Uninstall Moviesearch.today (Browser Hijacker/PUP)

What is Moviesearch.today? And how does it work?

Moviesearch.today is a bogus search engine that could hijack your Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and other browsers which is why it is considered to be a browser hijacker and potentially unwanted program despite it being promoted as a program that allows users access to variation of movies. Moviesearch.today is similar to other browser hijackers like moviesfanatic.com, search.movies-tab.com and themovie-hub.com.
Aside from hijacking your browsers, it also makes unsolicited modifications to them. These modifications involve changing the default settings of search engine, new tab page and even homepage of the browsers in your computer. After making these changes, a multitude of advertisement of all kinds like banners, pop-ups, in-text links and so on. Though not malicious, Moviesearch.today tends to redirect users to suspicious parts of the web through some of the ads it displays. So you need to be careful enough not to click any ads by this browser hijacker. Clearly, its main source of profit is delivering dozens of ads to its users. Another thing that should bother you when you install this program is that based on its Privacy Policy, the moment you install this program, you agree to:
“<…> In addition, in the event that we undergo a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, your information may be one of the assets sold or transferred.”
Based on the statement above, you legally authorize Moviesearch.today to transfer or sell all its gathered information about you. If you value your privacy, you need to uninstall Moviesearch.today from your computer as soon as possible.
How does Moviesearch.today spread online?
Like all other browser hijackers and unwanted programs, Moviesearch.today spreads via software bundles. Moviesearch.today is attached in the bundle as one of the extra components in the package. So you need to use the Custom or Advanced setting in order to remove unwanted programs like Moviesearch.today the next time you install a freeware or shareware.
Refer to the following removal steps in uninstalling Moviesearch.today from your computer.
Step 1: Start the removal process by closing all the browsers infected with Moviesearch.today. If you’re having a hard time closing them, you can close them using the Task Manager just tap on Ctrl + Shift + Esc.
Step 2: After you open the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the infected browser’s process and end it.
Step 3: Then close the Task Manager and open Control Panel – to do so, tap the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.

Step 4: After pulling up Control Panel, from the list of installed programs, look for Moviesearch.today or any suspicious program you don’t remember installing and then Uninstall 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 hosts 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

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

Mozilla Firefox

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

Internet Explorer

Launch Internet Explorer.
Tap Alt + T and select Internet options.
Click the General tab and then overwrite the URL under the homepage section.
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 to 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 Moviesearch.today 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:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot
After that, the BIOS screen will 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.

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

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