Remove ProSearchConverters browser hijacker

ProSearchConverters changes your browser’s settings and sets portal.prosearchconverters.com as the homepage without permission. Because of its installation methods, unwanted setting changes, and redirects to potentially questionable websites, ProSearchConverters is classified as a browser hijacker. It will not directly harm your computer but it’s completely unnecessary to have installed.

 

 

As far as browser hijackers go, ProSearchConverters is a very generic one. It’s practically identical to MovieSearchHome, GetMovieSearch, and SearchStreamz. They promote the same questionable searchlee.com search engine and set the same sites as homepages. The name is the only thing that’s different.

ProSearchConverters may be advertised as some kind of useful extension but it doesn’t actually do anything besides act as a browser hijacker. It’s, fortunately, not a dangerous infection that actively tries to harm your computer. The only thing that it really does is make changes to your browser’s settings and try to redirect you to sponsored websites. ProSearchConverters will set portal.prosearchconverters.com as the homepage, and searchlee.com as the default search engine. These changes would be applied to all popular browsers, including Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. You will also be unable to change the settings back as long as the hijacker remains installed on your computer. So until you delete ProSearchConverters from your computer, you’ll be stuck with portal.prosearchconverters.com loading as your homepage.

The site set as your homepage is pretty basic, it has shortcuts to a PDF converter, a cryptocurrency and currency converter, and a calculator. But the main thing it’s pushing is the searchlee.com search engine. If you use the search box on the site, or if you search via your browser’s address bar, your search results will contain sponsored content because they’ll be generated by searchlee.com. The results are altered so that the hijacker can redirect you to sponsored websites to generate traffic/revenue. Such results will have little to do with what you were initially searching for. Bear in mind that some of the sites you may get redirected to could also be dangerous. They may advertise scams and hide malware. It’s the same with search results altered by other browser hijackers. If you notice that your searches suddenly include advertisement content, don’t engage with the results until the hijacker is gone from your computer.

One thing about browser hijackers that we should warn you about is their data collection practices, which are quite intrusive. While the hijacker will not collect any personal information, it will keep track of your browsing. It will track what sites you visit, what you search for, what content you interact with, your IP address, etc. This information is usually used for advertisement purposes and is often shared with unknown third parties. There is no reason to put up with this kind of intrusive data collection practices because the hijacker is completely useless to you.

Lastly, you should know how the hijacker managed to sneak into your computer. Infections like this use the software bundling method to install, which essentially allows them to install without requiring permission. If you want to prevent these unwanted installations in the future, it’s important that you install freeware correctly. If you continue reading, more information will be provided on how software bundling works and how to prevent unwanted installations.

Overall, the browser hijacker installed using software bundling, made unwanted changes to your browser’s settings, is now trying to redirect you to sponsored websites, may potentially expose you to dangerous content, tracks your browsing, and collects information. Since the hijacker is completely useless to you, the sooner you delete ProSearchConverters from your computer, the better.

Browser hijacker installation methods

Infections like adware, browser hijackers, potentially unwanted programs come attached to free software as extra offers. So if you incorrectly install freeware regularly, your computer may have multiple hijackers or adware infections. This is known as the software bundling method, and whatever offer comes attached to the program you are installing is permitted to install alongside automatically. While the offers are optional, they need to be manually deselected to prevent their installation. But because they are initially hidden during freeware installation, many users simply do not notice them, hence are unable to deselect them. To prevent these unwanted installations, you simply need to pay attention when installing freeware.

When you’re installing a program, the installation window will suggest you use Default settings. However, if you do opt for those settings, the added offers will be concealed and be permitted to install alongside without requiring your explicit permission. However, opting for Advanced settings will make the offers visible. You will be able to check all offers that have been added and deselect what you do not want. Some of those offers may appear useful initially but installing any of them will not benefit you in any way. Software bundling is a sneaky installation method, as you likely already noticed, and programs that use it should not be permitted to install onto your computer, especially without your explicit permission.

It’s possible that you stumbled upon the extension advertised somewhere, and installed it knowingly, thinking it would somehow benefit your browsing experience. However, if you did install it yourself, you need to be more attentive when installing programs from now on. Otherwise, your computer will be filled with junk programs that can be difficult to get rid of once already installed.

ProSearchConverters removal

Browser hijackers are not serious computer infections so you can remove ProSearchConverters both manually and using anti-virus software. When the hijacker is no longer present, you will have the option to change your browser’s settings however you want.

If you don’t have a lot of experience when it comes to removing persistent programs like browser hijackers, we recommend using anti-virus programs to delete ProSearchConverters. An anti-virus program like WiperSoft would both get rid of the hijacker and undo all browser setting changes.