Remove laxsearch.com redirect

laxsearch.com is a highly questionable website, promoted by a browser hijacker. If you suddenly find that you are redirected to laxsearch.com when you open your browser, your computer has a browser hijacker installed on it. It’s a minor infection that makes unwanted changes to the browser’s settings and tries to redirect users to sponsored websites. However, because it can redirect to potentially dangerous websites, you need to remove laxsearch.com as soon as you notice it installed on your computer.

 

 

Browser hijackers are very common infections, and it’s very easy to infect your computer with one. They use deceptive installation methods to sneak in but once installed, they become very obvious. Because browser hijackers make changes to the browser’s settings, it’s difficult to not notice them. The hijacker pushing laxsearch.com will set it as your homepage, new tabs, and default search engine. Thus, whenever you open your browser, you will be redirected to this site automatically. Furthermore, all searches you perform via your browser’s address bar will go through laxsearch.com as it’s set as your default search engine. The hijacker will also enable the “Managed by your organization” feature. This is a legitimate feature that some companies use to manage employees’ browsers (e.g. block certain sites, install updates, etc.). When enabled by a browser hijacker, the feature prevents users from making changes to their browsers. You can see the “Managed by your organization” message in your Google Chrome settings.

Browser hijackers are not directly malicious infections but they are very annoying to deal with. They make unwanted changes to the browser’s settings and force users to use dubious search engines. This is done to redirect users to sponsored websites and generate revenue. Those search engines insert sponsored results among legitimate ones to trick users into clicking on them. Fortunately, these sponsored results are usually very obvious so it’s not difficult to avoid them. Clicking on those results is a bad idea because you could be redirected to potentially dangerous websites that hide malware or promote scams.

It’s worth noting that browser hijackers also have rather intrusive data collection practices. The one on your computer may track your browsing and collect certain information, including visited websites, search queries, IP addresses, etc. This information can also be shared with third parties. Because laxsearch.com has no use to you, there is no reason to put up with intrusive data collection practices or any of its other dubious behavior.

If you want to return to normal browsing, remove laxsearch.com browser hijacker from your computer. We recommend using WiperSoft because the program will take care of everything for you. When the hijacker has been removed, you will be able to change your browser’s settings as usual.

How did the laxsearch.com browser hijacker install on my computer?

Browser hijackers, adware, and potentially unwanted programs are often promoted as useful tools on free program download websites. To avoid installing junk, it’s a good idea to research programs before installing them. A quick search with Google or another search engine is usually enough to determine whether a program is safe to download and install.

Browser hijackers and adware are also installed accidentally via a method known as software bundling. The way software bundling works is those infections are added to a free program as extra offers. These offers are authorized to be installed alongside the programs they’re attached to automatically. All added offers are technically optional but users need to manually deselect them to prevent their installations. However, the offers are hidden in settings users don’t normally use, which means they often go unnoticed. This is why software bundling is a rather controversial installation method.

The extra offers that are added to free programs are always optional and are not difficult to deselect as long as you pay attention when installing programs. When installing a program, choose Advanced (Custom) settings instead of Default (Basic). The installation window will recommend using Default settings but if you do that, all added offers will be permitted to install alongside. Advanced settings, on the other hand, will display all added offers. Those settings will also give you the option to deselect the offers you do not want. We always recommend deselecting all offers that have been added. Legitimate programs do not use this method of installation. And ones that do are usually classified as potential threats by anti-virus programs. Some extra offers will initially appear useful. However, by allowing these installations, you will only fill your computer with junk programs.

How to remove laxsearch.com redirect?

Browser hijackers are not serious infections so you can delete laxsearch.com browser hijacker both manually and using an anti-virus program. However, using the anti-virus program WiperSoft is recommended because hijackers can be quite stubborn. An anti-virus program would take care of everything for you. Once the hijacker is gone, your browser will go back to normal. You will also be able to change your browser’s settings.