What is SportStreamSearch?
SportStreamSearch is one of those free browser extensions that seem pleasing to the eye, only to deceive you once you click and follow through. Although claiming to be a sports guru that offers the latest news related to sports more conveniently, it turns out it’s just a faux housed with browser hijacking traits. This misleading Google Chrome extension aims to change web search results, redirecting users to sponsored sites for their monetary gain. The program is designed to alter Chrome’s configurations to sportstream-search.com.
It’s common among internet users to download certain programs such as SportStreamSearch unknowingly. This is due to a lack of protective measures applied by individuals when surfing the internet. Programs like SportStreamSearch are classified as PUP/PUA (Potentially Unwanted Program or Application). The programs are presented as authentic in most cases only to misbehave once installed. Therefore, we advise to first conduct a detailed analysis of a particular program if you are not familiar with a given program before downloading or installing it.
What Does SportStreamSearch Do?
When installed on your system, it takes over your default browser by placing sportstream-search.com URL as the default search engine, homepage, as well as the new tab to ensure that users land on it each time they open their browser or tab, or perform search queries. To make matters worse, sportstream-search.com is not a legitimate search engine as it does not generate independent results for the search inputs. It only shows the results generated by Yahoo. So, instead of offering its unique results, it subconsciously redirects users to search.yahoo.com.
Here are other things that SportStreamSearch does:
- SportStreamSearch leads users to believe that it’s a search engine offering actual news or information originally sourced.
- Any search input is redirected to a Yahoo search engine.
- Nothing about SportStreamSearch is what a search engine should be, the program just functions mostly as a middle-man between the surfer and the Yahoo search engine.
- SportStreamSearch is classified as a PUP and you should get rid of it completely.
It’s worth mentioning that the nature of browser hijackers is to keep settings locked such that the user is unable to change them. Meaning, if you want to stop sportstream-search.com from being your default search engine, you must first get rid of the SportStreamSearch browser hijacker. To top that, one of the main reasons why you shouldn’t keep apps such as SportStreamSearch in your system is due to the security breaches they impose. Browser hijackers tend to keep track of your online activities, collect data concerning your online behavior, as well as, capture sensitive information, including banking details, passwords, etc. The collected data is then misused by the developers, selling it to third parties such as cybercriminals.
Such behavior is likely to cause damage to the user as they can face issues with online privacy, potentially lose their finances, or even get their identity stolen. Thus, we advise taking immediate action the moment you realize your browser has been hijacked to avoid losing any of your sensitive data. Keep safe online and learn more about browser hijackers.
How Did You Get SportStreamSearch?
Often, computer users end up with a browser hijacker for either being deceived into thinking it will do as advertised. Sometimes, they just unknowingly installing it. The latter is common to users who like to download software updates or program executable files from untrustworthy software distribution sites. These sites tend to bundle malicious programs together with legit ones, deceiving the user into installing them simultaneously. As a protective measure, users can choose to decline the installation of bundled apps. But to do so, they need to select Custom or Advanced installation processes. However, most of the users prefer the Express or auto-installation process as it doesn’t require much of human input. However, Express installation is designed to install everything including bundled programs, hence ending up with malicious programs such as SportStreamSearch.
How to Remove SportStreamSearch
Although it may seem impossible to get rid of the sportstream-search.com browser hijacker, we have your back. For starters, you must invest in a reliable, trustworthy anti-malware security tool. This will help you get rid of not only the surface of the issue but also the root cause. Here is how you can remove SportStreamSearch permanently from your computer.
SportStreamSearch Removal Instructions
How to Remove SportStreamSearch from Google Chrome
To completely remove SportStreamSearch from your computer, you need to reverse all of the changes on Google Chrome, uninstall suspicious extensions, plug-ins, and add-ons that were added without your permission.
Follow the instructions below to remove SportStreamSearch from Google Chrome:
1. Delete malicious plugins.
Launch the Google Chrome app, then click on the menu icon at the upper-right corner. Choose More Tools > Extensions. Look for SportStreamSearch and other malicious extensions. Highlight these extensions you want to uninstall, then click Remove to delete them.
2. Revert changes to your homepage and default search engine.
Click on Chrome's menu icon and select Settings. Click On Startup, then tick off Open a specific page or set of pages. You can either set up a new page or use existing pages as your homepage.
Go back to Google Chrome's menu icon and choose Settings > Search engine, then click Manage search engines. You'll see a list of default search engines that are available for Chrome. Delete any search engine that you think is suspicious. Click the three-dot menu beside the search engine and click Remove from list.
3. Reset Google Chrome.
Click on the menu icon located at the top right of your browser, and choose Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, then click on Restore settings to their original defaults under Reset and clean up. Click on the Reset Settings button to confirm the action.
This step will reset your startup page, new tab, search engines, pinned tabs, and extensions. However, your bookmarks, browser history, and saved passwords will be saved.
How to Delete SportStreamSearch from Mozilla Firefox
Just like other browsers, malware tries to change the settings of Mozilla Firefox. You need to undo these changes to remove all traces of SportStreamSearch. Follow the steps below to completely delete SportStreamSearch from Firefox:
1. Uninstall dangerous or unfamiliar extensions.
Check Firefox for any unfamiliar extensions that you don't remember installing. There is a huge chance that these extensions were installed by the malware. To do this, launch Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon at the top-right corner, then select Add-ons > Extensions.
In the Extensions window, choose SportStreamSearch and other suspicious plugins. Click the three-dot menu beside the extension, then choose Remove to delete these extensions.
2. Change your homepage back to default if it was affected by malware.
Click on the Firefox menu at the upper-right corner of the browser, then choose Options > General. Delete the malicious homepage and type in your preferred URL. Or you can click Restore to change to the default homepage. Click OK to save the new settings.
3. Reset Mozilla Firefox.
Go to the Firefox menu, then click on the question mark (Help). Choose Troubleshooting Information. Hit the Refresh Firefox button to give your browser a fresh start.
Once you’ve completed the steps above, SportStreamSearch will be completely gone from your Mozilla Firefox browser.
How to Get Rid of SportStreamSearch from Internet Explorer
To ensure that the malware that hacked your browser is completely gone and that all unauthorized changes are reversed on Internet Explorer, follow the steps provided below:
1. Get rid of dangerous add-ons.
When malware hijacks your browser, one of the obvious signs is when you see add-ons or toolbars that suddenly appear on Internet Explorer without your knowledge. To uninstall these add-ons, launch Internet Explorer, click on the gear icon at the top-right corner of the browser to open the menu, then choose Manage Add-ons.
When you see the Manage Add-ons window, look for (name of malware) and other suspicious plugins/add-ons. You can disable these plugins/add-ons by clicking Disable.
2. Reverse any changes to your homepage caused by the malware.
If you suddenly have a different start page or your default search engine has been changed, you can change it back through the Internet Explorer's settings. To do this, click on the gear icon at the upper-right corner of the browser, then choose Internet Options.
Under the General tab, delete the homepage URL and enter your preferred homepage. Click Apply to save the new settings.
3. Reset Internet Explorer.
From the Internet Explorer menu (gear icon at the top), choose Internet Options. Click on the Advanced tab, then select Reset.
In the Reset window, tick off Delete personal settings and click the Reset button once again to confirm the action.
How to Uninstall SportStreamSearch on Microsoft Edge
If you suspect your computer to have been infected by malware and you think that your Microsoft Edge browser has been affected, the best thing to do is to reset your browser.
There are two ways to reset your Microsoft Edge settings to completely remove all the traces of malware on your computer. Refer to the instructions below for more information.
Method 1: Resetting via Edge Settings
- Open the Microsoft Edge app and click More or the three-dot menu located at the upper-right corner of the screen.
- Click Settings to reveal more options.
- In the Settings window, click Restore settings to their default values under Reset settings. Click the Reset button to confirm. This action will reset your browser’s startup page, the new tab page, default search engine, and pinned tabs. Your extensions will also be disabled and all temporary data like cookies will be deleted.
- Afterwards, right-click on the Start menu or the Windows logo, then select Task Manager.
- Click on the Processes tab and search for Microsoft Edge.
- Right-click on the Microsoft Edge process and select Go to details. If you don't see the Go to details option, click More details instead.
- Under the Details tab, look for all the entries with Microsoft Edge in their name. Right-click on each of these entries and choose End Task to quit those processes.
- Once you have quit all those processes, open Microsoft Edge once again and you'll notice that all the previous settings have been reset.
Method 2: Resetting via Command
Another way to reset Microsoft Edge is by using commands. This is an advanced method that is extremely useful if your Microsoft Edge app keeps crashing or won't open at all. Make sure to back up your important data before using this method.
Here are the steps to do this:
- Navigate to this folder on your computer: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Select everything inside the folder, right-click on the highlighted files, then click Delete from the options.
- Search for Windows PowerShell using the search box beside the Start menu.
- Right-click on the Windows PowerShell entry, then choose Run as administrator.
- In the Windows PowerShell window, type in this command:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml -Verbose}
- Press Enter to execute the command.
- Once the reset process has been completed, SportStreamSearch should be completely deleted from your Microsoft Edge browser.
How to Get Rid of SportStreamSearch from Safari
The computer’s browser is one of the major targets of malware — changing settings, adding new extensions, and changing the default search engine. So if you suspect your Safari to be infected with SportStreamSearch, these are the steps you can take:
1. Delete suspicious extensions
Launch the Safari web browser and click on Safari from the top menu. Click Preferences from the drop-down menu.
Click on the Extensions tab at the top, then view the list of currently installed extensions on the left menu. Look for SportStreamSearch or other extensions you don’t remember installing. Click the Uninstall button to remove the extension. Do this for all your suspected malicious extensions.
2. Revert changes to your homepage
Open Safari, then click Safari > Preferences. Click on General. Check out the Homepage field and see if this has been edited. If your homepage was changed by SportStreamSearch, delete the URL and type in the homepage you want to use. Make sure to include the http:// before the address of the webpage.
3. Reset Safari
Open the Safari app and click on Safari from the menu at the upper-left of the screen. Click on Reset Safari. A dialog window will open where you can choose which elements you want to reset. Next, click the Reset button to complete the action.