How to get rid of mainsearchsignal

MainSearchSignal is adware from AdLoad family. It is potentially unwanted app that can display intrusive ads. Furthermore, it operates as a browser  hijacker as well and promotes a fake search engine by altering browsers’ settings. It is very likely that the app is able to collect browsing based data. People download and install this app unintentionally.

The installed adware apps feed users with intrusive ads that are usually displayed in the form of pop-ups, banners, coupons, surveys and so on. Typically, these ads conceal underlying content of visited web pages. Furthermore, most lead users to dubious or even malicious pages or cause download/ installation of unwanted apps by executing certain malicious scripts.

Furthermore, MainSearchSignal promotes a fake search engine by altering browsers’ homepage, new tab pages and search engine options. Usually, it is impossible to remove the fake search engine URL from the settings without uninstalling the app that assigned them. Those search engines are classified as fake because they do not generate unique results and can provide misleading information.

Furthermore, the MainSearchSignal app is likely to collect browsing based data. It might collect the data include IP addresses, Search queries, Viewed pages, URLs visited and etc and later on share them to third parties/ potent crooks. The collected details can be shared with and/or sold to third parties or misused in other ways.

Thus, by having MainSearchSignal and other app of this kind installed on browsers and operating systems, many users risk becoming victim of identity theft, suffer financial loss, experience problems with privacy, browser safety and other issues. Therefore, do not trust, download or install MainSearchSignal or other adware on your system. If you already did, perform their removal right away upon detection.

How did MainSearchSignal enter my system?

MainSearchSignal can get installed through fake Adobe Flash Player installers. However, it is likely to also be distributed through the download/ installation setups of regular, free programs. The developers distribute PUAs by including them into the download/ installation setups of regular software as additional offers. This distribution method is called bundling.

Generally, the offers to download or install PUAs are listed in the settings such as Custom/Advanced and similar. However, many users download and install their software without checking and changing these settings. In this way, they lead to the inadvertent installation of unwanted apps. In some cases, unwanted ads cause unwanted download/ installation by running certain malicious scripts.

How to prevent PUAs installation?

Download programs and files using official and trustworthy sources. Other sources, tools such as p2p networks, free file hosting sites and third party downloaders/ installers often offer dubious and/or bundled content. Check Advanced/ Custom option during the installation and opt out the offers to download/ install unwanted apps right at the installation moment.

Do not click on any ads that appear on any dubious pages as they can lead to untrustworthy websites or cause unwanted download/ installation of unwanted apps. Remove any unknown, unwanted or suspicious extensions, plug-ins and add-ons installed on the browser immediately. The same applies for any programs of this kind that are installed on the operating system.

Instant MainSearchSignal removal

Manual malware removal might be a lengthy and a complicated process that require advanced computer skill. Instead of this, use some reputable antivirus tool to automatically remove MainSearchSignal from the system.

Mac users can download and check if the free scanner can help cleaning MainSearchSignal from their infected system

Remove MainSearchSignal from Mac OS X system

We are going to discussion two possible ways to perform MainSearchSignal removal 1) Manual Removal and 2) Automatic Removal method. The Manual process is more suited to the people who know their system really well. This method is quite unreliable, takes lots of time and need technical skills. Any mistakes during the process can cause major damage to your system. If you cannot reverse such damages, use Automatic Removal Method. It is easy to detect and remove any malicious programs like MainSearchSignal from the device using some reputable antivirus tools like Combo Cleaner. Such tools also offer other important tools like duplicate files finder, clean junk files, huge file finder, privacy protection, browser cleaning and Mac speed booster. For the convenience, we are here providing you both the manual and automatic instruction one by one.

How to remove MainSearchSignal manually?

• First of all, open the Utilities folder on your Mac

• Search for the option Activity Monitor and double-click on it

• Select malicious or suspicious processes related to the MainSearchSignal and click on the cross button from the upper left side corner to end the task

• When a pop-up dialogue box appears on the screen, click on the Force Quit button

The MainSearchSignal can keep coming back on the device if the core files are not completely removed. We recommend you downloading Combo Cleaner. Using this, you can remove all the hidden files and also save time and effort as well.

Automatically remove MainSearchSignal from the Mac OS X

• Click on the link to download Combo Cleaner Antivirus on your Mac

• Drag the install file to Applications folder to install the program

• Go to Antivirus tab, Select Scan Mode and press Start Scan button

• Software will find all the files. You just click on the Remove all the threats button

Remove MainSearchSignal from Applications

• Click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications
• Wait till the Applications folder appears, and look for MainSearchSignal or other suspicious programs on it and then right click on each entry and select Move to Trash

Remove MainSearchSignal related files and folders

Click the Finder icon (from menu bar), choose Go and select Go to Folder

Step 1: Check the malware generated files in the Library/LaunchAgents folder

In the Go to folder…. bar, type /Library/LaunchAgents

Look for any recently added suspicious files in this folder. Such files could be “installmac.AppRemoval.plist”, “myppes.download.plist”, “mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist”, “kuklorest.update.plist”, etc. If you find any similar, move them to the Trash.

Step 2: Erase the suspicious files from “/Library/Application” Support folder

Type “/Library/Application Support” in this folder

In the Application Support folder, you may find MplayerX or NicePlayer or other similar suspicious folders. Move these folders to the Trash.

Step 3: Check the /Library/LaunchDaemons Folder for the suspicious files created by malware

In the Go to Folder… bar, type /Library/LaunchDaemons

In the LaunchDaemons folder, search for the files “com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist”, “com.myppes.net-preferences.plist”, “com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist”, “com.avickUpd.plist”, etc and move them to the Trash

Step 4: Use Combo Cleaner and scan your Mac

After the download, double click the combocleaner.dmg installer in the opened Window drag and drop the antivirus tool icon on the top of the Application icon. Thereafter, open the Launchpad and press on Combo Cleaner icon. The Combo Cleaner then starts update its virus definition database – you should have to wait till the moment till the process is completed. Next thing you do is to click on the Start Combo Scan button.

The anti-malware tool starts scanning your Mac device for malware infections. After the scanning, if it displays no threats found – you can continue with the removal guide, otherwise you have to perform removal of the found infections.

After removing the files and folders generated by the malware, the next thing you do is to remove the rogue extensions installed on the Internet browsers.

Remove MainSearchSignal from Internet browsers

Instruction on removing suspicious Safari extensions:

Open Safari from the menu bar, select Safari and click preferences

In the preferences window, select extensions and search for recently installed suspicious extensions. If any such extensions located, click on uninstall button next to them.

Generally, users can simply remove all these extensions. However, if you have any problems with the browser redirects and the unwanted advertisements, we recommend you “Reset the Safari”. The reset feature is capable of fixing various issues related to the browser hijackers and adware. Also, the resetting the browser does not mean that the essential information such as bookmarks and open tabs will also be deleted. By using the steps, you will reset the extensions, themes, search engines, security settings, plug-ins settings, toolbar customization, user styles and other settings. Here are the step by step instructions on performing the steps:

Open the Safari main menu and Choose Preferences from the drop down menu

Go to the Extension tab, and turn off the extension slider to disable all the installed extensions in the Safari browser.

Next step is to check the homepage. Go to the preferences option and choose General tab. Change the homepage option to the default one

If the search engine also got changed, you can set default or other web searcher according to your choice. For this, go to the preferences window and select the “Search” tab and select the search engine provider that you want to

Next thing you need to do is to clear the browser Cache. For this, go to the preferences window and select the “Advanced” tab and click on the show develop menu in the menu bar

Then, Select Empty Caches from the Develop menu

Thereafter, remove the website data and the browsing history. Go to Safari menu and select Clear History and Website Data. Choose all history and then click on Clear History.

Guides on removing malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Open the Mozilla Firefox, Click on the Menu at the right top corner of the screen. From the opened menu, choose Add-ons

Choose the Extension tab for the recently added suspicious add-ons, if located -click the Remove button next to them. You can safely uninstall all the extensions, however, if you find any trouble, we recommend you Reset the Mozilla Firefox.

• Open the Mozilla Firefox and click on the Firefox button (at the top left corner of the main window)

• In this menu, look for Help sub-menu and select Troubleshooting information

• In this information page, click on the Reset Firefox button

• On the opened Windows, you can reset the settings to the default by clicking on the Reset Firefox button

• Mozilla Firefox restart and the settings will be set to the default

Steps to remove malicious extensions from Chrome browsers:

Open the Chrome browser and click on the Chrome menu. In the drop down menu, choose More Tools and then Extensions:

In the Extension Window, look for recently added malicious add-ons and move it to the Trash and any such extensions are located. Note that, you can safely install all the extensions from the Google Chrome browser. However, if you have any problems with the browser redirects and the advertisements –Reset the Google Chrome. Follow these steps in order to reset the browser, disable the extensions and set the default search engine, homepage and startup tabs.

• Open Google Chrome and click on the bars icon at the top right corner of the page

• In the settings page, scroll down to it to find Show Advanced settings

• Search the Reset browser settings option and click on it

• Click on the Reset button on the opened page

• Restart the Google Chrome to changes to take effect

Mac users can download and check if the free scanner can help cleaning MainSearchSignal from their infected system

Protect your Mac from Malware

Mac OS has many features that help you protect the device and the personal information from malicious software or malware. One common way malware is distributed is by embedding it with some regular app. You can reduce this risk using software only from reliable sources. The Security and Privacy settings allow you to specify the sources of the software installed on the device. In addition to this, other types of malware may not be safe. These could be web archives and Java archives. Of course, not all files like this are unsafe, but you should be cautious when opening any such downloaded file. An alert appears when you first try to open them which are an indication of something suspicious. Keeping some antivirus tool installed on the device is also help in achieving system security.