Search.searchtnr.com Removal Guide

Do you know what Search.searchtnr.com is?

If instead of your favorite web page you are now seeing Search.searchtnr.com as the default homepage, it means that you installed a browser hijacker. Our specialists say that the application might be spread with a browser extension, which should be titled similarly. However, the search engine might be distributed through other channels too. It is important to know such things because it might help you understand how it entered your system and how you could avoid it the next time. What users should also know, is that the browser hijacker might be dangerous to their computer and to avoid any risks, it is recommended to delete it. Correspondingly, we are placing a removal guide at the end of the text to assist you in this matter.

For starters, the application can work on the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer browsers. We checked the Chrome Web Store and Mozilla Add-ons web pages but did not found any extension that would seem to be related with Search.searchtnr.com. It might be that this extension was never distributed through mentioned web pages, or it was removed. Nevertheless, there is another way this program could be spread. The researchers who tested the browser hijacker, believe that it should be traveling with suspicious bundled installers. Users might download such installers from unreliable file-sharing web pages. The next time you launch any installer, you should choose custom or advanced installation settings and pay close attention to the information shown on the setup wizard. If the installer is bundled with other software, you should be able to deselect such suggestions, and the unwanted programs will not be installed.Search.searchtnr.com Removal GuideSearch.searchtnr.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions

The application is categorized as a browser hijacker, which means that it can modify browser preferences. In this case, Search.searchtnr.com hijacks user’s homepage and replaces it with the search engine. As a result, Search.searchtnr.com is loaded every time you launch the affected browser. Apparently, if you use it, the browser hijacker might show you modified yahoo.com results. It means that the application should use another engine to collect data related to user’s queries, but before displaying the results, it could send them to the software’s server where they might be modified. The results could include third-party commercial ads, sponsored links or other similar content.

If you are using Search.searchtnr.com, you should know that the additional ads in your search results might come from unreliable or malicious web pages. Thus, if you click them, you might be redirected to suspicious websites. Visiting such sites could be dangerous to user’s system because they might be created for malicious reasons, e.g. to distribute malware, collect sensitive data, scam user, and so on. What makes matters worse is that these ads could be targeted too, and you might be tempted to click them. Thus, you should not be surprised if the search engine would show you ads related to your search keywords, clicked ads, links, visited web pages and so on.

Risking your computer’s safety for a suspicious application that you may have installed accidentally too, might be not the best idea. Thus, follow the instructions below and get rid of the browser hijacker. Since the search engine could be spread with a browser extension, you should delete it first. Also, Search.searchtnr.com should have made a few modifications to particular files and Registry entries on your computer. Modifying this data might be difficult for some users, so it would be easier to follow the instructions below. They will show you how to erase the unwanted extension too. There is also another way to get rid of the software. The browser hijacker can be eliminated with a reliable security tool. Of course, if you do not have it yet, you would need to install it first. It might take a little more time, but having a legitimate antimalware tool on the computer would be beneficial as it can protect the system from malware.

Erase the extension related to Search.searchtnr.com

Internet Explorer

  1. Press ALT+X, select Manage add-ons, then click on Toolbars and extensions.
  2. Locate the extension and delete it.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+A and select Extensions.
  2. Mark the application and press Remove.

Google Chrome

  1. Press ALT+F and click on Settings.
  2. Choose More tools and select Extensions.
  3. Mark the unwanted extension, press the trash bin button near it, and select Remove.

Remove Search.searchtnr.com from browsers

Internet Explorer

  1. Press Windows Key+R, type regedit and click OK.
  2. Navigate to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
  3. Search for a Value Name called Start Page.
  4. Right-Click the Start Page and select Modify.
  5. Replace Value Data with a web page you like, e.g. google.com and click OK.

Mozilla Firefox

  1. Go to C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}
  2. Locate a file named as Prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
  3. Find and delete this line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://search.searchtnr.com”).

Google Chrome

  1. Navigate to C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
  2. Find and delete these files: Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.

In non-techie terms:

Search.searchtnr.com is a browser hijacker that might be spread with bundled installers, which could be shared on suspicious web pages. The application acts as a search engine, but it uses yahoo.com to collect the results. It could be that the main application’s goal is to show users third-party ads and gather advertising revenue per clicks. The browser hijacker could be potentially harmful to your system because it might display unreliable ads. Thus, it is advisable to delete it either manually with the instructions placed above or with a trustworthy antimalware tool.