Welcome to our remove PieSearch instructions. This article intends to help you remove PieSearch from your system and is designed to work for Chrome, Firefox all Windows versions.
Got PieSearch, should I worry?
We have received numerous inquiries starting with questions like “piesearch jak usunac” or “eliminar piesearch”, clearly showing that a lot of people have struggled with this. As annoying as PieSearch is to have around, there is little reason for you to worry for your PC’s safety. At first, it might be really frustrating, seeing those numerous ads all over your browser, but once you read through our article and learn more about Browser Hijacker programs (that’s what PieSearch is), you will see that there is no need to panic, as you are just dealing with a Browser Hijacker.
First thing’s first: What is a Browser Hijacker? – A Browser Hijacker is a program that aims to display various ads during browsing time. It is basically a browser extension and you can have it on most standard browsers such as Mozilla, Chrome, IE etc. Browser Hijackers are generally legal pieces of software and cause no actual harm to your system. So why are they considered unwanted by most experts and users? It’s mostly due to the intrusive nature of their ads and the fact, that even though they might not damage your computer, as viruses do, they have the tendency to track your browser history and collect it for further use. The majority of Browser Hijacker programs do that in order to better suit the ads, they display for the individual user. There, however, are some of them, which might actually sell the collected data to third-party companies. This seldom leads to something nasty, but it is still a possibility, so you should be careful when dealing with Browser Hijackers. Since you don’t really get anything useful out of Browser Hijacker programs it is recommended that you remove it as soon as you can. A good advice, when facing such an intrusive software, is to avoid clicking on any of the ads, pop-ups and banner that you see displayed on your screen. Firstly, you won’t gain anything useful from them and secondly, some of them might redirect you to borderline legal or outright illegal sites that may expose your PC to an actual virus. Sometimes you might not even click on an ad but still get redirect to an unwanted page. Should this happen, immediately close the new page, without interacting with it in any other way.
How to avoid having your PC invaded by programs like PieSearch
This is an important topic relevant to questions like “piesearch jak usunac” or “eliminar piesearch”. As with most other Browser Hijackers, the most common way users get PieSearch installed on their computer is through other programs they download from the internet. Usually these are free programs. It is highly unlikely to land an Browser Hijacker through a paid product, but it is possible, especially if you downloaded a rogue software program. This doesn’t mean that every free product on the Internet is infested with unwanted software. There are a lot of popular and trusted sites with well-known developers that you can safely download from for free. That’s why the first thing you should remember, in order to protect your PC from Browser Hijacker, is to be careful what sites you tend to download software from. Browser Hijacker is generally the least of your worries, but there are dangerous computer viruses that can get installed in this way too.
The actual process of infecting your system with the unwanted software is pretty simple. PieSearch is bundled with the free program you’ve downloaded and once you install it, you install the Browser Hijacker as well. Avoiding this is easy. You just need to pay extra attention to the details in the installation menu. In most cases, you will be able to see what added content will be installed with the main program – usually new search engines, browser add-ons etc. There uncheck everything that you think might be potentially unwanted. Remember that you might not see PieSearch, because it might go under a different name. In some cases you will have to opt for the advanced settings menu in order to see the added installs, so keep that in mind. If you follow the steps mentioned, the probability of having PieSearch installed on your PC is pretty low. There are several other ways for you to infect your system with PieSearch – for instance: spam e-mails, illegal torrents, sites with questionable content. Even some of the ads that you get from one Browser Hijacker program, might trick you into installing another one. Still, the most common and effective way remains the bundling with free third-party programs.
If you are still not confident, that you can keep your system safe from PieSearch and the likes of it, you might consider buying a malware-protection tool. These will not only keep such intrusive software away from your PC, but can also help you remove Browser Hijacker programs, if they have already been installed on your machine. Albeit, if you think that you don’t need such a tool and can deal with PieSearch yourself, we have provided you with a detailed step-by-step guide on how to uninstall and remove the annoying program from your PC.
Threat | PieSearch |
Classification | Browser Hijacker |
Security Alert |
Medium (Browser Hijacker programs are more annoying than anything else, but users who fall for the Ads may end up in dangerous place). |
Negative Effects | Intrusive ads start to appear once you open your browser. Redirection to other pages are also possible. |
How to Remove PieSearch from Chrome/Firefox
Step 1
Reveal Hidden Files. If you don’t know how to do this, ask us in the comments.
Step 2
Press and hold the button on your keyboard and R. Type appwiz.cpl and click on Ok.
Look for suspicious programs and uninstall them.
In the search field type => msconfig => hit Enter.
Go to Startup and disable all entries with Unknown as Manufacturer.
Step 3
=> Search=> Copy/Paste “notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts” => Enter.
If you notice other IPs different from the localhost IPs – you might be in danger!
Ask for additional help in the comments.
Step 4
Remove PieSearch from Chrome
Click => More Tools => Extensions.
Locate the Browser Hijacker and remove it.
Remove PieSearch from Firefox
Click => Add-ons=> Extensions.
Locate the Browser Hijacker and delete it.
Malware Removal from Internet Explorer
Press on => Manage Add-ons =>
Find the Browser Hijacker and remove it.
Step 5
Right click on the Taskbar => Start Task Manager.
Navigate to Processes.
Locate any suspicious processes associated with PieSearch. Right click on the process = > Open File Location => End Process = > Delete the directories with the suspicious files.
Step 6
=> Search => Type:
- %AppData%
- %LocalAppData%
- %ProgramData%
- %WinDir%
- %Temp%
Hit Enter after each new search. Check each Folder and delete recent entries.
If you run into any trouble – ask us for help in the comments section!