Search.searchdirma.com Redirect

What is search.searchdirma.com?

Directions Mapper is a malicious application that supposedly provides GPS functionality. Initially, this app may seem legitimate and useful, however, Directions Mapper is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and a browser hijacker.

There are four reasons for these negative associations: 1) stealth installation without users' consent; 2) modification of web browser settings; 3) display of intrusive online advertisements, and; 4) tracking of Internet browsing activity.

Following successful infiltration, Directions Mapper hijacks Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, and Mozilla Firefox, assigning the default search engine, new tab URL, and homepage settings to search.searchdirma.com. Users are unable to revert these changes - research shows that Directions Mapper reassigns browser settings when attempts are made to change them.

Therefore, it becomes impossible to return browsers to their previous state and users are encouraged to visit search.searchdirma.com when they search the Internet using the URL bar or when opening a new browser tab. These redirects significantly diminish the Internet browsing experience.

In addition, Directions Mapper delivers various intrusive online advertisements. To achieve this, developers employ a 'virtual layer', a tool that enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. The displayed ads often conceal underlying content of visited websites, further diminishing the web browsing experience.

In addition, they might redirect to malicious websites - clicking them is risky and can result in further computer infections. Be aware that Directions Mapper continually gathers various data that might be personally identifiable. Examples of recorded information includes (but is not limited to) IP addresses, search queries, and URLs visited.

SaferBrowser (Directions Mapper's developers) share the data with third parties. Thus, the presence of an information-tracking application on your system can result in serious privacy issues or even identity theft. We strongly recommend that you remove Directions Mapper from your computer immediately.

SaferBrowser has developed dozens of potentially unwanted programs identical to Directions Mapper. Examples include Easy Transit Guide, Find Free Recipes, Fast Career Search, and many others. These applications offer different features, however, they have identical behavior.

SaferBrowser's products are designed only to generate revenue for the developers, whilst regular users receive no significant value. Rather than enabling the functionality promised, Directions Mapper, and the aforementioned applications, cause unwanted redirects and gather private data.

How did Directions Mapper install on my computer?

Although Directions Mapper has an official download website, many users install this PUP inadvertently without their consent. This is due to a deceptive marketing method called "bundling", which developers use to proliferate this browser hijacker. Bundling is stealth installation of third party software with regular (usually free) applications.

Bundled software is hidden within the "Custom/Advanced" settings of download or installation processes. Skipping this section often leads to inadvertent installation of rogue apps.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

There are two simple steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, be cautious when downloading and installing software. Closely analyze each single download/installation step using the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings. Secondly, opt-out of all third party apps listed for download/installation. Bundled programs are often malicious and, thus, should never be installed.

Website promoting Directions Mapper browser hijacker:

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Quick menu:

• What is search.searchdirma.com?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Directions Mapper application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove search.searchdirma.com redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Directions Mapper browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.searchdirma.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove search.searchdirma.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Directions Mapper browser hijacker removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently-installed suspicious applications (for example, "Directions Mapper"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted programs that cause browser redirects to the search.searchdirma.com website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Directions Mapper browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window, remove hxxp://search.searchdirma.com and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "OneSearch".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the directions mapper browser hijacker, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "Directions Mapper", and other recently-installed suspicious add-ons, select these entries and click the trash can icon.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, click "set pages", hover your mouse over hxxp://search.searchdirma.com and click the x symbol. Now, you can add your preferred website as your homepage.

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" section, click "Manage Search Engines...", remove "searchdirma" and add or select your preferred domain.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the directions mapper browser hijacker, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions" and remove "Directions Mapper", and other recently-installed browser plug-ins.

Change your homepage:

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window, remove hxxp://search.searchdirma.com 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 "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "searchdirma"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with directions mapper browser hijacker removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...

In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.

In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.

In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage and new tab settings:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".

Change your default Internet search engine:

To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the directions mapper browser hijacker, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

A browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

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