Do you know what Search.hmylocaltransit.co is?
Have you found Search.hmylocaltransit.co to have replaced your homepage, search provider, or normal New Tab page? If this has happened, it is possible that you have downloaded something you shouldn’t have. Although it does not look like the hijacker can corrupt Chrome, Firefox, or Internet Explorer browsers entirely without the users’ permission, there is no doubt that many could install it without meaning to. This suspicious search tool is currently attached to an extension called “My Local Transit.” Both were created by Polarity Technologies Ltd., which is also the creator behind Search.hlivetvnow.co, Search.searchtzc.com, Search.searchlcll.com, and plenty of other browser hijackers. You can learn more about them and how to delete them in specific reports, but since all of them are identical, you can learn about them by reading this report too. Of course, our focus right now is to help you remove Search.hmylocaltransit.co and My Local Transit. If you have no idea why you should worry yourself about this, please keep reading.
Search.hmylocaltransit.co does not have an official installer per se. However, it is represented along with My Local Transit, and this extension is currently offered at mylocaltransit.co. At the moment, the installer works only on Chrome and Firefox web browsers, but, according to our research, a version for Internet Explorer should exist as well. It is notable that if you install the add-on onto Google Chrome, you are routed to chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/my-local-transit/pecdgdgcccbclpbhncpejhdpgnfbdifj, which is a Chrome webstore page. Both sources introduce users to the extension as this amazing tool for checking transit schedules and finding maps and driving directions. Well, if you download the extension, you are provided with a number of useful links routing to various useful websites. Once the extension is installed, Search.hmylocaltransit.co is represented via your browser in one way or another (via homepage, New Tab, or search provider), and this search tool shows tabs called “Rental Car Services,” “BUS Services,” and “Local Transit.” If you click these tabs, you are shown more options, and, eventually, you can find links to hertz.com, greyhound.com, stagecoachbus.com, coachcanada.com, tfl.gov.uk/maps, and various other useful sites. The hijacker also promotes links to Gmail and Facebook via the bar at the top. Without a doubt, if you find these useful, you are unlikely to be in a hurry to delete Search.hmylocaltransit.co.
Search.hmylocaltransit.co screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
If you have reviewed the Privacy Policy at search.hmylocaltransit.co/Home/Privacy, you know that your personal information is not very safe while using the hijacker. Another thing that you need to think about carefully is the search tool itself. When you enter any keyword, you are redirected to Yahoo Search, and it appears that the results are modified. Yahoo has nothing to do with this, and the sponsored links are injected by the creator of the hijacker. Needless to say, if you do not want to put your personal information on the line, and you do not want to face ads every time you use a search tool that is forced upon you, it is best to delete Search.hmylocaltransit.co right away.
Are you intimidated by the instructions you can see below? First of all, it is unlikely that more than one web browser on your system is infected, and so you already have fewer steps to worry about. Second, the steps are not that complicated, and even if you have never deleted unwanted files and components from your system, we are sure that you can handle the removal of Search.hmylocaltransit.co successfully. Of course, if the hijacker was installed bundled with malware – which could happen, considering that not many users are likely to use the sources discussed – using anti-malware software might be best. Do you have questions? Add them to the comments section below.
Remove Search.hmylocaltransit.co
Internet Explorer
- Launch the RUN dialog box by tapping Win+R.
- Enter regedit.exe and click OK to access Registry Editor.
- Move to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
- Open the value named Start Page.
- Overwrite the URL of the hijacker and click OK.
- Move to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\.
- Delete the key named {B8960161-1D59-4524-811E-97E25EF588BF}.
- Move to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\.
- Delete the key named {28e56cfb-e30e-4f66-85d8-339885b726b8.
- Launch Explorer by tapping keys Win+E.
- Enter %APPDATA% into the bar at the top.
- Delete the folder named {28e56cfb-e30e-4f66-85d8-339885b726b8}.
Mozilla Firefox
- Launch Explorer by tapping keys Win+E.
- Enter %AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ into the bar at the top.
- Open the {unique Firefox profile name} folder and then open the extensions folder.
- Delete the file named @Transit.xpi.
- Launch the Firefox browser and tap keys Alt+T.
- Select Options and then move to the Search menu.
- If the hijacker is still in the list, select and Remove it.
Google Chrome
- Launch Explorer by tapping keys Win+E.
- Enter %LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\ into the bar at the top.
- Open the Default folder (if several profiles exist, open the {unique Chrome profile name} folder).
- Open the Extensions folder.
- Delete the folder named pecdgdgcccbclpbhncpejhdpgnfbdifj.
In non-techie terms:
You might think that Search.hmylocaltransit.co is a great search tool at first, but if you let this hijacker into your operating system, you learn soon enough that it redirects to a third-party page. The terrible thing is that the infection redirects to a well-known search provider, and users might not even know that results shown to them are modified to include sponsored content. Interacting with such search results could be dangerous, and so it is not recommended. The hijacker should come bundled with the My Local Transit extension, and, in this case, it might be enough to delete it. Of course, it all depends on the browser that was corrupted. Use the instructions above for manual removal, or install a legitimate anti-malware tool that will quickly delete Search.hmylocaltransit.co with any other threats that might be active simultaneously.