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Is searchprotector.exe from you or is it a scam/virus/whatever else?

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  • Valiny farany nomen'i cor-el

wrrr
wrrr
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A window comes up on my screen titled "InstallX Search Protector - ALERT -".

The contents say, "Search Protector has detected changes to your system search settings. Do you want to keep using Yahoo Search or allow these changes?

The 3 buttons at the bottom of the window are <Keep Using Yahoo Search>, <Allow Changes> and <Options>.

I've just been pressing the first button but the message keeps coming back after I get a request to allow "SearchProtector.exe to make changes to my Hard Drive.

Is this from Yahoo? Is it from someone else? And finally if it is from you what do you recommend that I do to stop this window from popping up and trying to maintain some level of security.

A window comes up on my screen titled "InstallX Search Protector - ALERT -". The contents say, "Search Protector has detected changes to your system search settings. Do you want to keep using Yahoo Search or allow these changes? The 3 buttons at the bottom of the window are <Keep Using Yahoo Search>, <Allow Changes> and <Options>. I've just been pressing the first button but the message keeps coming back after I get a request to allow "SearchProtector.exe to make changes to my Hard Drive. Is this from Yahoo? Is it from someone else? And finally if it is from you what do you recommend that I do to stop this window from popping up and trying to maintain some level of security.

All Replies (3)

WilIP
WilIP
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Poking around on the Internet, all I can find is information about 'Search protection' by Yahoo!. It is intended to detect when some software attempts to change the default search engine and prevent it from doing so without the user's consent.

However, I can only find it mentioned to do with Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7. It could be available for other browsers, but I haven't found anything to confirm this. If IE is your default browser, then this is probably the Yahoo! product. Otherwise, it could be some sort of trick (although a very unusual one) and you should perhaps scan your files with anti-virus software. Even if this is the Yahoo! product, something is still trying to make alterations to your system without consent, meaning you might have a virus or adware which could possibly be removed with anti-virus software.

Moses
Moses
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Hi,

Mozilla doesn't bundle ANYTHING with Firefox. You must've downloaded that somehow. You can follow the instructions at the site below to get rid of it. When you hit step 3, stop there and scan your computer with the below programs:

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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You can check in "Windows Control Panel > Programs" for recently installed programs to see if any suspicious software shows up.

  • Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > Uninstall or change a program
  • Click the Installed column to sort by this heading