Search Conduit is not really a virus, but rather a junk program (classified by Malware vendors as a PUP or Potentially Unwanted Program) that free software bundles as an add on. You can likely uninstall it from Programs and Features in Control Panel. While you are there, sort by date and remove anything else that was also installed on that date that you didn't specifically install. It would be very rare for only Search Conduit to be installed by itself. You will possibly need to go in and set Google (or Bing, if you have some mental issues) back as your default search provider.
Once you have completed these steps, run either Hitman Pro or Malware Bytes (or both) to clean up any remnants that tagged along.
You should always be careful when installing software, not to install any of the junk that comes bundled with it. You need to read what you are clicking. Often the language and the radio button functionality make it tricky to avoid installing these things.
Sites like CNET often bundle a normally good app in a crappy installer that has all of these apps included in it, so stay away from those sites when doing downloads. Always go to the vendor's site directly, in this case, utorrent.com rather than CNET. That should reduce, but not eliminate these types of addon's PUPs
__________________
"Wake up, Luigi! The only time plumbers sleep on the job is when we're working by the hour."
Last edited by Rathji; 11-15-2013 at 12:19 PM.
|