The appearance of Search Fort Pro as your home page, newtab page and search engine means that your PC has become a victim of the undesired program that belongs to the browser hijacker group. The browser hijacker has received widespread in recent days. Many people are faced with the fact that when the Internet Explorer, Firefox, Edge and Chrome starts, it will began to show the Search Fort Pro instead of the home page and the option to revert back a default web-browser settings was locked.
Except that the Search Fort Pro introduces changes to internet browser’s home page and newtab, it also rewrites your search engine, which leads to the fact that use of the browser’s search becomes uncomfortable. The reason for this is that the search results will consist of lots of advertisements, links to undesired and ad websites and only the remaining part is search results for your query from well-known search engines such as Google or Bing.
Although, Search Fort Pro browser hijacker infection is not a virus, but it does bad things, and it makes changes to settings of installed web-browsers. Moreover, an adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) can be additionally installed on to your computer by this hijacker infection, that will show a large amount of advertisements, or even massive full page ads that blocks surfing the Net. Often such these advertisements can recommend to install other unknown and unwanted apps or visit malicious sites.
Most often, the Search Fort Pro browser hijacker affects most common browsers such as Firefox, Edge, Internet Explorer and Chrome. But such hijackers as well may infect other web browsers by modifying its shortcuts (adding ‘http://site.address’ into Target field of browser’s shortcut). So every time you start the web browser, it’ll show Search Fort Pro website. Even if you setup your home page again, the intrusive Search Fort Pro website will be the first thing which you see when you open the web-browser.
It is important, do not use Search Fort Pro web-page and do not click on ads placed on it, as they can lead you to a more malicious or misleading pages. The best option is to use the instructions posted below to free your PC system of hijacker, get rid of the Search Fort Pro , and thereby restore your previous home page and search engine.
Remove Search Fort Pro from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP)
Fortunately, we’ve an effective method that will help you manually or/and automatically remove Search Fort Pro from your PC system and bring your browser settings, including search engine by default, homepage and new tab, back to normal. Below you will find a removal tutorial with all the steps you may need to successfully delete this hijacker infection and its traces. Certain of the steps will require you to restart your system or exit this site. So, read this tutorial carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Search Fort Pro, use the steps below:
- Get rid of Search Fort Pro search without any utilities
- How to automatically delete Search Fort Pro browser hijacker
- Use AdBlocker to stop Search Fort Pro and stay safe online
- Prevent Search Fort Pro browser hijacker from installing
- To sum up
Get rid of Search Fort Pro search without any utilities
The useful removal steps for the Search Fort Pro home page. The detailed procedure can be followed by anyone as it really does take you step-by-step. If you follow this process to delete Search Fort Pro let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.
Remove potentially unwanted apps using MS Windows Control Panel
It is of primary importance to first identify and delete all PUPs, ‘ad supported’ software software and browser hijackers through ‘Add/Remove Programs’ (Windows XP) or ‘Uninstall a program’ (Windows 10, 8, 7) section of your Microsoft Windows Control Panel.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click the Windows button
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, press “Start” and select “Control Panel”.
It will display the Windows Control Panel as displayed below.
Next, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will open a list of all programs installed on your PC. Scroll through the all list, and remove any questionable and unknown software. To quickly find the latest installed programs, we recommend sort apps by date in the Control panel.
Remove Search Fort Pro redirect from Firefox
If the Firefox web browser homepage, new tab and search provider are changed to Search Fort Pro and you want to restore the settings back to their default values, then you should follow the few simple steps below. It will keep your personal information like browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
First, open the Mozilla Firefox and click 
button. It will open the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web browser. Further, click the Help button (
) like below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the browser adress bar and press Enter. It will show the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed on the image below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, press the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will open the confirmation prompt. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the browser hijacker related to Search Fort Pro home page. When, it is finished, press the “Finish” button.
Delete Search Fort Pro redirect from Microsoft Internet Explorer
First, launch the Internet Explorer. Next, press the button in the form of gear (
). It will show the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as shown on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer 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 machine for the changes to take effect.
Remove Search Fort Pro from Google Chrome
Like other modern web browsers, the Google Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thereby restore the internet browser default search provider, startpage and newtab page that have been modified by the Search Fort Pro browser hijacker infection.
- First, run the Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You’ll see the list of installed addons. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click “Advanced” link, which located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Google Chrome will show the reset settings prompt as shown on the screen above.
- Confirm the internet browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the post How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Disinfect the web-browser’s shortcuts to delete Search Fort Pro homepage
After installed, the browser hijacker infection responsible for modifying your web browser settings to Search Fort Pro, may add an argument such as “http://site.address” into the Target property of the desktop shortcut file for the Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Due to this, every time you start the internet browser, it will open an unwanted page.
Open the properties of the browser shortcut. Right click on the shortcut of affected web browser and choose the “Properties” option and it will show the properties of the shortcut. Next, choose the “Shortcut” tab and have a look at the Target field as shown on the screen 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 shortcut files that have been altered by browser hijacker responsible for Search Fort Pro search, usually point to .bat, .cmd or .url files instead of .exe as displayed in the following example
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 in the figure below.
In order to fix the infected shortcut file, 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 that have been changed by hijacker infection that responsible for web-browser reroute to the undesired Search Fort Pro web page.
| 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 |
| IE | 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 that are redirected to the Search Fort Pro undesired page.
How to automatically delete Search Fort Pro browser hijacker
If you’re unsure how to remove Search Fort Pro browser hijacker infection easily, consider using automatic browser hijacker removal software which listed below. It will identify the browser hijacker infection related to Search Fort Pro homepage and remove it from your personal computer for free.
Automatically get rid of Search Fort Pro home page with Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM)
Zemana Free is a tool which can get rid of adware, PUPs, browser hijacker infections and other malware from your computer easily and for free. Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) is compatible with most antivirus software. It works under Windows (10 – XP, 32 and 64 bit) and uses minimum of system resources.
Now you can set up and run Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) to delete Search Fort Pro from your web-browser by following the steps below:
Please go to the following link to download Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) setup file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your PC. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Run the installer after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to set up this utility on your computer.
During setup you can change certain settings, but we advise you don’t make any changes to default settings.
When setup is complete, this malware removal tool will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as displayed on the screen below.
Now click the “Scan” button . Zemana Anti Malware program will scan through the whole computer for the browser hijacker which modifies internet browser settings to replace your search provider by default, homepage and newtab page with Search Fort Pro webpage. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. While the Zemana is scanning, you may see how many objects it has identified either as being malware.
After the scan is done, you will be shown the list of all detected items on your computer. Review the report and then click “Next” button.
The Zemana will remove hijacker responsible for redirecting user searches to Search Fort Pro. Once that process is finished, you can be prompted to reboot your computer to make the change take effect.
Run HitmanPro to delete Search Fort Pro from the computer
HitmanPro is a free removal tool that can scan your PC for a wide range of security threats such as adware, malicious software, potentially unwanted applications as well as browser hijacker responsible for redirects to Search Fort Pro. It will perform a deep scan of your personal computer including hard drives and MS Windows registry. Once a malicious software is detected, it will help you to delete all found threats from your system with a simple click.
- Download HitmanPro on your machine by clicking on the link below.
- Once downloading is complete, double click the Hitman Pro icon. Once this utility is launched, click “Next” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the browser hijacker that changes internet browser settings to replace your homepage, newtab and search provider by default with Search Fort Pro webpage. Depending on your PC, the scan may take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Hitman Pro is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified either as being malicious software.
- As the scanning ends, you can check all threats detected on your computer. You may delete threats (move to Quarantine) by simply click “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to remove all malicious software found.
How to remove Search Fort Pro with Malwarebytes
You can remove Search Fort Pro automatically with a help of Malwarebytes Free. We advise this free malicious software removal utility because it may easily remove browser hijackers, adware, potentially unwanted applications and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
MalwareBytes can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
326384 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
Once the downloading process is complete, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will try to update itself and when this task is finished, press the “Scan Now” button to find hijacker which redirects your web browser to unwanted Search Fort Pro web-page. While the utility is scanning, you may see how many objects and files has already scanned. Once you have selected what you want to remove from your machine click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) is a free program that you can use to delete all detected folders, files, services, registry entries and so on. To learn more about this malicious software removal tool, we suggest you to read and follow the guide or the video guide below.
Use AdBlocker to stop Search Fort Pro and stay safe online
Use an adblocker tool such as AdGuard will protect you from malicious ads and content. Moreover, you can find that the AdGuard have an option to protect your privacy and block phishing and spam pages. Additionally, ad-blocker programs will help you to avoid undesired pop-up advertisements and unverified links that also a good way to stay safe online.
Download AdGuard on your system by clicking on the following link.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once downloading is finished, double-click the downloaded file to launch it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as on the image below.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guide as displayed in the figure below.
Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will run automatically and block popup advertisements, webpages such as Search Fort Pro, 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 AdGuard icon, which may be found on your desktop.
Prevent Search Fort Pro browser hijacker from installing
In most cases, the Search Fort Pro browser hijacker infection gets on your PC in the composition, together with the installation packages from a free hosting and file sharing web sites. So, install a free programs is a a good chance that you will find a bundled hijacker. If you don’t know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During the install, select the Custom or Advanced installation mode. Next, click ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install additional applications. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any software or otherwise you can end up with another unwanted application on your personal computer like this hijacker.
To sum up
Now your computer should be free of the browser hijacker responsible for Search Fort Pro homepage. We suggest that you keep Zemana (to periodically scan your machine for new hijackers and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop ups and malicious web sites). Moreover, to prevent any browser hijacker, please stay clear of unknown and third party apps, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to detect potentially unwanted applications.
If you need more help with Search Fort Pro search related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
