Should I remove Search Protect by conduit?

What percent of users and experts removed it?

82% remove it18% keep it

Overall Sentiment

Bad

What do people think about it?

(click star to rate)

How common is it?

Global Rank #1,021

United States Rank #587

Reach 0.6758%

Lifespan of installation (until removal)

< 38.53 days

1136.69 days >

Average installed length: 597.25 days

Versions

Version	Distribution
2.0.2.19	0.02%
1.7.0.72	25.68%
1.5.2.9	0.16%
1.5.0.71	52.54%
1.4.3.7	4.14%
1.4.2.2	0.22%
1.4.1.12	10.87%
1.4.0.65	3.61%
1.3.0.184	0.25%
1.2.10.10	0.54%
1.2.5.2	1.01%
1.2.4.3	0.20%
1.2.3.6	0.20%
1.2.2.4	0.20%
1.2.1.1	0.05%
1.2.0.90	0.01%
1.1.14.2	0.08%
1.1.13.3	0.02%
1.1.12.2	0.01%
1.1.5.6	0.08%
1.1.4.5	0.01%
1.0.4.5	0.12%
1.0.1.119	0.01%

Other programs by Conduit

Rankings

#1,016 Windows Phone app for desktop by Microsoft
#1,017 HP Officejet Pro 8600 Basic Device Software by Hewlett-Packard
#1,018 Windows 10 Upgrade Assistant by Microsoft
#1,019 Google+ Auto Backup
#1,020 Dell DataSafe Local Backup
#1,021 Search Protect by conduit
#1,022 AcerCloud Docs
#1,023 Logitech Vid HD
#1,024 HitmanPro 3.7 by SurfRight
#1,025 Qualcomm Atheros Bluetooth Suite (64)
#1,026 Hardware Diagnostic Tools by PC-Doctor

Search Protect by conduit

from Conduit Ltd.

What is Search Protect by conduit?

The Conduit Search Protect software is designed to prevent other competing web browser plugins from changing the homepage and search settings that are created by the Conduit OurToolbar from being changed automatically. It is typically installed with various Community toolbars.

During install of a Conduit Toolbar, you by default except the EULA to install the included SearchProtect software (which is required). Upon installation the program will add three background startup options to Windows in order to make sure the program runs on each reboot. This includes a StartUp run activation on user login for both the current user as well as one for all users. Additionally a Windows Service is added (CtlMngSvc). During setup, the software will connect to the Internet and download a file called SPSetup.exe from integration.download.conduit-services.com which is loaded from the user's web browser temporary folder.

About (from Conduit)

Search Protect is a separate piece of software installed on your hard-drive in connection with your installation of a Toolbar. It is designed to protect your Search settings from takeover by third parties. Search Protect captures information about companies attempts to redirect and/or change your Search settings. Condu... Read more

Overview

Malware detected in the program
Automatically starts with Windows
Connects to the Internet
Installs a Windows Service
Typically distributed through a pay-per-install bundle
The experts agree, you should remove it!

Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in Search Protect by conduit.

CltMngSvc.exe (0bbecff40270b9967ab7e79a50a484c3) has been flagged by the following 6 scanners:
Anti-Virus software	Version	Detection
avast!	2014.9-131025	Win32:SearchProtect-B [PUP]
Dr.Web	9.0.0.0298	Adware.BGuard.15
ESET-NOD32	7.8977	a variant of Win32/Conduit.SearchProtect.E
Malwarebytes	v2013.11.01.11	PUP.Optional.Conduit.A
TrendMicro-HouseCall	7.2.305	TROJ_GEN.F47V0811
VIPRE Antivirus	22812	Conduit (fs)
cltmng.exe (51de6288470b700c0cd663cdac49a4b0) has been flagged by the following 6 scanners:
Anti-Virus software	Software version	Detection
Antiy-AVL	2.0.3.7	Trojan/Win32.Patched
avast!	8.0.1489.320	Win32:SearchProtect-B [PUP]
ESET-NOD32	8943	a variant of Win32/Conduit.SearchProtect.B
Kingsoft AntiVirus	2013.4.9.267	Win32.Troj.Generic.a.(kcloud)
Malwarebytes	1.75.0.1	PUP.Optional.Conduit.A
VIPRE Antivirus	22588	Conduit (fs)
FirefoxModule.dll (b73f5d0f7bd19f0c0dd623bf4e0c9462) has been flagged by the following 6 scanners:
Anti-Virus software	Software version	Detection
avast!	8.0.1489.320	Win32:SearchProtect-C [Adw]
Bkav FE	1.3.0.4562	W32.Clodb48.Trojan.e68b
Dr.Web		Adware.BGuard.15
ESET-NOD32	9058	a variant of Win32/Conduit.SearchProtect.C
Malwarebytes	1.75.0.1	PUP.Optional.Conduit.A
VIPRE Antivirus	23452	Conduit (fs)
ChromeModule.dll (69ad496531a839ec7fc3edcb7b046367) has been flagged by the following 5 scanners:
Anti-Virus software	Software version	Detection
avast!	8.0.1489.320	Win32:SearchProtect-C [Adw]
Dr.Web		Adware.BGuard.15
ESET-NOD32	9058	a variant of Win32/Conduit.SearchProtect.C
Malwarebytes	1.75.0.1	PUP.Optional.Conduit.A
VIPRE Antivirus	23452	Conduit (fs)
InternetExplorerModule.dll (8cb6c541f8937bc4f794eb21a50b69bc) has been flagged by the following 5 scanners:
Anti-Virus software	Software version	Detection
avast!	8.0.1489.320	Win32:SearchProtect-C [Adw]
Dr.Web		Adware.BGuard.15
ESET-NOD32	9058	a variant of Win32/Conduit.SearchProtect.C
Malwarebytes	1.75.0.1	PUP.Optional.Conduit.A
VIPRE Antivirus	23452	Conduit (fs)
SPHook32.dll (cef34741e205ebc85aeb01f04fc75ebf) has been flagged by the following 5 scanners:
Anti-Virus software	Software version	Detection
avast!	8.0.1489.320	Win32:SearchProtect-C [Adw]
Dr.Web		Adware.BGuard.15
ESET-NOD32	9058	Win32/Conduit.SearchProtect.A
Malwarebytes	1.75.0.1	PUP.Optional.Conduit.A
VIPRE Antivirus	23452	Conduit (fs)

View all 33 all detections

Search Protect by conduit 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

Displayed publisher: Conduit

URL: www.conduit.com/privacy/search-protect-privacy-policy.aspx

Installation folder: C:\Program Files\searchprotect\bin

Uninstaller: "C:\Program Files\SearchProtect\bin\uninstall.exe" /S

Estimated size: 5.67 MB

Files installed by Search Protect by conduit

Program executable:	cltmng.exe
Name:	Search Protect
	Search Protect by Conduit
Path:	C:\Program Files\searchprotect\bin\cltmng.exe
MD5:	6276c8545cd7897c8bf289169509bd3b

Additional files:

ChromeModule.dll - Search Protect (Search Protect by Conduit)
(Malware detected) CltMngSvc.exe
FirefoxModule.dll
InternetExplorerModule.dll
SPHook32.dll
SPHook64.dll
SPRunner.exe
SPTool64.exe
uninstall.exe - Search Protect Uninstaller
msvcp100.dll
msvcr100.dll

Behaviors exhibited

Service

CltMngSvc.exe runs as a service named 'Search Protect by Conduit Updater' (CltMngSvc) "This service enables auto-updates of Search Protect by Conduit, which maintains your selected Search settings.".

Startup File (User Run)

cltmng.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'SearchProtect' and executes as C:\users\user\appdata\Roaming\SearchProtect\bin\cltmng.exe.

Startup File (All Users Run)

cltmng.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'SearchProtectAll' which loads as C:\Program Files\SearchProtect\bin\cltmng.exe.

Network connections

cltmng.exe connects to ec2-107-21-230-204.compute-1.amazonaws.com (107.21.230.204 port 80).
cltmng.exe connects to ec2-107-22-239-148.compute-1.amazonaws.com (107.22.239.148 port 80).
cltmng.exe connects to VIP15.LB30.DALL.COTENDO.net (184.169.72.135 port 443).

Resource utilization averages
Show technical details

cltmng.exe
Memory:	18.04 MB	21.09 MB average
Total CPU:	0.0048151192%	0.031193% average
Kernel CPU:	0.00124617%	0.016088% average
User CPU:	0.00356895%	0.015104% average
CPU cycles/sec:	268,234	8,062,084 average
Switches/sec:	4	70 average
I/O reads/min:	205 Bytes	435.61 KB average
I/O writes/min:	145 Bytes	105.02 KB average
CltMngSvc.exe
Memory:	4.63 MB
Total CPU:	0.0011015680%
Kernel CPU:	0.00031535%
User CPU:	0.00078622%
CPU cycles/sec:	260,511
I/O reads/min:	121 Bytes

How do I remove Search Protect by conduit?

You can uninstall Search Protect by conduit 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 Search Protect by conduit, 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 Search Protect by conduit.
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 IT STARTS

Automatically starts? Yes

(Found in the run registry)

USER ACTIONS

Uninstall it 82%

Keep it 18%

GLOBAL RANK

#1,021

Windows

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?

Windows 7	65.18%
Windows 10	15.41%
Windows Vista	10.18%
Windows XP	9.20%
Windows Server 2003	0.02%
Which OS releases does it run on?
Windows 7 Home Premium	43.27%
Windows 7 Ultimate	10.83%
Microsoft Windows XP	9.03%
Windows 7 Professional	8.51%
Windows 8	8.30%
Windows Vista Home Premiu...	8.12%

Geography

75.20% of installs come from the United States

Which countries install it?

United States	75.20%
Canada	6.01%
United Kingdom	2.75%
Germany	2.29%
Israel	0.93%
France	0.76%
Iran	0.72%
Australia	0.59%
India	0.55%
Japan	0.55%
Brazil	0.54%
Saudi Arabia	0.46%
MA	0.42%
Italy	0.38%

PC manufacturers

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?

Hewlett-Packard	32.60%
Dell	25.72%
Acer	14.09%
Toshiba	9.85%
ASUS	5.89%
GIGABYTE	3.95%
Samsung	2.74%
Lenovo	2.73%
Intel	1.39%
American Megatrends	1.04%
Common models
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ...	5.95%
HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P...	5.95%
HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook ...	5.30%
HP Pavilion g7 Notebook P...	4.34%
HP 2000 Notebook PC	3.14%
Dell Inspiron 1545	2.26%

About Conduit

Conduit is an online platform that allows web publishers to create custom toolbars, web apps, and mobile apps at no cost.

Publisher URL: www.conduit.com

Learn more about Conduit Ltd.

24 comments

Simon H•over a year ago

Got this from installing Audiograbber

ALibertarian•over a year ago

Got this because a downloaded a PhotoShop filter from CNET. Anybody know is this came from CNET or the plugin maker Red Field?

Dave69•over a year ago

I don't' even know what installed it or when it's been installed. I hate this kind of stupid softwares. UNINSTALLED!

M. T. Dude•over a year ago

Considering the perils of the uninstaller, would it work to simply delete its directory, or would that miss something? 'Twould help. Thanks in advance.

Ashe•over a year ago

Uninstalling from the control panels seems to have worked. I picked this trash up off of some ad on Adfly. I THOUGHT I was downloading what I was really after, but instead it was some fake "download manager". So if you're on Adfly, just ignore any pop-ups on the screen and click on the "skip ad" at the top. Amazing what one lapse of memory will get you on the internet.

someinternetguy•over a year ago

thank you for this post. I've just spent 40 mins on the phone with my semi PC literate mum trying to work out what the hell was wrong with her PC. This page solved everything. unfortunately she has no idea where this came from. kll it. kill it with fire.

Rev Pumpkin Smile•over a year ago

Currently bundled with Auslogics Defrag free and paid pro version 4.

nameforthis:)•over a year ago

Can this be uninstalled through the control panel successfully? This program has been the one causing my windows server in the task manager into being about 400mb memory usage!!! (windows 8) I was so happy when I read this that this program was causing the problem.

Davo2014•over a year ago

DO NOT use Conduit's uninstaller. It destroyed my Windows installation (I know, duh!). By the way. I did not accept a EULA and had no idea the software had been bundled with what I was installing until I discovered the alterations to my browsers. Then I couldn't delete the new tab preference in Firefox even in about:config. I definitely didn't agree to that implicitly or explicitly and a prosecution under the Computer Misuse Act will ensue if I can find names and addresses.

Bell'sMyISP•over a year ago

I got my conduit virus by installing a free version of McAfee from my isp! It came bundled with Visual Bee and its so-cute "lets redirect all your homepages" to advertising sites virus. Ridiculous. On the phone with isp tech support, and the agent did not suspect it was happenning. Insane world we live in

Zak•over a year ago

Damn thing hijacked my control panel. Always says something is being "uninstalled" 5th Time got it Never got a tool bar, but first time it puts up a fight

avl420•over a year ago

this is my second post as this program wouldnt let me speak my mind this program is a virus and i do not reccomend anybody to even open this file as it will crash your computer. I am a victim of search protect and it has illegally installed itself to my computer and i cannot remove it o even close the program

avl420•over a year ago

this program likes to install itself illegally to your software and is not a problem solver but in fact is the virus we try so hard to keep off our computers i do not reccomend anybody even open this file it will crash your computer. My name Alexander Veloz and i am a victim of search protect.

Jack Yan•over a year ago

Thank you for this page! I had been wondering why my laptop was at 100 per cent CPU usage—been like that for almost a year. I had blamed other programs, which I got round to removing last night. Turns out it was Conduit all along—glad to see the back end of that. CPU usage has now, thankfully, dropped to as low as 4 per cent.

ars5960•over a year ago

Hmm, when I booted up my PC this morning, I noticed this in the list of start up s/w (actually, had to restart because neither FF or IE would open). Went to the Control Panel and noticed that it was installed today, too. :O But, since I did not install it, I removed it easily enough using the CP (Windows 7).

AdwareBuster (Expert)•over a year ago

Just my short list of some of the wonderful companies (AKA adware distributors) that shovel Conduit and its Search Protect product: Tuguu sl (softdls.com) Optimum Installer (download-instantly.com) Jottix international media (adsmarket.com) Bechiro S.L. (onesappz.com) Ellora Assets Corp. (freemake.com) Lior Sela (VaudiX) Download Admin (free-antivirus.com)

Hijackers suck azz•over a year ago

Yeah it just hijacked my search engine in google chrome. SOmetimes its hard to get rid of. Takes a bit to uninstall it from the control panel. You click unsintall and it does nothing butt then you click and uninstall agian and it say to wait till the program finishes uninstalling or changing, etc. Such a piece O crap software.

gundagai•over a year ago

Conduit itself is does not show high CPU usage but the high CPU usage shows up on the WMIprvse.exe (WMI Process Server) process. On my Windows 8 laptop, it was causing a constant 18-20% CPU usage. After uninstalling Conduit, CPU usage dropped to 1%

lil_mercy•over a year ago

This program is nothing but trouble! In addition to removing it from uninstaller, I have also blocked through browser, so if it tries to download from another program it should be stopped. I use CHROME by the way.

I hate Hijackers•over a year ago

I tried to uninstall it several times using my remove or change app on my control panel and it states that it was uninstalled but the darn thing still takes over my google browser.

DTI•over a year ago

Thanks JST, I'll delete it!

JST•over a year ago

This is nothing more than a browser hijacker. In fact, it is designed to protect its own browser/search toolbars so that they cannot be easily removed by competing toolbars or from legitimate adware blockers like IE's built in search protection.

Andy•over a year ago

This comes from Swagbucks

Stacy (Expert)•over a year ago

Conduit Search is an adware app will change your browser home page and default search engine to search.conduit.com. It is easy to recognize the presence of search.conduit.com on the computer. One and most obvious indication is a modified homepage of your Internet browser. Search Protect got on your computer after you have installed another program that had bundled in their installer the Conduit Search toolbar.