How To Remove VirtualDeskSearch From Mac OS

Proper Guide To Delete VirtualDeskSearch

VirtualDeskSearch is an intrusive adware infection that silently infiltrates on Mac PCs and makes certain changes in default browser’s settings. It also works as a browser hijacker and replaces the current home page, search engine and new tab addresses with its own perilous domain. To prevent the settings from being occurred, it also installs several browser helper objects (BHOs) on the browser. Acquiring complete control over the entire browser, this nasty adware starts flooding users’ system screen with thousands of annoying ads and pop-ups and redirecting them affiliated web pages. It sets a customized search engine that only provides results that are mixed with commercial contents and other forms of advertisements.

Know More About VirtualDeskSearch:

The add-ons that are dropped by VirtualDeskSearch are accompanied by spying cookies which get inserted on each browser installed on the machine and starts gathering the following data:

• Search queries
• Geolocation
• Technical details of the Internet browser
• Websites visited
• E-mail address
• IP address

Although, the gathered information is non-personally identifiable but still, they can be shared with third-parties and used for improving advertising strategies and providing people with more attractive content. And hence, most of the ads delivered by this PUP are very eye-catching in forms of coupons, deals, banners, offers, discounts, promo codes etc. that can easily gain your attention. These ads work on pay-per-click scheme and earn revenues for the creators upon being clicked. They include sponsored links and once you click on them, you are redirected to domains where numerous products and services are promoted.

When you enter a search query into the search engine set by VirtualDeskSearch, you will notice that all your searches are redirected to search.yahoo.com. Though, Yahoo is a legitimate search tool and one of the industry giants around, these outcomes are not organic, you will look at the commercial materials instead. These are normally placed at the top, increasing the chances of getting hit by the users. Even if you don’t use the modified search provider and instead use the URL bar, you would still be rerouted via the third-party website or extension. You need to be careful here because this notorious adware may lead you to highly infectious sites that are fully occupied with malevolent objects and cause more threats inside your system. You would not able to get the organic search results without performing the removal of VirtualDeskSearch.

Summarize Information

Name: VirtualDeskSearch

Type: Mac virus, Adware, Redirect virus, Potentially unwanted program

Functionality: Aims to redirect Mac users to affiliated websites, promote sponsored products, services and programs and make Online revenues for the developers, Also steal users’ personal and confidential information and share them with hackers for evil purposes.

Symptoms: Altered default browser’s settings, Endless intrusive ads, default Internet search engine, Fake pop-up messages, identity theft, new tab settings. Users are enforced to visit hijacker’s website and search the Internet using their search engines, slowness of infected system’s performance.

Distribution methods: Free software installers (bundling), Deceptive emails, malicious pop-ups ads, fake flash player installers.

Damage: Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites.

Removal: To get rid of this infection and other malware threats, our security researchers recommend scanning your computer with a powerful anti-malware tool.

Third-party Installation Setups Hide Adware:

The most effectual method to spread potentially unwanted applications is to involve other programs and freeware distributors. Such PUPs get bundled with third-party apps to find the way on targeted computer without requiring any permission. The unpacking of these additional tools doesn’t take place and you don’t get notified about the malware installation. Peer-to-peer sharing sites and Torrent services also include such pre-bundled packages and spread such threats without completely disclosing the fact.

How To Prevent PUP Intrusion?

And therefore, to prevent the installation of VirtualDeskSearch or other similar infections, you should always pick Custom or Advanced installation options where you can take full control over the incoming contents. You just have to deselect the components that give a concerning look and choose only the main application. You should avoid such services and pages where software is downloaded for free or always pay close attention to sources, distributors, authors of programs. Custom wizard allows you to untick any of those additional extras, so experts always recommend staying away from Quick or Recommended configuration settings.

Other Harmful Properties of VirtualDeskSearch:

VirtualDeskSearch is able to modify the default registry settings by making spiteful entries in it which allows the adware to get automatically activated each time the PC is started. It consumes huge amount of memory resources and drags down the overall system performance severely that causes the machine to respond slower than ever before. Computer takes more than usual time to perform any task like getting started or shut down, open any folder or browser and so on. This notorious PUP has ability to deactivate all the running security measures and Windows Firewalls and make the device vulnerable for more notorious parasites. It may easily bring other Online infections such as Trojan, rootkits, worms, spyware etc. in your computer and turn the PC into a malware-hub. And hence, looking at all these threats, you must remove VirtualDeskSearch from the machine quickly.

Remove Files and Folders Related to VirtualDeskSearch

Open the “Menu” bar and click the “Finder” icon. Select “Go” and click on “Go to Folder…”

Step 1: Search the suspicious and doubtful malware generated files in /Library/LaunchAgents folder

Type /Library/LaunchAgents in the “Go to Folder” option

In the “Launch Agent” folder, search for all the files that you have recently downloaded and move them to “Trash”. Few of the examples of files created by browser-hijacker or adware are as follow, “myppes.download.plist”, “mykotlerino.Itvbit.plist”, installmac.AppRemoval.plist”, and “kuklorest.update.plist” and so on.

Step 2: Detect and remove the files generated by the adware in “/Library/Application” Support folder

In the “Go to Folder..bar”, type “/Library/Application Support”

Search for any suspicious newly added folders in “Application Support” folder. If you detect any one of these like “NicePlayer” or “MPlayerX” then send them to “Trash” folder.

Step 3: Look for the files generated by malware in /Library/LaunchAgent Folder:

Go to Folder bar and type /Library/LaunchAgents

You are in the “LaunchAgents” folder. Here, you have to search for all the newly added files and move them to “Trash” if you find them suspicious. Some of the examples of suspicious files generated by malware are “myppes.download.plist”, “installmac.AppRemoved.plist”, “kuklorest.update.plist”, “mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist” and so on.

Step4: Go to /Library/LaunchDaemons Folder and search for the files created by malware

Type /Library/LaunchDaemons in the “Go To Folder” option

In the newly opened “LaunchDaemons” folder, search for any recently added suspicious files and move them to “Trash”. Examples of some of the suspicious files are “com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist”, “com.avickUpd.plist”, “com.myppes.net-preference.plist”, “com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist” and so on.

Step 5: Use Combo Cleaner Anti-Malware and Scan your Mac PC

The malware infections could be removed from the Mac PC if you execute all the steps mentioned above in the correct way. However, it is always advised to be sure that your PC is not infected. It is suggested to scan the work-station with “Combo Cleaner Anti-virus”.

Once the file gets downloaded, double click on combocleaner.dmg installer in the newly opened window. Next is to open the “Launchpad” and press on “Combo Cleaner” icon. It is advised to wait until “Combo Cleaner” updates the latest definition for malware detection. Click on “Start Combo Scan” button.

A depth scan of your Mac PC will be executed in order to detect malware. If the Anti-virus scan report says “no threat found” then you can continue with guide further. On the other hand, it is recommended to delete the detected malware infection before continuing.

Now the files and folders created by the adware is removed, you have to remove the rogue extensions from the browsers.

Remove VirtualDeskSearch from Internet Browsers

Delete Doubtful and Malicious Extension from Safari

Go to “Menu Bar” and open “Safari” browser. Select “Safari” and then “Preferences”

In the opened “preferences” window, select “Extensions” that you have recently installed. All such extensions should be detected and click the “Uninstall” button next to it. If you are doubtful then you can remove all the extensions from “Safari” browser as none of them are important for smooth functionality of the browser.

In case if you continue facing unwanted webpage redirections or aggressive advertisements bombarding, you can reset the “Safari” browser.

“Reset Safari”

Open the Safari menu and choose “preferences…” from the drop-down menu.

Go to the “Extension” tab and set the extension slider to “Off” position. This disables all the installed extensions in the Safari browser

Next step is to check the homepage. Go to “Preferences…” option and choose “General” tab. Change the homepage to your preferred URL.

Also check the default search-engine provider settings. Go to “Preferences…” window and select the “Search” tab and select the search-engine provider that you want such as “Google”.

Next is to clear the Safari browser Cache- Go to “Preferences…” window and select “Advanced” tab and click on “Show develop menu in the menu bar.“

Go to “Develop” menu and select “Empty Caches”.

Remove website data and browsing history. Go to “Safari” menu and select “Clear History and Website Data”. Choose “all history” and then click on “Clear History”.

Remove Unwanted and Malicious Plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox

Delete VirtualDeskSearch add-ons from Mozilla Firefox

Open the Firefox Mozilla browser. Click on the “Open Menu” present in the top right corner of the screen. From the newly opened menu, choose “Add-ons”.

Go to “Extension” option and detect all the latest installed add-ons. Select each of the suspicious add-ons and click on “Remove” button next to them.

In case if you want to “reset” the Mozilla Firefox browser then follow the steps that has been mentioned below.

Reset Mozilla Firefox Settings

Open the Firefox Mozilla browser and click on “Firefox” button situated at the top left corner of the screen.

In the new menu, go to “Help” sub-menu and choose “Troubleshooting Information”

In the “Troubleshooting Information” page, click on “Reset Firefox” button.

Confirm that you want to reset the Mozilla Firefox settings to default by pressing on “Reset Firefox” option

The browser will get restarted and the settings changes to factory default

Delete Unwanted and Malicious Extensions from Google Chrome

Open the chrome browser and click on “Chrome menu”. From the drop down option, choose “More Tools” and then “Extensions”.

In the “Extensions” option, search for all the recently installed add-ons and extensions. Select them and choose “Trash” button. Any third-party extension is not important for the smooth functionality of the browser.

Reset Google Chrome Settings

Open the browser and click on three line bar at the top right side corner of the window.

Go to the bottom of the newly opened window and select “Show advanced settings”.

In the newly opened window, scroll down to the bottom and choose “Reset browser settings”

Click on the “Reset” button on the opened “Reset browser settings” window

Restart the browser and the changes you get will be applied

The above mentioned manual process should be executed as it is mentioned. It is a cumbersome process and requires a lot of technical expertise. And hence it is advised for technical experts only. To be sure that your PC is free from malware, it is better that you scan the work-station with a powerful anti-malware tool. The automatic malware removal application is preferred because it doesn’t requires any additional technical skills and expertise.

Download the application and execute it on the PC to begin the depth scanning. Once the scanning gets completed, it shows the list of all the files related to VirtualDeskSearch. You can select such harmful files and folders and remove them immediately.