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why does webroot not recognize www.searching.com as a virus?

  • September 2, 2015
  • 3 replies
  • 31 views

www.searching.com is a virus that changes your home page and there is NOTHING you can do to change it back. I had to do a search on that virus and had to buy another program that does get rid of it. I think the virus gets inserted into your registry and the program I bought was called spyhunter 4 and from what I can tell, is a better program than webroot but it is a little more expensive but definately worth it...   any thoughts ???

Best answer by Ssherjj

Hello ?,
 
Welcome to the Webroot Community,
 
Sorry you had to buy more protection but Webroot does provide free tech support as long as you have a Webroot subscription. Now to give you our stance on this program please read below.
 
www-searching.com is a browser hijacker, which is promoted via other free downloads, and once installed it will change your browser homepage and default search engine to www-searching.com. This 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.
 
What you are seeing and describing sounds like it may be what we on the Community refer to as a PUA. (Potentially Unwanted Application) These are very annoying at best in that they cause pop-us, redirect your browser home page, and other behavior that may slow down the computer and direct ads your way, but they are not actually doing anything bad like damaging files or stealing information. Often they are installed intentionally by you the user as browser add-ons for various tasks such as quick search tools.. but they also come with the result of added annoying pop-ups and ads. Other times they 'piggy back' with other software that you installed, or try to 'sneak' onto your system entirely.
 
WSA does detect and remove many PUA's, and more are being added, but WSA does not detect all of them. A simple browser add-on with PUA behavior that is easy to identify and easy to remove is not likely to be detected and removed by WSA. Those that are intentionally difficult to locate and remove are. Please see THIS LINK for more information regarding Webroot's stance on these annoying programs.
 
For those that are not detected by WSA, please see this KB Article. It has some easy to follow directions on locating and removing PUA's. You may also want to submit a Trouble Ticket, especially if you cannot remove it easily from the directions in the KB Article.
 
For those that ARE detected by WSA, but cannot be removed automatically, you can submit a Trouble Ticket.  Webroot Support will help you get these annoying 'crapware' off your computer at no extra charge, and the additional examples may help to better automatic removal of that particular PUA for all users in the future.
 
 
Kind Regards,
 

3 replies

Ssherjj
Moderator
Forum|alt.badge.img+62
  • Moderator
  • Answer
  • September 2, 2015
Hello ?,
 
Welcome to the Webroot Community,
 
Sorry you had to buy more protection but Webroot does provide free tech support as long as you have a Webroot subscription. Now to give you our stance on this program please read below.
 
www-searching.com is a browser hijacker, which is promoted via other free downloads, and once installed it will change your browser homepage and default search engine to www-searching.com. This 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.
 
What you are seeing and describing sounds like it may be what we on the Community refer to as a PUA. (Potentially Unwanted Application) These are very annoying at best in that they cause pop-us, redirect your browser home page, and other behavior that may slow down the computer and direct ads your way, but they are not actually doing anything bad like damaging files or stealing information. Often they are installed intentionally by you the user as browser add-ons for various tasks such as quick search tools.. but they also come with the result of added annoying pop-ups and ads. Other times they 'piggy back' with other software that you installed, or try to 'sneak' onto your system entirely.
 
WSA does detect and remove many PUA's, and more are being added, but WSA does not detect all of them. A simple browser add-on with PUA behavior that is easy to identify and easy to remove is not likely to be detected and removed by WSA. Those that are intentionally difficult to locate and remove are. Please see THIS LINK for more information regarding Webroot's stance on these annoying programs.
 
For those that are not detected by WSA, please see this KB Article. It has some easy to follow directions on locating and removing PUA's. You may also want to submit a Trouble Ticket, especially if you cannot remove it easily from the directions in the KB Article.
 
For those that ARE detected by WSA, but cannot be removed automatically, you can submit a Trouble Ticket.  Webroot Support will help you get these annoying 'crapware' off your computer at no extra charge, and the additional examples may help to better automatic removal of that particular PUA for all users in the future.
 
 
Kind Regards,
 

Thank you for your reply. I can tell your very knowledgeable in what you said and it did help me a lot. Thanks again

Ssherjj
Moderator
Forum|alt.badge.img+62
  • Moderator
  • September 2, 2015
Hello ?,
 
Anytime..you are most welcome! That's why we are all here is to help others! Very happy I could assist!:D
 
 
Have a great day!
 
Kind Regards,