Search.htheweathercenter.co Redirect

What is search.htheweathercenter.co?

search.htheweathercenter.co is a fake search engine installed on web browsers through The Weather Center, a browser hijacker app developed by Polarity Technologies. This is a search engine that offers an enhanced browsing experience and quick access to weather forecast websites such as Weather Alerts, National Weather, and Pollen Reports directly from a new browser tab.

The Weather Center browser hijacker targets Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. It changes browser settings and prevents users from reverting them.

The Weather Center replaces the new tab, homepage and search engine URLs to search.htheweathercenter.co Therefore, when you open a hijacked browser or (a new tab within it), The Weather Center opens search.htheweathercenter.co (its associated search engine).

When you use its search engine/enter a query, it redirects to search.yahoo.com (a legitimate Yahoo search engine). The search.htheweathercenter.co site offers quick access the aforementioned websites, but also access to amazon.com, target.com. facebook.com, gmail.com, youtube.com, and some other well known websites.

The site also displays the local time and weather. This browser hijacker claims to be legitimate and the provided features may indeed seem useful, but most browser hijackers have this in common - they claim to be useful and legitimate. In fact, their real purpose is to collect browsing-related data, such as visited websites, search queries/terms, IP addresses, and so on.

The recorded information is shared with third parties so that app developers can generate revenue by providing misleading or unwanted search results, or various services and products. You may also be tricked into installing software that could diminish the browsing experience or affect your entire operating system.

Threat Summary:

Name	The Weather Center browser hijacker
Threat Type	Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab
Symptoms	Manipulated Internet browser(s) settings (homepage, default Internet search engine, new tab settings). User's are forced to visit hijacker's website and search the Internet using their search engines.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers.
Damage	Internet browsing tracking (potential privacy issues), displaying of unwanted ads, redirects to shady websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

There are many browser hijackers available that work in a very similar manner. In fact, this is not the only browser hijacker developed by this company.

All browser hijackers encourage you to use them (by offering dubious 'useful features' or quick access to sites), however, using a fake search engines is risky. You could experience privacy issues or even have your computer infected. Here are some examples of other fake search engines: FileCheckerApp, Instant Games Now, and The News Source.

How did The Weather Center install on my computer?

One way to install The Weather Center browser hijacker is to do it manually by visiting the theweathercenter.co website and clicking the "Download for Chrome" (or other web browser) button. This, however, is not how they are generally installed. Many browser hijackers are included as 'special offers' in the installers for other programs.

Therefore, they are installed using the 'bundling' method, whereby potentially unwanted programs are installed with another program (the one you wished to install).

Developers hide these special offers (in this case, a browser hijacker) in "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings/options. Another way to install a browser hijacker is through intrusive ads. When clicked, these redirect to malicious websites and execute scripts that stealthily download and install software.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

As mentioned, software developers tend to hide browser hijackers in "Custom", "Advanced" and other similar settings. Now that you are aware of this, you should check these settings/options when installing software, especially if it is free. Also look for any checkboxes that are ticked by default.

Do not skip installation steps, carefully read what you are agreeing to, and opt-out unwanted options or settings. Furthermore, do not click suspicious and intrusive ads - by clicking, you might end up on a malicious website or tricked into downloading malicious software.

Avoid using third party software downloaders/installers, and download software only from official sites and use direct links. If your computer is already infected with The Weather Center, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Website promoting The Weather Center browser hijacker:

Instant automatic 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 malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner 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. 7 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.htheweathercenter.co?
• STEP 1. Uninstall The Weather Center application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove search.htheweathercenter.co redirect from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove The Weather Center browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove search.htheweathercenter.co homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove search.htheweathercenter.co redirect from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

The Weather Center 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, "The Weather Center"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

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

The Weather Center 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.htheweathercenter.co 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 "The Weather Center...".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the the weather center 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 "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "The Weather Center" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable "The Weather Center", look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.search.htheweathercenter.co) 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 "search.htheweathercenter.co", and when located, click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the the weather center 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 on "Extensions" and remove "The Weather Center" (or simply "Weather"), as well as all 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 The Weather Center (or simply "Weather") 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: "moz-extension"
Right-click on the found preferences and select "Reset" to restore default values.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with the weather center 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 the weather center 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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