Do you know what Search.searchfdf.com is?
Search.searchfdf.com is a search engine that you have to be extremely careful with. Although it looks harmless, it could actually expose you to unwanted and potentially unreliable links, and this is the main reason for you to remove it from your browsers. As our research has revealed, this search tool might replace the start page and default search engine on all popular browsers, including Chrome, Firefox, and IE. Can it do that without your permission? Although it is highly unlikely that this search engine will corrupt your browsers completely out of nowhere, we classify it as a browser hijacker. The main reason for this is that users are forced into modifying their browsers when downloading the “Find Directions Fast” – or “Directions” for Firefox users – extension. If you are completely sure that this software was installed without permission, you must erase it immediately. However, we also recommend that you remove Search.searchfdf.com from your browsers even if its installation was consensual.
Why did you decide to install the Find Directions Fast extension? It is most likely that you have been made believe that this program is capable of providing you with maps and directions. In reality, this add-on is only meant to introduce you to the suspicious Search.searchfdf.com. This questionable search provider showcases links to Google Maps, Mapquest, and Yahoo Maps, but that is pretty much it, and it appears that this software is quite useless when it comes to giving you road directions, but we are not surprised by this. The strange, worthless extension was created by SaferBrowser, and this company is infamous because of many other extensions that force users into downloading browser hijackers, including Search.yourrecipesnow.com, Search.easymoviesaccess.com, and Search.easyradioaccess.com. Although the search engines associated with SaferBrowser extensions do show authentic and harmless links appropriate for their purpose, we cannot say that they are beneficial, and this is a valid reason to delete them from your operating system and browsers.
Search.searchfdf.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
Although computer users are introduced to the Find Directions Fast extension via its official download page, finddirectionsfast.com, many acquire it via software bundles. Whether or not these bundles are safe depends on the installer controlling them. Unfortunately, malicious installers could package the seemingly harmless extension along with potentially unwanted programs, malicious cookies, silent Trojans, and annoying advertising-supported programs. Speaking of adware, some researchers identify the extension as adware because it might modify the search results shown via Search.searchfdf.com. As you might have noticed, your search queries processed via this search engine are actually redirected to search.yahoo.com, which is the Yahoo Search engine. The bad news is that this engine could be exploited to showcase sponsored links, and it is difficult to predict what kind of content you might be exposed to via them. Because there is a risk of facing misleading ads/links, you should refrain from interacting with any of them.
Search.searchfdf.com is not beneficial, despite a few links that it shows, and it is not reliable because it might introduce you to sponsored links. This means that you might have a harder time looking for the information you need, and you might be exposed to links routing to unreliable or unwanted sites. We suggest deleting Search.searchfdf.com without further hesitation, and you can easily achieve success by following the manual removal guide represented below. According to our research, it should be enough to delete the unwanted app (for IE users) and the unwanted extension (for Chrome and Firefox users) to get rid of the hijacker as well. As soon as you are done with the steps below, scan your PC with a legitimate malware scanner just to make sure that your PC is clean. Although you should not detect the leftovers of the hijacker, you might discover other existing threats, especially if you have interacted with a software bundler. Remove the detected threats right away with the help of trusted anti-malware software.
Remove Search.searchfdf.com
Windows XP
- Navigate to the Taskbar and click the Start menu button on the left.
- Open the Control Panel menu and go to Add or Remove Programs.
- Select the undesirable program and click the Remove button.
Windows Vista or Windows 7
- Move to the left of the Taskbar and click the Window/Start icon.
- Open the Control Panel menu and go to Uninstall a program.
- Right-click the undesirable application and click the Uninstall button.
Windows 8 or Windows 10
- Simultaneously tap Win+R keys to launch the RUN dialog box.
- Enter Control Panel to open the menu and then go to Uninstall a program.
- Right-click the program you wish to eliminate and select Uninstall.
Google Chrome
- Launch the browser and tap Alt+T keys together.
- Select More tools and click Extensions (or enter chrome://extensions/ into the address bar).
- Find the unwanted extension, click the recycling bin next to it, and select Remove.
Mozilla Firefox
- Launch the browser and tap Ctrl+Shift+A keys together.
- In the Add-ons Manager menu move to the Extensions list.
- Identify the undesirable extension and click the Remove button on its right.
In non-techie terms:
Although Search.searchfdf.com has the interface of a legitimate search tool, and it provides links to harmless sites, there are several reasons why you should remove this hijacker from your browsers. First of all, this search tool redirects to the Yahoo Search engine, where the results shown to you might be adjusted to showcase sponsored links. The creator of the hijacker earns money by promoting links to third-party sites, but because its partners are unknown, we cannot be sure that it does not work with malicious and untrustworthy parties as well. Second, it can spy on you and leak information about you to these unknown parties. Just to be on the safe side, delete the hijacker and set the desired homepage and default search provider instead.