How To Remove Cleanserp.net Search Engine Hijacker From Chrome

Logo used from the start of the Chrome project until March 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

July 8, 2017


Recently I was plagued by cleanserp.net search engine taking over Google. I do a search and out comes cleanserp.net taking over Google.com, and that is even when you type Google.com in the web address!

I let this happen for a couple of days, until I got fed up. I was thinking that it was a bit difficult to remove this search engine browser hijacker, but my curiosity got the better of me.

So I did a search, and guess what? It is easy enough, easier than I expected, even if it were to be done manually.

I'm not telling anything anymore about what cleanserp.net is, of how it got into your computer, and what it does, and more.

So here are the steps:

1. Check the browser shortcut by doing right-click on it, then Properties. If after the .exe it shows "http://cleanserp.net", remove that. Then click on OK.

2. Change your startup page, it must not be "http://cleanserp.net".

3. Uninstall any program that may be related to anything rogue or questionable. Since you know your computer better, you know what you are installing, and anything that doesn't look like a legit program, you uninstall these.

Specific to Google Chrome, if changing the search engine throws out “This setting is enforced by your administrator”, try the following (this is what fixed my problem):

1. Open %WINDIR%\System32\GroupPolicy folder (just copy that path and paste into the address bar of Windows Explorer). Delete the contents of that folder.

2. Next, open %WINDIR%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers and delete all of its contents.

3. Finally, restart your computer.

There is a possibility that a few more minutes will be added than before to your computer's restart process, but that is just the first time reboot after doing the change. it would return to normal afterwards.

Some more info can be got here: How to Remove Cleanserp.net [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

Hope this helps.

Thank you, and till then!

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Zemanta wasn't working in Firefox... uninstalled, reinstalled

Zemanta (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

25-Jan-2015


Yesterday, I was posting some of the articles, and I noticed that Zemanta is still not working. That it didn't work a week ago when I did some posting was still acceptable - I took it as a temporary glitch.

But yesterday, I had to try it on Internet Explorer, to eliminate Firefox. It wasn't also working in IE, so I came to identify that Zemanta add-on is the problem.

Since I am favoring Firefox over Internet Explorer for my blogging, I went to disable and enable Zemanta in Firefox. That meant restarting Firefox each change, of course.

Tried editing the article, and still, Zemanta isn't working.

Since removing and adding the add-on (or extension, to be precise) is easy, I did that next.

Removed. Added back in.

When Firefox was restarted after the reinstallation of the extension, there it was: Zemanta working like a charm!

I went back to the posts that didn't have the Zemanta touch, and yes, blogging with Zemanta is back!

C'est tout!

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Browser Shop in Chrome - Removed!

google chrome (Photo credit: toprankonlinemarketing)

05-July-2014


A couple of weeks ago, 'Browser Shop' just suddenly popped out of my Chrome webpages. As it hijacked the links, it was just a bit irksome. I wanted it removed. Immediately.

I searched, and there was none. not even the adware or malware software applications.

The extensions or add-ons removal procedure doesn't help at all. How can it help, since browser shop doesn't appear in the list?

Software removal program also is inutile, as there is no installed program called Browse Shop.

What's more, Browser Shop doesn't appear in Internet Explorer, not in Firefox, not in Safari, not in Maxthon, not in Opera.

Further validation I made is to check in Chrome in my Linux OS. It is not there, so I confirmed that this is a Chrome in Windows OS problem only.

When I ran out of options, I thought of one last recourse: uninstall-reinstall Chrome.

I did just that.

And...

Voila!

When I opened Chrome, Browser Shop is no longer there.

Of course, that entailed running CCleaner, two times, both on the Cleaner and Registry options, just to make sure that no remnants remain.

Even when I have Chrome linked to my account, I made a back-up of my favorites an homepages before I did the uninstall. Redundant, but I did double-redundancy.

So if you also run out of options, try uninstall-reinstall option.

It might just work.

Try it!

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Custom fonts may break Yahoo! Mail in Opera browser

List of Microsoft Windows fonts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

30-April-2014

This would be a quick post.

I could say that I was so happy that I was able to install Ubuntu Linux 14.04 in my Windows 8.1 laptop, and in the process of customizing things in the new environment, I would honestly say that some things got broken.

One is that for Opera browser, Yahoo! Mail didn't show up properly, as well as most of the websites - after I installed my custom fonts in /usr/share/fonts/truetype/MyFonts directory. Of course, /MyFonts is a collection of some fonts that I like very much, as you would guess, in Windows.

After learning how I can get them over to Ubuntu  Linux, I ported them without hesitation. Only to find that Yahoo! Mail in Opera would show me a blank face!

That isn't the case in Firefox and Chrome, so I narrowed it down to Opera browser.

When I checked on the fonts used in Opera, it was DejaVu family, so I was wondering, which font face caused the problem?

I have Advent, Hattori Hanzo, Droid Sans, Segoe, Yanone Kaffeesatz, to name a few.

I suspected Droid, so I got that deleted. I restarted the PC, opened up Opera, but no, Yahoo! Mail is still a blank face, and if some showed, the letters were overlapping.

I put back Droid*.ttf, and removed Segoe family of fonts (from /MyFonts, to be clear), restarted my PC, and opened up Opera... and Yahoo! Mail?

Well, it was back to normal!

So that is the cause! It may be different from your experience, but for me, this was verified:

1. Put back Segoe family of fonts, reboot, open Yahoo! in Opera: blank face.
2. Remove Segoe family of fonts, reboot, open Yahoo! in Opera: show nicely.

At least 3 times I verified, and I am very sure, it was the Segoe family of fonts that caused the problem for Yahoo! Mail in Opera browser.

Your case may be similar, or totally different...

Till then!

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Resize Opera Browser Window in Ubuntu

A GNOME icon for Opera (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

25-April-2014

Hello again!

Seems I have to record everything I am coming across with in my course of learning Ubuntu Linux. Here is another one.

Firefox is built-in, and since I am one who prefer to use FF over IE even in Windows, I am happy with that. I usually do a lot of bookmarking, aside from live searching and browsing. So I needed other browsers. Came in Chrome, which I also use in Windows. Fortunately, it was easy to search and install from the Ubuntu Software Center (or even from normal web search, and just download the appropriate installer for Linux).

There were others, like Midori, Epiphany, etc. But in particular, I also installed Opera, which I happen to note to behave even better than IE, even in Windows OS. Duh!

Now, the problem is this: Opera opens up maximized. If you try to do a resize by hovering your mouse at the edges, there is no mouse pointer change. Well, this scheme works in Firefox and Chrome (I haven't messed with the other browsers, yet). So I am treating this as some kind of a minor problem.

I searched, and there was a suggestion on some add-on: Resize Me. Well, I added that, and it worked! But, it was on the current tab. That is not what I want. I want to resize the whole window, not just the current tab.

So one solution works, but not as desired.

I read some more, and one suggested of pressing ALT + middle mouse button when you hover on the edge. Sort of that trick works if you have 3 mouse buttons. But I use a mouse having only 2 buttons. So how?

Being one who doesn't simply stop at the slightest blockage, I said, "Why don't I try with the right mouse button?" I have nothing to lose.

So this post is to confirm that this trick works!

3 buttons, press ALT + middle button when you hover on the window edge (whichever you want).

2 buttons, press ALT + right mouse button when you hover on the windows edge.

Now, from my experience, the reason for the mouse pointer not changing to the resize icon when you hover on the edge is due to the window being maximized, somehow the behaviour is different. Opera window has to be UnMaximized first. That is what I did. Hover on the edge, then press ALT + right mouse click, then select (left-click) on UnMaximize. Browser window will slighty shrink, and at this point, the hover-resize method will already work.

Alright, this ALT key is required only when the window is maximized. Once it is UnMaximized, only right-click is needed to invoke the window resize menu.

How's that?

Till then!

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