What is Safe Finder? And how does it function?

Safe Finder is a program developed by Linkury. This program functions as a search engine. However, you need to beware of this program as it belongs to the category of browser hijackers and potentially unwanted programs. This program can hijack browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and other kinds of browsers.
Once this browser hijacker is installed, the first thing it does is change the default search provider, start page as well as new tab page of browsers on the computer. As a result, whenever users browse the web, their browsing will be filled with dozens of annoying ads that could also include some malicious ads. Safe Finder also has other variants which are also browser hijackers such as:

• safefinder.net;
• safefinder.biz;
• safefinder.info;
• safefinder.com;

All of these aforementioned variants are under the same category of browser hijackers which isn’t shocking because same feathers really tend to flock together. If you think that Safe Finder is not that harmful, well think again – this browser hijacker has a tendency to track and monitor all your activities online to collect various information like your IP address, browsing history, sites you visit often, ads you’ve clicked and so on. It doesn’t take a genius to tell that the aim of Safe Finder is to increase its revenue through pay-per-click marketing – a common tactic used by browser hijackers and adware programs.
How does Safe Finder travel the web?
According to researchers, Safe Finder travels the web in a software bundle named “Advanced Mac Cleaner” where it is added as one of the extra programs. To simply put it, you can end up installing Safe Finder unknowingly when you install the Advanced Mac Cleaner free software package. To avoid hijacks like this, you need to use the installation setting “Custom or Advanced” so you can get rid of any extra programs added in the software bundle.
Use the removal instructions below to remove Safe Finder from your computer.
Step 1: Start by opening the Control Panel. To do so, tap the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.

Step 2: Look for any suspicious program that is affiliated with Safe Finder and then Uninstalls it.

Step 3: Close all the browsers infected with Safe Finder. If you’re having a hard time closing them, you can close them using the Task Manager just tap on Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
Step 4: After you open the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the infected browser’s process and end it.
Step 5: Edit your Hosts File

• Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
• Go to System32/drivers/etc.
• Open the host’s file using Notepad.
• Delete all the entries containing the adware.
• After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 6: Reset all your browsers to default to their default state.
Google Chrome

1. Launch Google Chrome, press Alt + F, move to More tools, and click Extensions.
2. Look for Safe Finder or any other unwanted add-ons, click the Recycle Bin button, and choose Remove.
3. Restart Google Chrome, then tap Alt + F, and select Settings.
4. Navigate to the On Startup section at the bottom.
5. Select “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
6. Click the More actions button next to the hijacker and click Remove.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open the browser and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
2. In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
3. Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
4. Select Options and then move to the General menu.
5. Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

1. Launch Internet Explorer.
2. Tap Alt + T and select Internet options.
3. Click the General tab and then overwrite the URL under the homepage section.
4. Click OK to save the changes.

Step 7: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 8: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated with the ad-supported program such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

• %USERPROFILE%\Downloads
• %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
• %TEMP%

Step 9: Close the File Explorer.
Step 10: Empty the Recycle Bin.
Follow the advanced instructions below to ensure the removal of Safe Finder as well as all the file residues it left behind.
Perform a full system scan using Advanced System Repair Pro. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
2. After that, the BIOS screen ill be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

3. To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
4. Windows will now load the SafeMode with Networking.
5. Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

6. If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
7. Type in the URL address, https://www.fixmypcfree.com/download.php?asrin the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
8. After that, it will download Advanced System Repair Pro. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
9. Once the installation process is completed, run Advanced System Repair Pro to perform a full system scan.

10. After the scan is completed click the “Fix, Clean & Optimize Now”button.