Do you know what Pdfconvertsearch.com is?
Pdfconvertsearch.com can replace user’s homepage to hijack his browser; therefore, it falls under the classification of browser hijackers. Our specialists who have tested it in our internal lab are saying the search tool could load modified results. It means the provided results might be injected with questionable advertising content. What’s more, it appears to be the application’s shown advertisements could be targeted to make the user feel more tempted to click them. It would not be a surprise if the software’s creators would be gathering advertising revenue from each click as we believe it might have been the main reason to create such a useless tool. Without a document converting function that Pdfconvertsearch.com provides, it is just another search engine with no special features to offer, although the PDF converter it provides is a tool you can easily find online. Thus, we advise you not to endanger the system for such an unreliable tool and delete the threat with a removal guide located below the main text.
In the rest of the report we will talk more about Pdfconvertsearch.com working manner, but for starters, it would be best to explain how the application might enter the system. According to our specialists, the search engine should be traveling with bundled installers received from untrustworthy web pages like filewon.com, filewin.com, malavida.es, descargar.es, and so on. Depending on the installer it may or may not inform the user that more software will be added during the installation process, so you have to be extra cautious if you are downloading setup files from doubtful file-sharing web pages. Users should always pick advanced or custom installation settings and review all provided terms carefully. There might be a way to deselect suggested applications you do not want, but if there is not and the information on the setup wizard says it could install programs without notifying you, we recommend canceling the installation.
Pdfconvertsearch.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
The browser hijacker is not an application that needs to be installed as it settles in on the system by modifying already existing files. Currently, the search engine can hijack Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome. To do so, the threat might find files responsible for the listed browsers' settings and modify them to place Pdfconvertsearch.com as the user’s default homepage. For instance, if the browser you were using was Google Chrome, the search tool should navigate to %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default directory and alter data called Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data. Consequently, the browser would be loading Pdfconvertsearch.com instead of your homepage. Our researchers are against the application’s usage mainly because of the targeted advertising content it could load with results. They may come from different third parties, so there is a possibility some of them might be malicious, e.g. they could redirect the user to scam web pages, sites containing malware, etc.
Naturally, if you cannot stand targeted advertising or do not want to risk your system’s safety for such an unreliable search tool, you should eliminate it at once. Our researchers say the threat can be erased if the user resets the hijacked browser. The removal guide placed below should help our readers with this task, but if you do not want to reset the affected browsing application, there is one other way to deal with Pdfconvertsearch.com. Instead of doing a browser reset, you could install an antimalware tool, scan your system with it and delete all detected threats at once by simply pressing the removal button. If you choose this option, all there is left to do is to pick a reputable tool you could trust.
Erase Pdfconvertsearch.com
Internet Explorer
- Press Alt+X.
- Select Internet Options.
- Navigate to the Advanced tab.
- Click Reset and mark Delete personal settings.
- Press Reset again and click Close.
Mozilla Firefox
- Click on the Help icon.
- Select Troubleshooting information.
- Choose Refresh Firefox.
- Pick Refresh Firefox again and click Finish.
Google Chrome
- Press Alt+F.
- Navigate to Settings.
- Slide down and click on Advanced.
- Scroll down again to select Reset.
- Press the Reset button.
In non-techie terms:
Pdfconvertsearch.com may seem useful since with it you can both browse the Internet and convert documents to various formats. The problem is the application may alter your browser preferences and load results containing unreliable third-party advertisements. Such content might be extremely annoying as it could be targeted and based on the keywords you insert or other information gathered by the search tool or its third-party associates. Not to mention the advertisements might be malicious as some of the ads could originate from different third parties. Even the software’s creators take no responsibility for such content. Thus, we advise our readers not to risk their computer’s safety by browsing the Internet with this browser hijacker. If you think it would be safest to eliminate it too, we recommend using the removal guide located below to erase it or employ a reputable antimalware tool to delete it for you.