How to remove Rack-search.com [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

The appearance Rack-search.com instead of your homepage or search engine is a classic sign of hijacker that installed on your PC. Moreover, the browser hijacker infection can lead to weird web browser behavior (freezing/crash), delays when starting a new web browser window or delays when searching for anything on the Net. We think you definitely want to solve this problem. For this purpose, necessity to perform cleanup of your computer. Follow the step-by-step tutorial below that will allow you to get rid of Rack-search.com and free your browser from the browser hijacker using the standard features of Microsoft Windows and some proven free software.

http://rack-search.com/

Table of contents

What is Rack-search.com
Remove Rack-search.com
- Manual Rack-search.com redirect removal
- Rack-search.com automatic removal
Use AdBlocker to block Rack-search.com and stay safe online
How to Rack-search.com browser hijacker get installed onto PC
Finish words

The Rack-search.com browser hijacker takes over your web-browser’s default search provider and controls what will be opened to you whenever you do a searching. Other than the search results, it also provides a large amount of annoying ads on the search page. Some of these ads designed to mislead you into buying some questionable products and programs. Moreover, sometimes, those advertisements could redirect you to misleading or malicious web-pages.

Although, Rack-search.com browser hijacker is not a virus, but it does bad things, and it can introduce changes to settings of internet browsers. Moreover, an adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) can be additionally installed on to your system with this browser hijacker, which will open a huge count of ads, or even massive full page advertisements that blocks surfing the Web. Often such these advertisements may recommend to install other unknown and unwanted applications or visit malicious web sites.

The Rack-search.com browser hijacker infection usually affects only the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, IE and Microsoft Edge. However, possible situations, when any other web browsers will be affected too. The browser hijacker will perform a scan of the system for internet browser shortcuts and alter them without your permission. When it infects the web browser shortcuts, it’ll add the argument like ‘http://site.address’ into Target property. So, each time you run the internet browser, you will see the Rack-search.com annoying site.

Thus, it is clear that the presence of hijacker on your machine is not desirable, and you need to clean up your computer as soon as possible. Follow the step-by-step tutorial below in order to remove Rack-search.com from Google Chrome, Firefox, IE and Microsoft Edge.

Remove Rack-search.com

In the step by step tutorial below we will have a look at the hijacker and how to remove Rack-search.com from Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer internet browsers for MS Windows OS, natively or by using a few free removal tools. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to close your web browser or reboot your system.

If you are using an Apple computer running Mac OS, then use the following step by step instructions How to remove Rack-search.com hijacker, pop-ups, ads from Mac

Manual Rack-search.com redirect removal

Read this section to know how to manually delete the Rack-search.com hijacker infection. Even if the tutorial does not work for you, there are several free malicious software removers below which can easily handle such hijackers.

Delete Rack-search.com associated software by using MS Windows Control Panel

We recommend that you begin the system cleaning procedure by checking the list of installed programs and uninstall all unknown or suspicious applications. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious programs such as adware and hijackers may be bundled with freeware. Delete the unwanted applications can remove the unwanted advertisements or web browser redirect.

Windows 8, 8.1, 10

First, click Windows button

, then press Search

. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter like below.

Once the ‘Control Panel’ opens, press the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as displayed on the image below.

You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as on the image below.

Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your computer. Most likely, one or more of them are responsible for the appearance of pop-up advertisements and web browser redirect to the intrusive Rack-search.com site. If you have many programs installed, you can help simplify the search of harmful programs by sort the list by date of installation. Once you have found a suspicious, unwanted or unused application, right click to it, after that click ‘Uninstall’.

Windows XP, Vista, 7

First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel as displayed on the screen below.

When the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to click ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown on the image below.

You will see a list of programs installed on your PC. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the software that were installed last. Most likely they responsibility for the appearance of pop up advertisements and browser redirect. If you are in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. When the program which you need to delete is found, simply press on its name, and then press ‘Uninstall’ as shown below.

Remove Rack-search.com from Firefox by resetting web browser settings

If your Firefox web browser start page has changed to Rack-search.com without your permission or an unknown search engine shows results for your search, then it may be time to perform the web browser reset.

Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as displayed on the screen below.

A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button like below.

Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Firefox internet browser settings to its original state.

Remove Rack-search.com from Microsoft Internet Explorer

The Internet Explorer reset is great if your internet browser is hijacked or you have unwanted add-ons or toolbars on your browser, that installed by a malicious software.

First, launch the Internet Explorer, press ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as displayed below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click Reset button. The IE will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.

You will now need to reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. It will delete browser hijacker that cause a redirect to Rack-search.com web-site, disable malicious and ad-supported browser’s extensions and restore the Microsoft Internet Explorer’s settings like startpage, new tab and default search engine to default state.

Remove Rack-search.com search from Google Chrome

If your Chrome browser is re-directed to undesired Rack-search.com page, it may be necessary to completely reset your web-browser application to its default settings.

First start the Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three horizontal stripes).
It will display the Google Chrome main menu. Select “Settings” option.
You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Show advanced settings” link.
Scroll down again and click the “Reset settings” button.
The Chrome will show the reset profile settings page as shown on the screen above.
Next press the “Reset” button.
Once this task is complete, your web-browser’s start page, newtab and search provider by default will be restored to their original defaults.
To learn more, read the blog post How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Clean up the browsers shortcuts that have been hijacked by Rack-search.com

After installed, this browser hijacker infection may add an argument such as “http://site.address” into the Target property of the desktop shortcut for the Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge. Due to this, every time you launch the web browser, it will open the annoying homepage.

Right click on the browser’s shortcut, click Properties option. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text “http://site.address” that has been added here. Remove everything after .exe. An example, for Google Chrome you should remove everything after chrome.exe.

To save changes, click OK . You need to clean all web browser’s shortcuts. So, repeat this step for the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer.

Rack-search.com automatic removal

Manual removal guidance does not always help to completely get rid of the hijacker, as it’s not easy to identify and remove components of hijacker and all malicious files from hard disk. Therefore, it’s recommended that you run malicious software removal utility to completely delete Rack-search.com off your personal computer. Several free malicious software removal tools are currently available that can be used against the browser hijacker infection. The optimum solution would be to run Zemana, Malwarebytes Free and AdwCleaner.

Automatically remove Rack-search.com search with Zemana AntiMalware

Zemana Free highly recommended, because it can scan for security threats such adware and browser hijacker infections which most ‘classic’ antivirus software fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any Rack-search.com hijacker removal problems which cannot be fixed by this utility automatically, then Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.

Download Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) by clicking on the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Zemana AntiMalware
164112 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019

Once the download is finished, close all windows on your machine. Further, run the setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as displayed below, click the “Yes” button.

It will open the “Setup wizard” which will assist you install Zemana Free on the machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once install is finished successfully, Zemana will automatically start and you may see its main window as displayed on the image below.

Next, click the “Scan” button to begin checking your personal computer for the browser hijacker infection that modifies web browser settings to replace your new tab, start page and search engine by default with Rack-search.com web-site. While the Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) program is checking, you may see count of objects it has identified as threat.

Once Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) has finished scanning your system, you may check all items detected on your system. Review the scan results and then press “Next” button.

The Zemana will remove browser hijacker that changes internet browser settings to replace your start page, newtab and default search provider with Rack-search.com page and add items to the Quarantine. Once that process is finished, you can be prompted to restart your system.

Scan and clean your machine of hijacker with Malwarebytes

Manual Rack-search.com start page removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the hijacker can be not completely removed. We recommend that use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your computer of hijacker infection. Moreover, the free program will help you to delete malware, PUPs, adware and toolbars that your PC system can be infected too.

Download MalwareBytes from the link below. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.

Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326462 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020

When downloading is finished, close all applications and windows on your PC. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup like below.

When the setup begins, you’ll see the “Setup wizard” that will help you install Malwarebytes on your personal computer.

Once setup is done, you’ll see window as shown in the figure below.

Now click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Anti-Malware tool will start scanning the whole PC to find out browser hijacker infection that causes web-browsers to open unwanted Rack-search.com web-site. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is complete.

After the checking is finished, MalwareBytes Anti Malware will display a list of detected threats. All found threats will be marked. You can get rid of them all by simply click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes will now delete hijacker which redirects your internet browser to undesired Rack-search.com web-page. When disinfection is complete, you may be prompted to reboot your PC system.

The following video explains tutorial on how to remove browser hijacker infection, ‘ad supported’ software and other malicious software with MalwareBytes.

Use AdwCleaner to get rid of Rack-search.com from the computer

AdwCleaner is a free portable program that scans your computer for ad supported software, potentially unwanted software and browser hijackers such as Rack-search.com and helps get rid of them easily. Moreover, it’ll also help you delete any harmful internet browser extensions and add-ons.

Download AdwCleaner from the link below and save it directly to your Windows Desktop.

AdwCleaner download
225299 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
Select the folder in which you saved it as Desktop, and then press Save.
Once the download is complete, run the AdwCleaner, double-click the adwcleaner_xxx.exe file.
If the “User Account Control” prompts, press Yes to continue.
Read the “Terms of use”, and press Accept.
In the AdwCleaner window, press the “Scan” to perform a system scan with this utility for the browser hijacker which cause a reroute to Rack-search.com web-site. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. When a malicious software, ad-supported software or PUPs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
After AdwCleaner has finished scanning, AdwCleaner will show you the results. You may move threats to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply press “Clean”. If the AdwCleaner will ask you to reboot your PC, press “OK”.

The step by step instructions shown in detail in the following video.

Use AdBlocker to block Rack-search.com and stay safe online

Run ad-blocking program such as AdGuard in order to block ads, malvertisements, pop-ups and online trackers, avoid having to install malicious and adware browser plug-ins and add-ons that affect your PC system performance and impact your computer security. Surf the Internet anonymously and stay safe online!

Download AdGuard program from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.

After downloading is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed in the figure below.

Follow the prompts. After the installation is finished, you will see a window as displayed on the screen below.

You can click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.

In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your system, AdGuard will run automatically and block popup ads, web-sites such Rack-search.com, as well as other malicious or misleading web-pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which is located on your desktop.

How to Rack-search.com browser hijacker get installed onto PC

The Rack-search.com hijacker infection usually spreads along with some freeware that you download off of the Web. Once started, it will infect your PC system and alter web-browser’s settings such as startpage, new tab page and default search provider without your permission. To avoid infection, in the Setup wizard, you should be be proactive and carefully read the ‘Terms of use’, the ‘license agreement’ and other setup screens, as well as to always select the ‘Manual’ or ‘Advanced’ setup mode, when installing anything downloaded from the Net.

Finish words

After completing the steps above, your personal computer should be clean from this hijacker and other malware. The Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge will no longer show unwanted Rack-search.com homepage on startup. Unfortunately, if the step by step guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker infection, and then the best way – ask for help.

Please start a new thread by using the “New Topic” button in the Spyware Removal forum. When posting your HJT log, try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the annoying Rack-search.com startpage.