How To Remove SearchYa Search Engine From Your Computer And Internet Browser (SearchYa Toolbar, Speed Dial)

What is SearchYa (SearchYa!)?

SearchYa (SearchYa!, SearchYa virus, SearchYa Hijacker, Speed Dial 4.0) is an extension, search engine, and toolbar operated and owned by Israeli company Ironsource Ltd.  SearchYa allegedly affects computer systems by installing their toolbar, installing their web search service provider, changing internet settings, and redirecting internet search results without user consent. Though many consider SearchYa malware or a virus no confirmed reports have been made of any malicious activity. Keep in mind,  we still consider SearchYa unsafe though it is not known to be malicious. SearchYa is commonly downloaded alongside freeware or shareware like the free FLV player or Vid Saver applications. Often during installation of freeware or shareware the user is given the opportunity to opt in or out of installing SearchYa along with said ware products. These opt in or out options often go unnoticed causing computer users to suspect SearchYa is malicious upon discovery of SearchYa setting changes.

• SearchYa is also known to use Google development tools to develop their search engine results pages.

SearchYa! website: www.searchya.com

Similar Non-Malicious Search Engine Hijackers: Searchqu

What are symptoms of SearchYa!

• Once installed, SearchYa changes default search engine settings in both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox such as the homepage or startup page to searchya.com as well as adds extensions (toolbars), and live web service providers which cause searches in the URL address bar to redirect to SearchYa results opposed to default or user preferred settings.
• Google Chrome stays unaffected by SearchYa but contains a similar extension which should be removed (Speed Dial 4.0).
• SearchYa does not have a proper uninstaller.

How To Remove SearchYa!

There are many ways to remove SearchYa even though SearchYa does not have a proper uninstall application.

Removal options

1. Change Internet Browser Settings
   1. Google Chrome
   2. Mozilla Firefox
   3. Microsoft Internet Explorer
2. Manual Removal

Google Chrome

The Google Chrome application of SearchYa is titled Speed Dial 4.0.

1. Click on the Google Chrome wrench icon and navigate to Tools > Extensions.

2. Select Speed Dial 4.0 from the list of extensions and click on the small recycle bin icon to remove the Speed Dial toolbar.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox and navigate to Tools > Add-ons.

2. Select Extensions and remove the searchya.com 1.5.0 toolbar. Close the window.

3. Click on the magnifying glass search icon (shown in the image below) and select “Manage Search Engines…”

4. Choose/Highlight “Search” from the list of search providers and click the Remove button to successfully remove SearchYa. Click OK to save changes.
5. To reset the homepage/startup pagee navigate to Tools > Options.

6. Select the General tab and change your Startup page to your preferred website or click the Restore to Default button.  Make sure Searchya is removed from the Home Page field.

7. Now, in the URL address bar at the top of Firefox, type about:config and press Enter.

Click “I’ll be careful, I promise!”

In the filter at the top now type: searchya

You will see all the preferences that were changed by SearchYa!. Right click on each  preference and select Reset to restore default settings.

Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer and navigate to Tools > Manage Add-ons.

2. Select Search Providers. For the time being please chose Bing or “Live Search” search engine and make it your default web search provider or “set as default”.

3. Now, remove the SearchYa! web search providers from the list and close the window.

4. Navigate to Tools > Internet Options to fix homepage settings.

5. Select the General tab and click the “use default” button or enter your preferred website such as botcrawl.com or google.com instead of http://www.searchya.com. Click OK to save changes.

SearchYa Manual Removal

It is recommended to at least remove SearchYa from your computer’s uninstaller application.

1. Go to Window’s Start Menu and navigate to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using other Windows versions (Vista/7), select Control Panel > Uninstall a Program.

2. Search for SearchYa! Web Search in the list of programs and remove or uninstall “SearchYa! Web Search”.
If you are using other versions of Windows, click Uninstall toward the top of the window.

Alternate removal location: run C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0*\uninstall

* This is marked to include the version of the SearchYa toolbar that was downloaded.

Remove SearchYa files

• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\escortShld.dll
• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\FavIcon
• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\searchyaApp.dll
• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\searchyaEng.dll
• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\searchyasrv
• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\searchyaTlbr.dll
• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\uninstall
• C:\Program Files\SearchYa!\1.5.20.0\bh\searchya.dll

Remove SearchYa registry values

To access Window’s Registry Editor please type regedit into the Window’s Start Menu search field and press Enter.

• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\esrv.searchyaESrvc
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\esrv.searchyaESrvc\CurVer
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ironsource.searchyaappCore
• HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ironsource.searchyaHlpr
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main “Start Page”
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\esrv.searchyaESrvc
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar “SearchYa Toolbar”
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\searchya