Should I remove SafeSearch?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
83% remove it17% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #13,392
United States Rank #9,119
Reach 0.0228%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 12.55 days
370.16 days >
Average installed length: 194.49 days
Versions
Version | Distribution |
0.9.2.0 |
100.00% |
|
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- #13,392 SafeSearch by AVSoftware
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SafeSearch
from AVSoftware Ltd.
What is SafeSearch?
SafeSearch is an ad-supported (users may see additional banner, search, pop-up, pop-under, interstitial and in-text link advertisements) cross web browser plugin for Internet Explorer (BHO) and Firefox/Chrome (plugin) and distributed through various monetization platforms during installation. The browser extension includes various features that will modify the default or custom settings of the browser including the home page, search settings and in some cases will modify Internet Explorer's load time threshold, place a lock file within Firefox to prevent competing software from changing its settings as well as disable the browser's Content Security Policy in order to allow for cross site scripting of the plugin.
The software is typically bundled as part as an additional offer with the StartInstall download manager.
About (from AVSoftware)
SafeSearch created by AVSoftware is unique search engine that filters malicious sites or sites with bad reputation. Every website is weighted on several critical factors - vendor reliability, child safety, privacy issues, user opinions and ratings.
Overview
- Starts automatically
- Loads into the web browser
- Installed as part of a co-bundle
- Injects advertisements unassociated with the underlying web page
- Hijacks the web browser's home page
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
SafeSearch has been found to be bundled with 3rd party software. If you have not purposefully installed this, you should be safe uninstalling it.
Program details
URL: www.safesearch.net
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\SafeSearch\
Uninstaller: "C:\Program Files\SafeSearch\unins000.exe"
Estimated size: 14.96 MB
Files installed by SafeSearch
Program executable: | se.exe |
Path: | C:\Program Files\SafeSearch\se.exe |
MD5: | d415d174ab1ca4ac25e67d1f69138b86 |
Additional files:
-
npsafesearch.dll - SafeSearch (SafeSearch the world wide web.)
-
SafeSearch.dll
-
ssinstall.dll
Behaviors exhibited
Google Chrome Plugin
- npsafesearch.dll is loaded in the Google Chrome web browser as 'npsafesearch.dll'.
Mozilla Plugin
- npsafesearch.dll is loaded into Mozilla Firefox under the product name 'avsoftware.org/safesearch' with a plugin key of 'avsoftware.org/safesearch'.
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- se.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named SSVerify.
How do I remove SafeSearch?
You can uninstall SafeSearch from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
- Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
- When you find the program SafeSearch, click it, and then do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
- Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove SafeSearch.
- If for some reason uninstallation fails, please install Microsoft's uninstall fixer utility which will help fix problems with programs that can't be uninstalled at support.microsoft.com.
How do I reset my web browser?
If your web browser homepage and search settings have been modfied by SafeSearch you can restore them to their previous default settings.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer and click the Tools button, and then click Internet options.
- Click the Advanced tab, and then click Reset. Select the Delete personal settings check box if you would also like to remove search providers, Accelerators and home pages. When Internet Explorer finishes applying default settings, click Close, and then click OK.
- The changes will take effect the next time you open IE.
Mozilla Firefox
- At the top of the Firefox window, click the Firefox button, go over to the Help sub-menu and select Troubleshooting Information.
- To continue, click Reset Firefox in the confirmation window that opens. It will close and be reset.
- When it's done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click Finish and Firefox will open.
Google Chrome
- Open Chrome and click the Chrome menu on the browser toolbar.
- Select Settings. In the "Search" section, click Manage search engine. Check if (Default) is displayed next to your preferred search engine. If not, mouse over it and click Make default. Mouse over any other suspicious search engine entries that are not familiar and click X to remove them.
- When the "Show Home button" checkbox is selected, a web address appears below it. If you want the Homepage button to open up a different webpage, click Change to enter a link.
- Restart Google Chrome.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 49%
Win XP 0%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Scheduled task? Yes
(Runs on Windows boot)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
|
Uninstall it 83%
Keep it 17%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 |
51.78% |
|
Windows 10 |
32.67% |
|
Windows Vista |
9.11% |
|
Windows XP |
6.44% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
Windows 7 Home Premium |
41.52% |
|
Windows 8.1 |
17.41% |
|
Windows 8 |
7.14% |
|
Microsoft Windows XP |
6.25% |
|
Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
5.80% |
|
Windows 7 Ultimate |
4.91% |
|
Geography
70.02% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
United States |
70.02% |
United Kingdom |
27.02% |
Canada |
0.66% |
United Arab Emirates |
0.33% |
China |
0.33% |
Iran |
0.33% |
Australia |
0.16% |
CY |
0.16% |
GG |
0.16% |
Israel |
0.16% |
Italy |
0.16% |
Malaysia |
0.16% |
Philippines |
0.16% |
SD |
0.16% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Hewlett-Packard |
34.25% |
|
Dell |
19.57% |
|
Acer |
18.04% |
|
Toshiba |
10.09% |
|
Lenovo |
6.42% |
|
ASUS |
5.50% |
|
Samsung |
1.83% |
|
American Megatrends |
1.22% |
|
Gateway |
1.22% |
|
GIGABYTE |
0.92% |
|
Sahara |
0.92% |
|
Common models |
HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
8.11% |
|
HP Pavilion g7 notebook P... |
3.78% |
|
Dell Inspiron 3521 |
3.24% |
|
Dell Inspiron 1545 |
2.70% |
|
HP 15 Notebook PC |
2.70% |
|
HP 2000 Notebook PC |
2.70% |
|