How to remove Safe Finder virus [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

Some browser hijacker viruses also contain adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) that can be used to show intrusive ads and or collect personal data that can be sold to third parties. These unwanted advertisements can be opened in the form of pop-unders, pop-ups, in-text advertisements, video ads, text links or banners or even massive full page advertisements. Most of the adware is designed to open advertisements, but certain adware is form of spyware that often used to track users to collect your data.

In addition to that, as was mentioned earlier, certain browser viruses like Safe Finder to also change all internet browsers shortcuts that located on your Desktop or Start menu. So, every infected shortcut will try to reroute your browser to intrusive web-sites, some of which might be harmful. It can make the whole personal computer more vulnerable to hacker attacks.

We recommend you to get rid of Safe Finder redirect virus and free your PC of hijacker virus as quickly as possible, until the presence of the browser virus has not led to even worse consequences. Perform the steps below that will help you to completely remove Safe Finder virus, using only the built-in Windows features and a few of specialized free tools.

How to remove Safe Finder from personal computer

There are a simple manual steps below that will assist you to remove Safe Finder from your Microsoft Windows machine. The most effective way to remove this browser virus is to perform the manual removal tutorial and then use Zemana Anti-malware, Malwarebytes or AdwCleaner automatic tools (all are free). The manual way will help to weaken this browser hijacker virus and these malware removal utilities will completely remove Safe Finder and return the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and MS Edge settings to default.

How to delete Safe Finder redirect virus without any software

The useful removal tutorial for the Safe Finder virus. The detailed procedure can be followed by anyone as it really does take you step-by-step. If you follow this process to delete Safe Finder redirect virus let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.

Remove Safe Finder associated software by using Microsoft Windows Control Panel

Check out the Microsoft Windows Control Panel (Programs and Features section) to see all installed programs. We recommend to click on the “Date Installed” in order to sort the list of software by the date you installed them. If you see any unknown and suspicious programs, they are the ones you need to delete.

It will show the Windows Control Panel as shown below.

Next, press “Uninstall a program”
It will display a list of all software installed on your machine. Scroll through the all list, and delete any suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort applications by date in the Control panel.

Clean up the browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by Safe Finder

Important to know, most anti malware programs which are able to get rid of browser virus, but unable to scan for and recover modified shortcuts. So, you need to fix the desktop shortcuts for your Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge web-browsers manually.

Open the properties of the web browser shortcut. Right click on the shortcut of infected web-browser and select the “Properties” option and it’ll display the properties of the shortcut. Next, choose the “Shortcut” tab and have a look at the Target field as on the image below.

Normally, if the last word in the Target field is chrome.exe, iexplore.exe, firefox.exe. Be sure to pay attention to the extension, should be “exe”! All shortcuts which have been altered by hijacker virus like Safe Finder usually point to .bat, .cmd or .url files instead of .exe as shown on the image below

Another variant, an address has been added at the end of the line. In this case the Target field looks like …Application\chrome.exe” http://site.address as shown on the image below.

In order to fix a shortcut, you need to insert right path to the Target field or remove an address (if it has been added at the end). You can use the following information to fix your shortcuts which have been modified by browser virus.

Chrome	C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
	C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe
Firefox	C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
Internet Explorer	C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
	C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe
Opera	C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\launcher.exe
	C:\Program Files\Opera\launcher.exe

Once is finished, press OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all web browsers which are re-directed to the Safe Finder undesired web page.

Get rid of Safe Finder redirect virus from Firefox

If the Firefox settings like homepage, newtab and default search provider have been modified by the browser hijacker virus, then resetting it to the default state can help.

First, open the Mozilla Firefox. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will show the drop-down menu. Next, press the Help button ().

In the Help menu click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page click on “Refresh Firefox” button as shown below.

Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Microsoft Internet Explorer

The Internet Explorer reset is great if your browser is hijacked or you have unwanted add ons or toolbars on your internet browser, that installed by a malicious software.

First, open the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as shown on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The IE will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window like below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

You will now need to reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus from Chrome

Reset Chrome settings is a easy way to remove the hijacker virus, malicious and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to restore the web-browser’s newtab, startpage and search engine by default that have been replaced by Safe Finder virus.

First start the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will show the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to open the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web browser adress bar and press Enter.

The internet browser will show the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, like below and press the “Reset settings” button.

The Google Chrome will display the confirmation prompt. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The internet browser will launch the procedure of cleaning. Once it’s finished, the web browser’s settings including home page, new tab page and default search engine back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your PC.

Run free malware removal tools to completely remove Safe Finder virus

Manual removal guide does not always allow to completely delete the browser hijacker virus, as it is not easy to identify and get rid of components of virus and all malicious files from hard disk. Therefore, it’s recommended that you run malicious software removal tool to completely remove Safe Finder off your computer. Several free malware removal tools are currently available that can be used against the virus. The optimum method would be to use Zemana Anti-malware, Malwarebytes Free and AdwCleaner.

Run Zemana Anti-malware to remove Safe Finder virus

You can remove Safe Finder redirect virus automatically with a help of Zemana Anti-malware. We suggest this malware removal utility because it may easily remove viruses, potentially unwanted applications, ad supported software and toolbars with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.

Download Zemana anti malware on your system from the link below. Save it on your desktop.

When downloading is complete, close all windows on your personal computer. Further, launch the file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as on the image below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Zemana antimalware on the system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once setup is complete successfully, Zemana anti malware will automatically run and you can see its main window as shown on the image below.

Next, press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the hijacker virus and other malware and ad supported software. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the tool is scanning, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned.

When the system scan is finished, it’ll display a list of found items. When you’re ready, press “Next” button.

The Zemana anti malware will begin removing Safe Finder browser virus and other security threats. Once disinfection is complete, you can be prompted to reboot your computer.

Remove Safe Finder redirect virus with Malwarebytes

We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free. You may download and install Malwarebytes to find and remove Safe Finder virus from your machine. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats present on the PC.

Download Malwarebytes Free by clicking on the link below.

Once downloading is done, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the Malwarebytes will try to update itself and when this task is done, press the “Scan Now” button to begin scanning your machine for the Safe Finder virus and internet browser’s malicious extensions. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan it’ll detect all threats present on your PC system. In order to delete all items, simply click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes is a free application that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, services, registry entries and so on. To learn more about this malware removal utility, we recommend you to read and follow the step by step tutorial or the video guide below.

Scan your PC and remove Safe Finder virus with AdwCleaner

AdwCleaner is a free removal utility that can be downloaded and run to remove hijacker viruses, ‘ad supported’ software, malware, PUPs, toolbars and other threats from your computer. You can run this tool to detect threats even if you have an antivirus or any other security application.

Download AdwCleaner tool from the link below. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Once the download is finished, open the directory in which you saved it and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will launch the AdwCleaner tool and you will see a screen like below. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to display the application, click Yes button to continue.

Next, click “Scan” to perform a system scan for the Safe Finder browser virus and other malware and ad supported software. Depending on your personal computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the tool is checking, you may see how many objects and files has already scanned.

Once the checking is done is complete, it will display a list of detected items as shown in the figure below.

Review the scan results and then press “Clean” button. It will open a dialog box. Click “OK” to start the cleaning procedure. When the clean up is finished, the AdwCleaner may ask you to restart your computer. After reboot, the AdwCleaner will display the log file.

All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video instructions.

Stop Safe Finder virus and other intrusive web sites

It’s important to use adblocker programs like AdGuard to protect your PC system from harmful web-sites. Most security experts says that it’s okay to stop ads. You should do so just to stay safe! And, of course, the AdGuard can to block Safe Finder and other intrusive pages.

1. Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link.
   

   Adguard download
   26627 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. When the download is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. When the installation is finished, press “Skip” to close the setup program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your PC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop pop-up ads, web pages such Safe Finder, as well as other malicious or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, which may be found on your desktop.

Don’t know how your browser has been hijacked by Safe Finder browser virus?

In many cases Safe Finder virus come along with various free applications, as a bonus. Therefore it’s very important at the stage of installing software downloaded from the Net carefully review the Terms of use and the License agreement, as well as to always choose the Advanced, Custom or Manual install mode. In this mode, you may turn off all unwanted add-ons, including the Safe Finder browser virus, which will be installed along with the desired program. Of course, if you uninstall the free software from your machine, your favorite internet browser’s settings will not be restored. So, to restore the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE and Edge’s homepage, new tab and search provider by default you need to follow the step-by-step guidance above.

Finish words

Now your computer should be free of the Safe Finder virus. Delete AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted advertisements and undesired malicious web sites) and Malwarebytes (to periodically scan your PC for new malware, browser hijackers and ad supported software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijacker, malicious applications and ad-supported software are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove Safe Finder virus from your web-browser, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.