Do you know what Search.mpc.am is?
Search.mpc.am is a search engine that might be installed without users’ permission by a potentially unwanted program (PUP) called MPC Cleaner. The search engine comes from the same developers and it is considered unreliable by our security specialists. The application might display suspicious third-party content, such as ads or sponsored links, so it would be safer to use a more trustworthy search engine. If you decide to get rid of Search.mpc.am, you should use the instructions below the article because removing the application can be rather complicated. Apparently if you delete MPC Cleaner, the search engine will remain, so you have to deal with it manually. If you have this search engine on your browser, you should keep reading the article to find out how it works.
Our researchers tested both MPC Cleaner and Search.mpc.am in our internal lab. They discovered that the mentioned PUP could download other applications without user’s knowledge. The cleaner advertises itself as a fast and powerful tool for computer’s optimization, but mostly it cleans junk files or empty registries. While it “cleans” your PC, it might install applications created by same developers, including Search.mpc.am.
The search engine changes default homepage, and it might affect the Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox browsers. It displays advertisements on its main page and in your search results. These ads or sponsored links could be from third-party sites, and some of them might be questionable. For instance, they could be official web pages of PUPs, adware or browser hijackers. Sometimes it is hard to separate unwanted programs from the legitimate ones, especially when they pretend to be useful tools. Also, there is a chance that you could get redirected to a site that has malware. Accordingly, it might be a good idea to avoid advertising from the search engine, if you want to avoid potentially harmful web pages.
Search.mpc.am screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
Moreover, if you go to search.mpc.am, you will see that it does not provide the End User License Agreement or Privacy Policy documents. There is only a link that leads to MPC Cleaner’s official website, which has terms of use for the PUP only. Due to the fact that most of the search engines gather some data from their users, such documents as Privacy Policy are crucial. Every user should have a right to know if the application will gather their private information and what other data it could collect. You should have noticed that this search engine provides a lot of links to social media websites, and there is no guarantee that it will not try to gather sensitive information related to your accounts.
If you wish to change your search engine to a more trustworthy one, you should remove Search.mpc.am from your browsers. The instructions located a little below this text are for manual removal, and since it involves working with Registry Editor and modifying other files in your system, it could be too difficult for some users. Therefore, you should take a look at the instructions and decide whether to remove this search engine manually or automatically. The second option is available with an antimalware tool if you install it on your computer. Just do a system scan and wait till the security tool locates files that must be removed, then erase these files and search engine will be eliminated.
Erase Search.mpc.am from your browsers
Internet Explorer
- Press Windows Key+R.
- Type regedit and click OK.
- Navigate to these following paths separately:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MAIN - Each directory should have two Value Names named as Start Page and Default_Page_URL (on the right side of Registry Editor).
- Right-Click these Value Names separately and select Modify.
- Replace Value Data, with google.com or any other website and click OK.
Mozilla Firefox
- Go to: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}
- Locate file Prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
- Find and delete this line: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://search.mpc.am /").
Google Chrome
- Locate the following path: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
- Find and erase these files: Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.
In non-techie terms:
The search engine should not be trusted as it provides annoying commercial ads and it comes with an application that is classified as PUP. If you wish to get rid of it as fast as possible, you should either use the recommended removal steps above this text or download a reliable antimalware tool and leave this task to it. We wrote an article on MPC Cleaner too, so if you want to delete it, you could look for its removal instructions on our site as well, but, as we said before, this PUP and the search engine can be eliminated only separately, unless you use a security tool.