Should I remove MaxWebSearch?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
81% remove it19% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
United States Rank #49,349
Reach 0.0005%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 31.72 days
183.01 days >
Average installed length: 96.16 days
MaxWebSearch
from Websearchy
What is MaxWebSearch?
MaxWebSearch, also known as Websearchy from Adknowledge, Inc. is a web browser hijacker and advertising injector (adware). The software is typically bundled by third party installers that collect insert revenue from installing this adware on the user's PC. The software runs in the background of the user's PC and creates a proxy service that routes all web browser Internet traffic through it in order to inject advertisements. In addition to displaying ads, the program will take over the browser's search engine.
Overview
Upon installation and setup, it defines an auto-start registry entry which makes this program run on each Windows boot for all user logins. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The main program executable is MaxWebSearch.exe. Typically most users end up uninstalling this just after a few days. The software installer includes 9 files and is usually about 6.89 MB (7,225,291 bytes).
- Possible malware installed by this program
- Starts automatically
- Difficult to remove as it will reinstall itself
- Installed as part of a co-bundle
- Displays unwanted advertisements
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in MaxWebSearch.
| uninstall.MaxWebSearch.exe (392919e999cdcfc3e608243687754382) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners: |
| Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
| Symantec |
5/30/2014 rev. 6 |
WS.Reputation |
| TrendMicro-HouseCall |
7.2.150 |
TROJ_GEN.F47V0506 |
MaxWebSearch 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: maxwebsearch.com
Help link: maxwebsearch.com/legal/privacy
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Websearchy
Uninstaller: "C:\Program Files\Websearchy\uninstall.MaxWebSearch.exe" /u /UserID=1c1fab42-7d67-462a-a149-a62fafe89587 /SourceID=adnxs|adnxs_bsg-728x90-c1951534-136
Estimated size: 6.89 MB
Files installed by MaxWebSearch
| Program executable: | MaxWebSearch.exe |
| Name: | WebSearchy |
| Path: | C:\Program Files\Websearchy\MaxWebSearch.exe |
| MD5: | d18abba1882edc58cca67b529dccfab5 |
Additional files:
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Interop.Shell32.dll - Assembly imported from type library 'Shell32'.
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MaxWebSearch.exe - MaxWebSearch
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WebSearchyDAL.dll
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(Malware detected) uninstall.MaxWebSearch.exe - Installer
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oo.dll (by Adknowledge) - oo
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Microsoft.Win32.TaskScheduler.dll (by CodePlex Community) - TaskService (Task Scheduler Wrapper)
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Newtonsoft.Json.dll (by Newtonsoft) - Json.NET (Json.NET .NET 2.0)
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System.Data.SQLite.dll (by Robert Simpson, et al) - System.Data.SQLite (System.Data.SQLite Interop Assembly)
-
UrlHistoryLibrary.dll
Behaviors exhibited
Scheduled Task
- uninstall.MaxWebSearch.exe is scheduled as a task named 'MaxWebSearch Update Task' (runs daily at 1:23 AM).
Startup File (All Users Run)
- MaxWebSearch.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'MaxWebSearch' which loads as "C:\Program Files\Websearchy\MaxWebSearch.exe".
How do I remove MaxWebSearch?
You can uninstall MaxWebSearch 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 MaxWebSearch, 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 MaxWebSearch.
- 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.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 67%
Win 10 11%
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HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
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USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 81%
Keep it 19%
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Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
66.67% |
|
| Windows Vista |
11.11% |
|
| Windows XP |
11.11% |
|
| Windows 10 |
11.11% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
44.44% |
|
| Windows 8 |
11.11% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate N |
11.11% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
11.11% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
11.11% |
|
| Microsoft Windows XP |
11.11% |
|
Geography
100.00% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Hewlett-Packard |
37.50% |
|
| Acer |
37.50% |
|
| Dell |
25.00% |
|
Common models |
| innotek GmbH VirtualBox |
11.11% |
|
| HP-Pavilion KJ402AA-ABA a... |
11.11% |
|
| HP-Pavilion AW010AV-ABA p... |
11.11% |
|
| HP Pavilion g7 Notebook P... |
11.11% |
|
| Gateway NE56R |
11.11% |
|
| Dell OptiPlex 740 Enhance... |
11.11% |
|