Should I remove Search Protection?
What percent of users and experts removed it?
82% remove it18% keep it
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #951
United States Rank #758
Reach 0.7256%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 31.12 days
917.97 days >
Average installed length: 482.32 days
Versions
| Version | Distribution |
| 20.8.0.5 |
0.17% |
|
| 20.8.0.4 |
0.03% |
|
| 20.8.0.3 |
1.58% |
|
| 20.7.0.3 |
0.28% |
|
| 20.6.0.1 |
0.15% |
|
| 20.5.0.2 |
0.04% |
|
| 11.2.0.2 |
1.57% |
|
| 11.2.0.1 |
0.15% |
|
| 11.1.0.1 |
1.31% |
|
| 10.9.0.3 |
3.08% |
|
| 10.8.0.1 |
5.24% |
|
| 10.7.0.1 |
3.22% |
|
| 10.6.0.1 |
6.94% |
|
| 10.5.0.2 |
0.20% |
|
| 10.5.0.1 |
0.24% |
|
| 10.4.0.3 |
0.78% |
|
| 10.3.0.1 |
1.94% |
|
| 10.2.0.1 |
1.01% |
|
| 10.1.0.2 |
0.29% |
|
| 10.0.0.1 |
1.06% |
|
| 9.9.0.1 |
1.62% |
|
| 9.8.0.2 |
2.56% |
|
| 9.8.0.1 |
0.49% |
|
| 9.7.0.6 |
2.48% |
|
| 9.7.0.4 |
4.15% |
|
| 9.7.0.3 |
0.68% |
|
| 9.7.0.1 |
2.12% |
|
| 9.6.0.4 |
0.18% |
|
| 9.5.0.3 |
1.48% |
|
| 9.4.0.2 |
10.58% |
|
| 9.3.0.2 |
3.94% |
|
| 8.9.0.2 |
1.64% |
|
| 8.9.0.1 |
6.73% |
|
| 8.8.0.10 |
0.08% |
|
| 8.7.0.2 |
2.41% |
|
| 8.7.0.1 |
2.00% |
|
| 8.5.0.2 |
0.69% |
|
| 8.5.0.1 |
5.85% |
|
| 7.5.0.1 |
12.78% |
|
| 7.3.0.3 |
8.23% |
|
| 7.2.0.1 |
0.06% |
|
Search Protection
What is Search Protection? (from Spigot)
The Spigot Search Settings is an application which is part of the Spigot Toolbar. Spigot searchsettings.exe'spurpose is to check periodically your default search engine and restore it to Yahoo in case you agreed to set it to Yahoo in the first place and another application is trying to change it. It's easy to uninstall... Read more
Overview
Search Protection is a software program developed by Spigot. The most common release is 7.5.0.1, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in Windows in order to automatically start when any user boots the PC. The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The primary executable is named searchprotection.exe. A majority of users end up uninstalling this less than a week of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 4 files and is usually about 970.87 KB (994,174 bytes). Relative to the overall usage of users who have this installed on their PCs, most are running Windows 7 (SP1) and Windows 10. While about 62% of users of Search Protection come from the United States, it is also popular in United Kingdom and Spain.
- Malware detected in the program
- Automatically starts with Windows
- Typically distributed through a pay-per-install bundle
- The experts agree, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in Search Protection.
| searchprotection.exe (a9c71d2c838ddce573888d82b3e17a8b) has been flagged by the following 5 scanners: |
| Anti-Virus software | Version | Detection |
| ESET-NOD32 |
7.8840 |
a variant of Win32/Toolbar.Widgi |
| Kingsoft AntiVirus |
331020.49267 |
Win32.Troj.Generic.a.(kcloud) |
| McAfee |
5600.7209 |
Artemis!A9C71D2C838D |
| McAfee-GW-Edition |
7.7209 |
Artemis!A9C71D2C838D |
| TrendMicro-HouseCall |
7.2.268 |
TROJ_GEN.F47V0910 |
| SP.exe (ba4f45151a5cb929fb7d492392c090a7) has been flagged by the following 18 scanners: |
| Anti-Virus software | Software version | Detection |
| Lavasoft Ad-Aware |
12.0.163.0 |
Application.SearchProtect.BD |
| Antiy-AVL |
1.0.0.1 |
Trojan[:HEUR]/Win32.AGeneric |
| Arcabit |
1.0.0.425 |
Application.SearchProtect.BD |
| AVware |
1.5.0.21 |
Adware.SearchProtect |
| Baidu-International |
3.5.1.41473 |
PUA.Win32.Spigot.77 |
| Bitdefender |
7.2 |
Application.SearchProtect.BD |
| Bkav FE |
1.3.0.6979 |
W32.HfsAdware.4DF2 |
| Cyren |
5.4.16.7 |
W32/SearchProtect.SZAK-4786 |
| Dr.Web |
7.0.13.5270 |
Adware.Spigot.34 |
| ESET-NOD32 |
11984 |
a variant of Win32/Toolbar.Widgi.J potentially unwanted |
| F-Prot |
4.7.1.166 |
W32/SearchProtect.G |
| F-Secure |
11.0.19100.45 |
Application.SearchProtect.BD |
| G Data |
25 |
Application.SearchProtect.BD |
| K7 AntiVirus |
9.207.16656 |
Trojan ( 0049ee0a1 ) |
| K7GW |
9.207.16655 |
Trojan ( 0049ee0a1 ) |
| Malwarebytes |
2.1.1.1115 |
PUP.Optional.Spigot.SID |
| MicroWorld-eScan |
12.0.250.0 |
Application.SearchProtect.BD |
| VIPRE Antivirus |
42256 |
Adware.SearchProtect |
View all 23 all detections
Search Protection has been found to be bundled with 3rd party software. If you have not purposefully installed this, you should be safe uninstalling it.
Program details
URL: www.spigot.com
Installation folder: C:\users\user\appdata\Roaming\Search Protection\
Uninstaller: "C:\users\user\appdata\Roaming\Search Protection\uninstall.exe"
Estimated size: 970.87 KB
Files installed by Search Protection
| Program executable: | searchprotection.exe (Malware detected) |
| Name: | Search Protection |
| Path: | C:\users\user\appdata\roaming\search protection\searchprotection.exe |
| MD5: | a9c71d2c838ddce573888d82b3e17a8b |
Additional files:
-
Uninstall.exe - Search Protection Setup
-
(Malware detected) SP.exe (by S p i g o t, I n c) - Search Protection
Behaviors exhibited
2 Startup Files (User Run)
- SP.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'Search Protection' and executes as "C:\users\user\appdata\Roaming\Search Protection\SP.EXE" /autostart.
- SearchProtection.exe is loaded in the current user (HKCU) registry as an auto-starting executable named 'SearchProtection' and executes as "C:\users\user\appdata\Roaming\Search Protection\SearchProtection.EXE" /autostart.
2 Startup Files (All Users Run)
- SearchProtection.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'SearchProtection' which loads as "C:\users\user\appdata\Roaming\Search Protection\SearchProtection.EXE" /autostart.
- SP.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'Search Protection' which loads as "C:\users\user\appdata\Roaming\Search Protection\SP.EXE" /autostart.
Windows Firewall Allowed Program
- SearchProtection.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Search Protection\SearchProtection.EXE'.
Resource utilization averages
Show technical details
| SearchProtection.exe |
| Memory: | 4.54 MB | |
| Total CPU: | 0.0000620189% | |
| Kernel CPU: | 0.00002663% | |
| User CPU: | 0.00003539% | |
| CPU cycles/sec: | 4,464,881 | |
| I/O reads/min: | 10.37 KB | |
How do I remove Search Protection?
You can uninstall Search Protection from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
- On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
- Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
- When you find the program Search Protection, click it, and then do one of the following:
- Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
- Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
- Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Search Protection.
- If for some reason uninstallation fails, please install Microsoft's uninstall fixer utility which will help fix problems with programs that can't be uninstalled at support.microsoft.com.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 54%
Win 8.1 0%
|
|
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
|
|
USER ACTIONS
 |
Uninstall it 82%
Keep it 18%
|
|
Windows
Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
| Windows 7 |
58.34% |
|
| Windows 10 |
33.34% |
|
| Windows Vista |
4.53% |
|
| Windows XP |
3.79% |
|
| Windows Server 2003 |
0.01% |
|
Which OS releases does it run on? |
| Windows 7 Home Premium |
35.41% |
|
| Windows 8.1 |
17.22% |
|
| Windows 7 Ultimate |
12.49% |
|
| Windows 7 Professional |
8.31% |
|
| Windows 8 |
5.33% |
|
| Windows 8.1 Pro |
3.84% |
|
Geography
62.30% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
| United States |
62.30% |
| United Kingdom |
9.71% |
| Spain |
3.25% |
| India |
2.07% |
| Germany |
1.93% |
| Canada |
1.90% |
| Australia |
1.62% |
| Italy |
1.53% |
| Singapore |
0.99% |
| France |
0.97% |
| Sweden |
0.95% |
| Brazil |
0.78% |
| Netherlands |
0.76% |
| DK |
0.44% |
PC manufacturers
What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
| Hewlett-Packard |
30.00% |
|
| Dell |
18.39% |
|
| Acer |
16.13% |
|
| ASUS |
10.15% |
|
| Toshiba |
8.79% |
|
| Lenovo |
5.68% |
|
| GIGABYTE |
4.24% |
|
| Samsung |
4.23% |
|
| Intel |
1.07% |
|
| MSI |
0.69% |
|
| Alienware |
0.65% |
|
Common models |
| HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... |
8.05% |
|
| HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... |
7.14% |
|
| HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook ... |
4.22% |
|
| HP Pavilion g7 Notebook P... |
3.77% |
|
| HP 2000 Notebook PC |
3.61% |
|
| HP Pavilion 15 Notebook P... |
2.76% |
|
About (from Spigot, Inc.)
Keep your customers coming back and delight them with contextually relevant content and applications.
Publisher URL: www.spigot.com