Should I remove Search module?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
75% remove it25% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #10,642
United States Rank #5,786
Reach 0.0330%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 10.25 days
302.37 days >
Average installed length: 158.87 days
Rankings
- #10,637 MSI Afterburner 4.1.1 by MSI Co., LTD
- #10,638 Steam by Valve
- #10,639 TeamViewer 8 Host
- #10,640 HPCarePackCore by Hewlett-Packard
- #10,641 Convert Files for Free by SoftSea.com
- #10,642 Search module by Goobzo
- #10,643 Ultimate Creative Collection (X6) by Corel
- #10,644 Wireless Switch Setting Utility by Sony
- #10,645 NoteTab Light 7 by Fookes Holding Ltd
- #10,646 Creative 3DMIDI Player
- #10,647 Photo to Cartoon by Caricature Software
Search module
from Goobzo
What is Search module?
Search module is an advertising supported browser extension also known as adware and is designed to deliver ads to the user's Internet browser as banners, context text-links and transitionals ads. The injected ads are not affiliated with the underlying website on which they appear. Goobzo is a potentially unwanted application that may slow down Internet browsing and cause the Web browser to crash.
Overview
During setup, the program registers itself to launch on boot through a Windows Schedule Task in order to automatically start-up (this is typically done to avoid any UAC prompts). Upon being installed, the software adds a Windows Service which is designed to run continuously in the background. Manually stopping the service has been seen to cause the program to stop functing properly. It adds a background controller service that is set to automatically run. Delaying the start of this service is possible through the service manager. The primary executable is named sma.exe. A majority of users end up uninstalling this less than a week of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 22 files and is usually about 11.73 MB (12,294,990 bytes). The installed file Updater.exe is the auto-update component of the program which is designed to check for software updates and notify and apply them when new versions are discovered.
- Malware detected in the program
- Automatically starts with Windows
- Installs a Windows Service
- Known to reinstall itself
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in Search module.
| sma.exe (5ca056d01418b686aca2ba40ed7913fc) has been flagged by the following 8 scanners: |
| Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
| AVG |
2015.0.3285 |
Skodna |
| AVware |
1.5.0.16 |
Goobzo (fs) |
| Baidu-International |
4.0.3.141120 |
Adware.Win32.CrossAd.BAI |
| Dr.Web |
9.0.0.0324 |
Adware.Searcher.2656 |
| Panda Antivirus |
14.11.20.01 |
Adware/Goobzo |
| Symantec |
11/20/2014 rev. 5 |
WS.Reputation |
| TrendMicro-HouseCall |
7.2.324 |
Suspicious_GEN.F47V0904 |
| VIPRE Antivirus |
33000 |
Goobzo (fs) |
| smu.exe (52065d6576bd8044dcbbaa575dcc0eee) has been flagged by the following 30 scanners: |
| Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
| Lavasoft Ad-Aware |
12.0.163.0 |
Adware.SearchModule.B |
| Agnitum Outpost |
5.5.1.3 |
Riskware.Agent! |
| AhnLab-V3 |
2014.11.13.00 |
Win-PUP/CrossRider |
| Antiy-AVL |
1.0.0.1 |
GrayWare[AdWare:not-a-virus]/Win32.Shopper |
| avast! |
8.0.1489.320 |
Win64:Adware-J [Adw] |
| AVG |
15.0.0.4189 |
Skodna.A8D |
| AVware |
1.5.0.21 |
Goobzo (fs) |
| Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
Adware.Win32.CrossAd.BAI |
| Bitdefender |
7.2 |
Adware.SearchModule.B |
| CAT-QuickHeal |
14.00 |
AdWare.Shopper.g6 (Not a Virus) |
| Dr.Web |
7.0.10.8210 |
Adware.Searcher.2710 |
| Emsisoft Anti-Malware |
3.0.0.600 |
Adware.SearchModule.B (B) |
| ESET-NOD32 |
10712 |
a variant of MSIL/SBWatchman.A |
| Fortinet FortiGate |
5.0.999.0 |
Adware/Shopper |
| F-Secure |
11.0.19100.45 |
Adware.SearchModule.B |
| G Data |
24 |
Adware.SearchModule.B |
| K7 AntiVirus |
9.185.13993 |
Trojan ( 004a92e21 ) |
| K7GW |
9.185.13987 |
Trojan ( 004a92e21 ) |
| Kaspersky |
12.0.0.1225 |
not-a-virus:AdWare.Win32.Shopper.adw |
| McAfee |
6.0.5.614 |
Artemis!52065D6576BD |
| McAfee-GW-Edition |
v2014.2 |
Artemis |
| MicroWorld-eScan |
12.0.250.0 |
Adware.SearchModule.B |
| NANO AntiVirus |
0.28.6.62995 |
Riskware.Win64.Shopper.dfjlxq |
| nProtect |
2014-11-12.01 |
Adware.SearchModule.B |
| Panda Antivirus |
4.6.4.1 |
Trj/Chgt.G |
| Tencent |
1.0.0.1 |
Win32.Trojan.Falsesign.Srna |
| Trend Micro |
9.740.0.1012 |
TROJ_GEN.R047C0VK914 |
| TrendMicro-HouseCall |
9.700.0.1001 |
TROJ_GEN.R047C0VK914 |
| Vba32 AntiVirus |
3.12.26.3 |
AdWare.Shopper |
| VIPRE Antivirus |
34732 |
Goobzo (fs) |
| Updater.exe (a0b902dc99f25f2ebf8632515ce6c2fa) has been flagged by the following 16 scanners: |
| Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
| AhnLab-V3 |
2014.10.27.00 |
Win-PUP/CrossRider |
| avast! |
8.0.1489.320 |
Win32:Malware-gen |
| AVG |
14.0.0.4040 |
Skodna.A8D |
| Avira |
7.11.181.108 |
Adware/CrossRider.A.16642 |
| AVware |
1.5.0.21 |
Goobzo (fs) |
| Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
Adware.Win32.CrossAd.BAI |
| ESET-NOD32 |
10622 |
a variant of Win32/ShopperPro.A |
| Fortinet FortiGate |
5.0.999.0 |
Riskware/ShopperPro |
| G Data |
24 |
Win32.Application.GoobZo.A |
| K7 AntiVirus |
9.185.13805 |
Trojan ( 004a93fd1 ) |
| K7GW |
9.185.13802 |
Trojan ( 020000001 ) |
| McAfee |
6.0.5.614 |
Artemis!A0B902DC99F2 |
| McAfee-GW-Edition |
v2014.2 |
BehavesLike.Win32.BadFile.bh |
| Sophos |
4.98.0 |
Goobzo |
| Symantec |
20141.1.0.330 |
WS.Reputation.1 |
| Tencent |
1.0.0.1 |
Win32.Trojan.Falsesign.Llqv |
View all 54 all detections
Program details
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\common files\goobzo\gbupdate
Uninstaller: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Goobzo\GBUpdate\smUninstall.exe
Estimated size: 11.73 MB
Files installed by Search module
| Program executable: | sma.exe (Malware detected) |
| Path: | C:\Program Files\common files\goobzo\gbupdate\sma.exe |
| MD5: | 5ca056d01418b686aca2ba40ed7913fc |
Additional files:
-
(Malware detected) Updater.exe - Update Helper
-
smi32.exe - SBInject Application
-
smi64.exe
-
SBIEBrowserHelperObject.dll (by Search Module) - SBWatchman (Search Module Update Service)
-
smci32.dll (by Search Module)
-
smci64.dll
-
smfi32.dll
-
smfi64.dll
-
smoi32.dll
-
smoi64.dll
-
smri32.dll
-
smri64.dll
-
smw.sys - sbw
-
smei32.dll - W
-
smei64.dll
-
(Malware detected) smu.exe
-
resourceToolCommandLine.exe
-
SMUninstall.exe
Behaviors exhibited
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
- Updater.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named SMWUpd.
Service
- smu.exe runs as a service named 'Search Module Update' (SMUpd).
How do I remove Search module?
You can uninstall Search module 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 module, 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 module.
- 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) 50%
Win 8.1 0%
|
|
HOW IT RUNS
Windows Service? Yes
(Installs a service)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 75%
Keep it 25%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
52.76% |
|
| Windows 10 |
38.34% |
|
| Windows Vista |
6.60% |
|
| Windows XP |
2.30% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
33.85% |
|
| Windows 8.1 |
25.27% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
8.89% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
7.18% |
|
| Windows 8 |
6.40% |
|
| Windows Vista Home Premiu... |
6.08% |
|
Geography
85.32% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
85.32% |
| Canada |
5.52% |
| United Kingdom |
0.99% |
| Indonesia |
0.69% |
| India |
0.69% |
| Malaysia |
0.49% |
| Australia |
0.39% |
| Chile |
0.30% |
| Czech Republic |
0.30% |
| IQ |
0.30% |
| MA |
0.30% |
| United Arab Emirates |
0.20% |
| DZ |
0.20% |
| Egypt |
0.20% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Hewlett-Packard |
39.84% |
|
| Dell |
23.54% |
|
| Toshiba |
11.87% |
|
| ASUS |
7.65% |
|
| Acer |
7.04% |
|
| Lenovo |
4.02% |
|
| Samsung |
2.82% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
2.01% |
|
| Apple |
0.60% |
|
| Gateway |
0.60% |
|
Common models |
| HP 2000 Notebook PC |
6.37% |
|
| HP 15 Notebook PC |
4.12% |
|
| HP Pavilion 15 Notebook P... |
4.12% |
|
| TOSHIBA Satellite C55-A |
3.75% |
|
| HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... |
2.62% |
|
| Dell Inspiron 1545 |
2.25% |
|