d) URL.
8. Open the File Explorer.
9. Go to C:\Users\\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.
10. Delete remove files entitled:
    a) Preferences.
    b) Secure Preferences.
    c) Web Data.
11. Navigate to C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\.
12. Locate and then delete a file called prefs.js.