How to remove Secure-surf.net

What is Secure-surf.net

Secure-surf.net is browser hijacker presumably originated in Russia. It hits Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers modifying homepage, search and newtab settings. It has minimalistic design, that can resemble Google or Bing search engines. It redirects searches to http://nova.rambler.ru/, which is sub-domain of famous Russian search engine and news portal. Secure-surf.net also infects browser shortcuts on the desktop. It appends URL to the end to the Target field in shortcut properties. Links in the top right corner lead to Google services. This hijacker tracks browsing activity and collects user-typed queries, to sell this information to advertisers. Here is complete guide to remove Secure-surf.net from browsers in Windows 10, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista and XP.

How Secure-surf.net infected your PC

Secure-surf.net can get in your browsers with an adware program or freeware installer with bundled hijacker. In this case, hijackers are advertised as search enhance tools or browser add-ons for shopping, discount or deal search. Usually, such offers are veiled by streamlined phrases in the installer windows. It is quite hard to avoid installation of unwanted applications like this. One of the good programs to protect you from threats like this is SpyHunter 5 or MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.

Download Removal Tool

Download Removal Tool

To remove Secure-surf.net completely we recommend you to use SpyHunter 5. It detects and removes all files, folders and registry keys of Secure-surf.net and several millions of other adware, hijackers, toolbars.

Remove Secure-surf.net manually for free

Here is manual step-by-step tutorial for full Secure-surf.net removal from your computer. This works 99% and was checked with the latest versions of Secure-surf.net installer on operating systems with latest updates and browser versions.

Remove Secure-surf.net from Control Panel

To start removing Secure-surf.net you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “Secure-surf.net”. It should uninstall correctly, however, we recommend you to use IObit Uninstaller to clean leftover items after uninstalling. Here are instructions for Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Remove Secure-surf.net from Windows XP:

1. Click on Start button.
2. Choose Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Find Secure-surf.net.
5. Click Uninstall.

Remove Secure-surf.net from Windows 7:

1. Click Start button.
2. Then go to Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a Program.
4. Find Secure-surf.net and click Uninstall.

Remove Secure-surf.net from Windows 8:

1. Hover mouse pointer to the bottom-right corner to see Menu.
2. Click Search.
3. After that click Apps.
4. Then Control Panel.
5. Click Uninstall a Program under Programs.
6. Find Secure-surf.net, click Uninstall.

Remove Secure-surf.net from Windows 10:

There are 2 ways to uninstall Secure-surf.net from Windows 10

Way one

1. Click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the System tile.
4. Click Apps & features and locate Secure-surf.net in the list.
5. Click on it and then click Uninstall button near it.

Way two (classic)

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Programs and Features.
3. Locate Secure-surf.net in the list.
4. Click on it and then click Uninstall button above.

Cannot uninstall Secure-surf.net

In some cases Secure-surf.net won’t uninstall and gives you message that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Secure-surf.net. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing Secure-surf.net folder and files. This happens, because process or service does not allow you to do it. In this case I will recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 or Malwarebytes or uninstall Secure-surf.net in Safe Mode. To boot in Safe Mode do the following:

1. Reboot your computer.
2. While it starts booting press F8 button.
3. This will open Advanced Boot Options menu.
4. Choose Safe Mode and wait until Windows loads.
5. Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program and remove “Secure-surf.net”

>> See detailed instructions and video tutorial on how to boot in Safe Mode

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling Secure-surf.net from Control Panel often does not bring desired effect. It sometimes have browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove Secure-surf.net related extension from your browsers manually.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions/.
3. Find Secure-surf.net.
4. Click the trash can icon to remove them.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Choose Secure-surf.net.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.
5. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

Note: There is no feature to remove browser extensions from browser in latest version of Internet Explorer. To remove Secure-surf.net from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable Secure-surf.net, please, do the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu Manage Add-ons.
4. Select Toolbars and Extensions.
5. Click Disable Secure-surf.net.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, Secure-surf.net does not install in Opera browser however you can always double check. Do the following:

1. Start Opera browser.
2. Go to Tools > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
3. Find Secure-surf.net extension.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

Secure-surf.net installs search engine that hijacks your browsers. Here is instruction to reset your browsers homepage, newtab and search engine to default values.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings/.
3. Scroll down and find Show advanced settings link.
4. Click on it and scroll down to the bottom again.
5. Click Reset browser settings button and click Reset to confirm.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Reset Firefox… button.
4. Click Reset Firefox to confirm.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu choose Internet options.
4. Click Advanced tab.
5. Click Reset button.
6. Choose Delete personal settings and click Reset.

Opera Browser:

1. Close Opera and open command prompt from the start menu.
2. Type following command del %AppData%\Opera\Opera\operaprefs.ini
3. Start Opera.

Alternative way to remove adware browser extensions and reset browser settings

For safe and effective browser extension removal use avast! Browser Cleanup utility. Run it with administrator privileges and remove all extensions with bad rating including related to Secure-surf.net. You can also reset your browser settings for each of your browsers: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox.

Download Avast Browser Cleanup

Cleaning browsers shortcuts

You can clean your browser shortcuts manually right-clicking on your browser icon, choosing “Properties” and removing hijacker address from “Target” field (leave just the path to your browser). However it is easier to use free Shortcut Cleaner from BleepingComputer. Download it here – its FREE:

Download Shortcut Cleaner

Final tips

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like Secure-surf.net may become a real headache as they are hard to remove and break your privacy. To keep safe from such threats we recommend you always use antivirus and one of antimalware programs available on the market. One of the best anti-spyware and antimalware programs is SpyHunter 5. It can protect your PC from threats like Secure-surf.net.