The Search Protect malware is often inadvertently installed with other freeware applications. We won't go into the details of this application, there is plenty of information published already. These days you don't get anything for free, it seems many of these free applications come with malware bundled with them, Search Protect being one of them.
We see this application often on client computers and removing it can be difficult. The application is constantly changing so these steps might work or they might not. But it won't hurt to give it a try.
- Open the Control Panel and select "Uninstall a Program" or "Program and Features"
- Locate the Search Protect application in the list, right click on it and select uninstall.
- If the uninstaller notes several other applications were installed with Search Protect, you will need to uninstall them first before you can uninstall the Search Protect application.
NOTE: In our case both File Zipper and Microsoft Visual C++ were installed by Search Protect, so this is how we proceeded. - Uninstall File Zipper
- Uninstall Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable. If there are multiple copies listed, find the one that was installed on the same date as Search Protect.
- Uninstall Search Protect again.
- Reboot the computer.
- Check the Program Files (x86) folder for any residual folder and files for Search Protect or Conduit and remove them.
- Reboot again.
We hope that this information is helpful. Please let us know how this has helped you or if you have additional questions. As always Firestone Technical Resources, Inc. is here to help with your computer support issues - "Providing personal service for your impersonal technology."