This page is here to help you remove S.coldsearch.com. The S.coldsearch.com removal guide works for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, as well as every Windows version.

S.coldsearch.com is an alternative search engine. The platform is supposed to combine the best results from the established search providers Google, Yahoo, Bing and Yandex. S.coldsearch.com includes a filter for games. The optimization services the website offers may be good, but the fact of the matter is that the domain is exploited by a rogue browser hijacker. This makes S.coldsearch.com unsafe to use. The search results the platform returns are not guaranteed to be reliable. Any of them could lead to an infected website, infused with malware. The presence of the hijacker also makes using the Internet for financial transactions insecure.

What harm can the S.coldsearch.com hijacker cause?

The clandestine program makes unauthorized changes to the browser’s settings in order to get control over it. The hijacker will set S.coldsearch.com as the homepage and default search engine and make it impossible for you to revert back to your custom settings. Using this engine to look up keywords and phrases is risky. The hijacker alters the results by inserting supported websites in between them. They will be presented like the legitimate results to your queries. You will have no way to distinguish them. The supported websites the S.coldsearch.com hijacker brings could contain malware.

Interfering with your searches is not the only way for the insidious program to take you to sponsored websites. The S.coldsearch.com hijacker has the ability to generate advertisements. The primary focus of the ads is shopping. The covert program will show you offers for a wide variety of items, including technological devices, apparel, accessories, furniture, decorations, household appliances, toys, games and many others. The offerings the hijacker promotes are a bargain, so that they would have a shot at getting people interested. The ads pose the same risk as the bogus search results. They can redirect to corrupt domains.

The main source of income for the developers of the S.coldsearch.com hijacker are commissions for running promotional campaigns. This is the reason why the shady program tampers with the browser. To come clean, the developers of the S.coldsearch.com website have included a limitation of liability statement in the end user license agreement (EULA). This relieves them of responsibility for the web pages users are forwarded to. The statement is that the platform only mediates third party content.

Another issue around the S.coldsearch.com hijacker involves personal security. The secluded program has been developed to track users’ browsing sessions and gather input on them. Certain statistical and personal details can be recorded from your browser. This includes your surfing history, cookies, email account, IP address, geographic location, user names, passwords and online banking credentials. The gathered information can be sold on dark markets without your knowledge or consent.

How did the S.coldsearch.com hijacker get access to my computer?

There are a couple of ways to contact the S.coldsearch.com hijacker. The methods the shady program uses to enter people’s machines are referred to as propagation vectors or dark patterns. The vector the S.coldsearch.com hijacker prefers is bundling. This technique is quite simple and yet just as effective. The hijacker merges its setup file with the executable of another program, like a pirated utility, a piece of freeware or shareware. The unwanted program will be listed as a bonus tool, available for free with the software you are installing. You should never accept extra apps. They can turn out to be harmful.

The other pattern the S.coldsearch.com hijacker puts into practice is hitching a ride with spam emails. The clandestine program gets secluded with an attached file. The sender’s job is to get users to access the attachment. This is all it takes to open the door for the hijacker. Macros, Javascript files and other processes can prompt the download and install of the program when the carrier is accessed. Knowing how easy it is to get infected, you should keep your guard up at all times. When you receive an email with an attachment included, you need to check who it was sent from. Proof the email address and the contacts the sender has provided to make sure he is who he claims to be.

S.coldsearch.com Removal

Before starting the real removal process, you must reboot in Safe Mode. If you know how to do this, skip the instructions below and proceed to Step 2. If you do not know how to do it, here is how to reboot in Safe mode:

For Windows 98, XP, Millenium and 7:
Reboot your computer. When the first screen of information appears, start repeatedly pressing F8 key. Then choose Safe Mode With Networking from the options.

For Windows 8/8.1
Click the Start button, next click Control Panel —> System and Security —> Administrative Tools —> System Configuration.‌

Check the Safe Boot option and click OK. Click Restart when asked.
For Windows 10
Open the Start menu and click or tap on the Power button.

While keeping the Shift key pressed, click or tap on Restart.

Follow precisely the steps below to permanently remove S.coldsearch.com hijacker from the browser:

Remove From Mozilla Firefox:

Open Firefox, click on top-right corner , click Add-ons, hit Extensions next.

Look for suspicious or unknown extensions, remove them all.

Remove From Chrome:

Open Chrome, click chrome menu icon at the top-right corner —>More Tools —> Extensions. There, identify the malware and select chrome-trash-icon(Remove).

Remove From Internet Explorer:
Open IE, then click IE gear icon on the top-right corner —> Manage Add-ons.

Find the malicious add-on. Remove it by pressing Disable.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, then click Properties. Remove everything after the .exe” in the Target box.

Open Control Panel by holding the Win Key and R together. Write appwiz.cpl in the field, then click OK.

Here, find any program you had no intention to install and uninstall it.

Run the Task Manager by right clicking on the Taskbar and choosing Start Task Manager.

Look carefully at the file names and descriptions of the running processes. If you find any suspicious one, search on Google for its name, or contact me directly to identify it. If you find a malware process, right-click on it and choose End task.

Open MS Config by holding the Win Key and R together. Type msconfig and hit Enter.

Go in the Startup tab and Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer.

Still can not remove S.coldsearch.com from your browser? Please, leave a comment below, describing what steps you performed. I will answer promptly.