Search.romeatonce.com Redirect (Mac)

What is search.romeatonce.com?

search.romeatonce.com is a fake search engine identical to search.pagerpost.com, search.pagerpost.com, search.friendlysocket.com, and many other bogus sites.

All offer to generate the most relevant search results - a claim that often tricks users into believing that search.romeatonce.com is a legitimate website. Be aware, however, that developers promote search.romeatonce.com rogue application 'installers'. In addition, search.romeatonce.com records various user/system information.

Dubious installers assign the Safari, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox default search engine/homepage/new tab URL browser settings to search.romeatonce.com. Furthermore, a number of third party applications and/or browser add-ons (called 'helper objects') are installed to prevent users from reverting these changes.

Helper objects automatically reassign settings when attempts are made to change them. Thus, users are unable to return browsers to their previous states. This is done without users' permission. Therefore, users continually encounter unwanted browser redirects, significantly diminishing the web browsing experience.

Furthermore, search.romeatonce.com collects various information relating to Internet browsing activity including Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (to determine geographic location), website URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries, and other similar data.

The data may seem insignificant, however, there is a high probability that it will contain personal details that are shared with cooperating third parties (who often misuse private data to generate revenue). Therefore, data tracking can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft.

If you are continually redirected to search.romeatonce.com without your consent, remove all suspicious applications and never visit this fake Internet search engine again.

Fake Internet search engines are often very similar. All claim to enhance the web browsing experience in various ways, however, these sites are designed only to generate revenue for the developers. Most deliver no value for regular users. Claims to provide 'valuable functionality' are merely attempts to give the impression of legitimate software.

Sites such as search.romeatonce.com simply collect personally identifiable information and cause unwanted browser redirects. Be aware that some fake Internet search engines generate results that lead to malicious websites. Therefore, searching via them is risky and often leads to further high-risk adware or malware infections.

How did search.romeatonce.com install on my computer?

This website is mostly promoted using a deceptive marketing method called  'bundling'. Users often do not pay enough attention during the download/installation processes. Aware of this, developers hide details regarding modification of browser settings within the 'Custom/Advanced' download or installation section.

Skipping this section can lead to inadvertent installation of potentially unwanted programs or, in this case, inadvertently granting permission for set-ups to modify various browser settings.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

There are two main steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, closely analyze each step of the download/installation processes using the 'Custom' or 'Advanced' settings. Secondly, decline all offers to download/install additional programs and cancel those already included.

Website promoting search.romeatonce.com:

Instant automatic Mac malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of Mac malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner for Mac By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. Limited seven days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is search.romeatonce.com?
• STEP 1. Remove search.romeatonce.com related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove search.romeatonce.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove search.romeatonce.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.romeatonce.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

search.romeatonce.com redirect removal:

Remove search.romeatonce.com-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove browser hijacker-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/

In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:

In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/

In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.

Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers

Remove Safari browser hijackers:

Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.

Change your homepage:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the "Set to Current Page" button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.

Change your default search engine:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labeled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove Google Chrome browser hijackers:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL below the "Open a specific or set of pages" option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select "Remove".

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".

Change your homepage

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and press Enter. Click "Accept the Risk and Continue".

In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

▼ Show Discussion