Should I remove Fast Search?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
63% remove it37% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #8,559
United States Rank #7,190
Reach 0.0457%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 25.68 days
757.46 days >
Average installed length: 397.99 days
Versions
| Version | Distribution |
| 5.4.0 |
0.22% |
|
| 5.3.0 |
0.22% |
|
| 5.2.3 |
0.11% |
|
| 5.2.2 |
0.78% |
|
| 5.1.6 |
0.11% |
|
| 5.1.0 |
0.22% |
|
| 5.0.5 |
0.22% |
|
| 5.0.1 |
46.06% |
|
| 4.0.4 |
0.22% |
|
| 4.0.3 |
13.54% |
|
| 3.5.0 |
4.00% |
|
| 3.4.9 |
0.22% |
|
| 3.4.7 |
0.44% |
|
| 3.4.5 |
0.22% |
|
| 3.4.2 |
0.89% |
|
| 3.4.1 |
6.33% |
|
| 3.4.0 |
1.55% |
|
| 3.3.8 |
6.33% |
|
| 3.3.7 |
3.33% |
|
| 3.3.6 |
10.65% |
|
| 3.3.5 |
4.33% |
|
Other programs by Surf Canyon
Rankings
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- #8,556 Validity WBF DDK 495
- #8,557 Topaz ReMask 4
- #8,558 Funmoods on IE and Chrome by Volonet Ltd
- #8,559 Fast Search by Surf Canyon
- #8,560 MailWasher Pro by FireTrust Limited
- #8,561 OCR Software by I.R.I.S. 11.0 by Hewlett-Packard
- #8,562 PhotoSync by touchbyte GmbH
- #8,563 EPSON WF-3640 Series Printer Uninstall by SEIKO EPSON
- #8,564 EPSON NX510 Series Printer Uninstall by SEIKO EPSON
Fast Search
from Surf Canyon
What is Fast Search?
Fast Search by Surf Canyon is a browser extension and search site that use implicit relevance feedback in real time to personalize search results.
About (from Surf Canyon)
Surf Canyon is a browser extension that sits atop search engine sites like Google, Yahoo! and Bing. By observing user behavior, its real-time semantic personalization technology enables users to quickly and easily find relevant information that's buried in the search result set. Check out our blog for more technical di... Read more
Overview
Fast Search is a software program developed by Surf Canyon. The most common release is 5.0.1, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in Windows in order to automatically start when any user boots the PC. It adds a Browser Helper Object (BHO) to Internet Explorer. The primary executable is named surfcanyon.dll. Many users end up uninstalling this after less than a month of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 12 files and is usually about 512.75 KB (525,058 bytes). Relative to the overall usage of users who have this installed on their PCs, most are running Windows 7 (SP1) and Windows 10. While about 54% of users of Fast Search come from the United States, it is also popular in India and Canada.
- Automatically starts with Windows
- Integrates into the web browser
Fast Search 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.surfcanyon.com
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Surf Canyon
Uninstaller: "C:\Program Files\Surf Canyon\uninstall.exe"
Estimated size: 512.75 KB
Files installed by Fast Search
| Program module: | surfcanyon.dll |
| Name: | Fast Search |
| Fast Search for Internet Explorer |
| Signed by: | Surf Canyon Incorporated |
| Path: | C:\Program Files\Surf Canyon\surfcanyon.dll |
| MD5: | 28b867d4ba559bb6305e933b93136ee2 |
| When you execute a search query in your browser on selected search engines (currently Google, Yahoo, Bing and Craigslist), the Fast Search Surf Canyon browser extension makes additional network connections to the search engine and execute... |
Additional files:
-
SurfCanyonDesktop.exe - Surf Canyon Desktop
-
surfcanyon64.dll - Fast Search (Fast Search for Internet Explorer)
-
Uninstall.exe
Behaviors exhibited
Internet Explorer BHO
- surfcanyon.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a BHO (Browser Helper Object) under the name 'Fast Search' with the class of {5AB7104A-B71F-49AD-9154-F7F8806AE848} (IE BHO Utility).
Startup File (All Users Run)
- SurfCanyonDesktop.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'SurfCanyonDesktop' which loads as C:\Program Files\Surf Canyon\SurfCanyonDesktop.exe.
How do I remove Fast Search?
You can uninstall Fast Search 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 Fast Search, 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 Fast Search.
- 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 Fast Search 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) 61%
Win 7 0%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 63%
Keep it 37%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
69.15% |
|
| Windows XP |
10.32% |
|
| Windows Vista |
10.32% |
|
| Windows 10 |
10.21% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
45.86% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
11.97% |
|
| Microsoft Windows XP |
9.96% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
8.84% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
7.83% |
|
| Windows 8 Pro |
2.35% |
|
Geography
54.12% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
54.12% |
| India |
2.46% |
| Canada |
2.37% |
| Israel |
2.28% |
| Germany |
2.28% |
| United Kingdom |
2.19% |
| Saudi Arabia |
1.93% |
| MA |
1.75% |
| Spain |
1.75% |
| Italy |
1.75% |
| Philippines |
1.49% |
| Australia |
1.23% |
| Netherlands |
1.14% |
| Malaysia |
1.14% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Hewlett-Packard |
31.01% |
|
| Dell |
20.73% |
|
| Acer |
16.93% |
|
| Toshiba |
10.60% |
|
| ASUS |
6.96% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
3.96% |
|
| Samsung |
3.48% |
|
| Lenovo |
2.06% |
|
| Intel |
2.06% |
|
| Sahara |
1.27% |
|
| American Megatrends |
0.95% |
|
Common models |
| HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... |
4.93% |
|
| HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
4.93% |
|
| HP Pavilion g7 Notebook P... |
3.95% |
|
| HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook ... |
3.29% |
|
| Dell Inspiron N5110 |
2.96% |
|
| Dell Inspiron N5010 |
2.30% |
|