Ventsislav Krastev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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This article aims to help you remove the browser hijacker that changes your home page to Search.tagadin.com permanently.

A browser hijacker which has been reported to cause numerous issues in many web browsers by displaying advertisements and using the suspicious search website Search.tagadin.com has been reported to rise it’s traffic rapidly. This means only one – this PUP (potentially unwanted program) has only one purpose and it is to generate traffic to the websites it advertises and collect different information. Since it uses many third-party web links and in addition to this may slow down your computer system, recommendations are to not use this application and use the information in this article to immediately remove it from your computer.

Threat Summary

Name	Search.tagadin.com
Type	Browser Hijacker.
Short Description	The software changes the web page of the user’s browser and may display different advertisements.
Symptoms	The user may witness slow PC, overused CPU and RAM and even system crashes and multiple advertisements.
Distribution Method	Via malicious URLs, unwanted downloads and other.
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Search.tagadin.com Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join our forum to discuss Search.tagadin.com hijacker.

Search.tagadin.com Hijacker – How Did I Get It

Applications like the browser hijacker associated with Search.Tagadin.com are many and they all use similar methods of replicating themselves on your computer. They are all installed as seemingly legitimate toolbars or programs, advertised in a way that may benefit and improve the performance and experience of your computer. What is even worse is that having such an app is one sign that your computer may have been infected with a download, downloading and installing such software on your computer.

The main method of being installed in an undetected manner on your system is if this particular application takes advantage of one very specific detail – free programs. A lot of users tend to google free download of many free software and this is how they may fall into Search.tagadin.com hijacker’s trap. Being the software it is, those behind it may pay different shady websites to embed the browser hijacker onto the installers of their legitimate applications. Such applications may be torrent downloaders, codec packs, media players and even ironically enough antivirus programs’ installers. This is why experts often advise to only use the original installers of the programs you wish to download online or to at least have one or two legitimate websites from which you can get them for free.

Search.tagadin.com – Deeper Analysis

When we take a look at the primary domain name of Search.tagadin.com, we realize that this website is related to GoDaddy:

This may mean that either the domain is for sale on the site or it is about to be sold or already has been sold. Whatever the case may be, there is no content linking to the original domain, for sure. The search site Search.tagadin.com itself aims to imitate Google:

But this is not where the Search.tagadin.com party ends, because once you search something with it, the whole first page with results shows advertised content:

This website is also supported by more than 24 cookies from third-party websites:

Those third-party websites are most likely a part of an affiliate network that generates revenues to their websites via traffic and clicking on ads like the questionable search results the engine provides. For those of you who are uninformed, cookies may also be used to collect your:

• IP Address.
• Location information.
• Details about the browsing history.
• Online click history.
• Live tracking of opened webpages.

Usually these cookies are used for research on how to design better websites, but they may be exploited by curious individuals to obtain even more information, such as:

• Address.
• Financial information.
• Personal passwords and account names.
• Full name and citizen number.
• E-mail and password to it.

Your information may then be used, traded or sold against your interests to interested underground criminals. These criminals may then use it to mask their identity while committing a scam, malware infection and other crimes. This is why, Search.tagadin.com browser hijacker is not to be trusted.

In addition to this, the hijacker not only does not have HTTPS encryption, but for profits, the people behind it may use it’s domains to advertise third-party malicious URLs that may directly infect your computer with different malware, like ransomware, for example.

When we further analyzed the web page itself, we have concluded that this site uses the same privacy policy as the notorious Snap.do hijacker uses and is created by an organization, calling itself Resoft. This company is well known for using and collecting different information from it’s “users”:

But the company does not limit itself to just collecting information. This data may also be transferred to affiliate networks as the privacy policy shows below:

Given the 24 different cookies from various other advertises, researchers have the reason to believe that this is already happening if you use their services. This is another reason why removing Search.tagadin.com is highly advisable.

Search.tagadin.com Removal Instructions

In order to completely delete this software from your computer, experts advise to take advantage of the removal instructions below. In case you do not have experience to remove the virus manually, it is also strongly recommended to remove this browser hijacker automatically with the aid of an advanced tool. Such tools are called anti-malware software and their install and scan will remove not only potentially threats, like Search.tagadin.com, but will also ensure the successful deletion of other threats as well. More information and instructions on removing this unwanted software fully can be located if you carefully follow the removal instructions for deletion below.

Manually delete Search.tagadin.com from Windows and your browser

Note! Substantial notification about the Search.tagadin.com threat: Manual removal of Search.tagadin.com requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

2.Remove Search.tagadin.com from Your Browser

Remove Search.tagadin.com from Your Browser.

Remove a toolbar from Mozilla FirefoxRemove a toolbar from Google Chrome Remove a toolbar from Internet Explorer Remove a toolbar from Safari

Start Mozilla Firefox Open the menu window

Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu

Select Search.tagadin.com and click “Remove”

After Search.tagadin.com is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Google Chrome and Open the drop menu

Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

From the opened “Extensions” menu locate Search.tagadin.com and click on the garbage bin icon on the right of it.

After Search.tagadin.com is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Internet Explorer:

Click “‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window, make sure that in the first window ‘Add-on Types’, the drop menu ‘Show’ is on ‘All add-ons’

Select Search.tagadin.com to remove, and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected toolbar, and some additional toolbars might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

After Search.tagadin.com has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Safari

Open the drop menu by clicking on the sprocket icon in the top right corner.

From the drop menu select ‘Preferences’
In the new window select ‘Extensions’
Click once on Search.tagadin.com
Click ‘Uninstall’

A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall Search.tagadin.com. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the Search.tagadin.com will be removed.

Automatically remove Search.tagadin.com by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove Search.tagadin.com with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

Remove Search.tagadin.com with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Search.tagadin.com.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove Search.tagadin.com.

Step 1: Click here to go to SpyHunter’s download instruction page.
Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any Search.tagadin.com files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

2. Back up your data to secure it against attacks related to Search.tagadin.com in the future

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

1. For Windows 7 and earlier 1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 1. Enabling the Windows Defense Feature (Previous Versions)

1-Click on Windows Start Menu

2-Type Backup And Restore
3-Open it and click on Set Up Backup

4-A window will appear asking you where to set up backup. You should have a flash drive or an external hard drive. Mark it by clicking on it with your mouse then click on Next.

5-On the next window, the system will ask you what do you want to backup. Choose the ‘Let Me Choose’ option and then click on Next.

6-Click on ‘Save settings and run backup’ on the next window in order to protect your files from possible attacks by Search.tagadin.com.

1-Press Windows button + R

2-In the window type ‘filehistory’ and press Enter

3-A File History window will appear. Click on ‘Configure file history settings’

4-The configuration menu for File History will appear. Click on ‘Turn On’. After its on, click on Select Drive in order to select the backup drive. It is recommended to choose an external HDD, SSD or a USB stick whose memory capacity is corresponding to the size of the files you want to backup.

5-Select the drive then click on ‘Ok’ in order to set up file backup and protect yourself from Search.tagadin.com.

1- Press Windows button + R keys.

2- A run windows should appear. In it type ‘sysdm.cpl’ and then click on Run.

3- A System Properties windows should appear. In it choose System Protection.

5- Click on Turn on system protection and select the size on the hard disk you want to utilize for system protection.
6- Click on Ok and you should see an indication in Protection settings that the protection from Search.tagadin.com is on.

Restoring a file via Windows Defense feature:
1-Right-click on the encrypted file, then choose Properties.

2-Click on the Previous Versions tab and then mark the last version of the file.

3-Click on Apply and Ok and the file encrypted by Search.tagadin.com should be restored.

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove Search.tagadin.com Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove Search.tagadin.com.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all Search.tagadin.com associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Ventsislav Krastev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

More Posts - Website