Are you facing a problem with the IE, Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Edge web-browsers that constantly redirects to a dubious webpage called Search-story.com? Then, there are chances that are your personal computer is infected by undesired program that belongs to the browser hijacker group. It is created for the purpose of modifying some browser settings (such as new tab page, search provider and start page) without the user’s consent or knowledge. If you want to change internet browser startpage or search engine back to default, you will not succeed, because the Search-story.com hijacker is very stubborn. Using the guide below, you surely can remove Search-story.com completely from your internet browsers.
Being affected with Search-story.com browser hijacker you will be forced to use its own search engine. It could seem not to be dangerous, but you still should be very careful, since it may display annoying and harmful advertisements created to force you into buying certain questionable applications or products, provide search results that may redirect your web browser to certain deceptive, misleading or harmful web sites. We suggest that you use only the reliable search provider such as Google, Yahoo or Bing.
While the Search-story.com browser hijacker infection is active, you won’t be able to restore the MS Edge, Internet Explorer, Chrome and Firefox’ settings like default search engine, home page and newtab page. If you try to set your start page to be Google, Bing or Yahoo, those settings will be automatically changed to Search-story.com with the next PC reboot. But this does not mean that you should just ignore it or get along with this fact. Because this is not the best option, due to the Search-story.com redirect you can have problems with the Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer, annoying advertisements and even privacy info theft.
We recommend you to clean your personal computer of browser hijacker immediately. Use the step-by-step instructions below which will assist to remove Search-story.com start page and unwanted apps, which can be installed onto your computer along with it.
How to remove Search-story.com from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
We can assist you remove Search-story.com, without the need to take your system to a professional. Simply follow the removal tutorial below if you currently have the annoying browser hijacker on your computer and want to remove it. If you have any difficulty while trying to remove the hijacker, feel free to ask for our assist in the comment section below. Certain of the steps will require you to reboot your personal computer or exit this website. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Search-story.com, perform the steps below:
- How to manually delete Search-story.com
- Scan your system and remove Search-story.com with free utilities
- Run AdBlocker to stop Search-story.com and stay safe online
- How to prevent Search-story.com hijacker from getting inside your computer
- To sum up
How to manually delete Search-story.com
Most common hijackers may be deleted without any antivirus apps. The manual hijacker infection removal is tutorial that will teach you how to get rid of the Search-story.com start page.
Delete potentially unwanted applications using Windows Control Panel
Some programs are free only because their installation package contains a hijacker such as the Search-story.com. This unwanted applications generates money for the developers when it is installed. Many hijacker infections can be removed by simply uninstalling them from the ‘Uninstall a Program’ that is located in Windows control panel.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Click the Windows logo, and then press Search . Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown in the following example.
Once the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category like below.
Windows 7, Vista, XP
Open Start menu and choose the ‘Control Panel’ at right as displayed in the following example.
Then go to ‘Add/Remove Programs’ or ‘Uninstall a program’ (MS Windows 7 or Vista) as shown in the figure below.
Carefully browse through the list of installed software and remove all dubious and unknown software. We recommend to press ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed applications by date. Once you’ve found anything suspicious that may be the hijacker responsible for Search-story.com homepage or other PUP (potentially unwanted program), then choose this program and press ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the questionable application blocked from removal, then run Revo Uninstaller Freeware to fully remove it from your PC system.
Remove Search-story.com start page from Firefox
If your Firefox web-browser start page has changed to Search-story.com without your permission or an unknown search engine shows results for your search, then it may be time to perform the browser reset. It’ll keep your personal information such as browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
Start the Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the internet browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will display the slide-out menu.
Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you’re unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed in the following example.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Firefox will start a task to fix your problems that caused by the Search-story.com browser hijacker infection and other browser’s harmful addons. When, it’s complete, click the “Finish” button.
Delete Search-story.com search from Internet Explorer
If you find that Internet Explorer web browser settings like search provider by default, startpage and newtab page had been hijacked, then you may restore your settings, via the reset web-browser procedure.
First, open the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then press the Reset button. The IE will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window like below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Remove Search-story.com redirect from Google Chrome
If your Google Chrome web browser is redirected to intrusive Search-story.com page, it may be necessary to completely reset your web-browser program to its default settings.
- First, run the Google Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will display the Google Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions.
- You’ll see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guidance: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, press “Advanced” link, which located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Chrome will open 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 article How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Scan your system and remove Search-story.com with free utilities
The manual steps above is tedious to follow and can not always help to completely get rid of the Search-story.com browser hijacker. Here I am telling you an automatic way to get rid of this hijacker from your PC system completely. Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM), MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) and HitmanPro are anti malware tools that can find and delete all kinds of malicious software including hijacker infection which cause Search-story.com webpage to appear.
How to automatically remove Search-story.com with Zemana Free
You can get rid of Search-story.com redirect automatically with a help of Zemana. We advise this malicious software removal tool because it can easily get rid of hijackers, potentially unwanted apps, adware and toolbars with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.
- Visit the page linked below to download Zemana. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
Zemana AntiMalware
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web browser will display the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- When downloading is finished, please close all apps and open windows on your machine. Next, launch a file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- This will launch the “Setup wizard” of Zemana Anti Malware onto your PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will run and display the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan” button to begin checking your PC system for the hijacker infection which cause a redirect to Search-story.com website. Depending on your machine, the scan may take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Zemana Free is checking, you can see number of objects it has identified either as being malware.
- As the scanning ends, Zemana Anti Malware will open a list of found items.
- Next, you need to click the “Next” button. The tool will begin to remove hijacker responsible for Search-story.com start page. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart the machine.
- Close the Zemana AntiMalware and continue with the next step.
Delete Search-story.com hijacker and malicious extensions with Hitman Pro
HitmanPro is a free portable application that scans your PC for ad-supported software, potentially unwanted applications and browser hijacker infections like Search-story.com and helps delete them easily. Moreover, it will also help you delete any harmful internet browser extensions and add-ons.
Visit the following page to download the latest version of HitmanPro for Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
Download and use HitmanPro on your machine. Once started, click “Next” button to detect browser hijacker responsible for Search-story.com home page. A scan may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your computer and the speed of your computer. While the Hitman Pro program is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat..
Once the scan get completed, a list of all items detected is produced.
Review the scan results and then press Next button.
It will display a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to get rid of all malware found.
Run Malwarebytes to remove Search-story.com redirect
We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your machine of the browser hijacker. The free utility is an advanced malicious software removal program designed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It is able to help you delete hijackers, potentially unwanted software, malware, ad supported software, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your personal computer for free.
Please go to the link below to download MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM). Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
326385 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the downloading process is finished, close all software and windows on your PC system. Double-click the install file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as shown below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” which will help you install MalwareBytes on your personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is done successfully, click Finish button. MalwareBytes will automatically start and you can see its main screen like below.
Now click the “Scan Now” button for scanning your PC system for the browser hijacker responsible for redirects to Search-story.com. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient.
Once the scan is complete, a list of all items detected is prepared. Review the scan results and then press “Quarantine Selected” button. The MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) will remove hijacker infection which cause a redirect to Search-story.com site. Once the task is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the PC.
We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes to delete ad-supported software, browser hijacker and other malicious software.
Run AdBlocker to stop Search-story.com and stay safe online
By installing an ad-blocker program such as AdGuard, you’re able to block Search-story.com, autoplaying video ads and delete a lot of distracting and intrusive ads on pages.
- AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.
Adguard download
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After the download is finished, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the installation is finished, press “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your PC, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop advertisements, Search-story.com redirect, as well as other malicious or misleading web sites. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon called AdGuard, that may be found on your desktop.
How to prevent Search-story.com hijacker from getting inside your computer
Many hijacker infections like Search-story.com are included in the free programs setup package. In most cases, a user have a chance to disable all included “offers”, but some installers are made to confuse the average users, in order to trick them into installing an adware or potentially unwanted programs. Anyway, easier to prevent the hijacker rather than clean up your PC after one. So, keep the internet browser updated (turn on automatic updates), use a good antivirus applications, double check a freeware before you start it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid harmful and unknown web-pages.
To sum up
Now your system should be free of the hijacker infection which cause a redirect to Search-story.com website. We suggest that you keep Zemana Free (to periodically scan your computer for new browser hijackers and other malicious software) and AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop up advertisements and harmful pages). Moreover, to prevent any browser hijacker, please stay clear of unknown and third party applications, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to search for potentially unwanted programs.
If you need more help with Search-story.com related issues, go to here.