Computer security researchers named the Search.memeinc.net a browser hijacker. What is a browser hijacker? Browser hijacker is a web browser plugin or program that engages in behavior that is unexpected, or that negatively affects the user’s Web surfing experience. Examples include software that modifies web browser’s home page, search engine or similar browser settings to ones you don’t want.
When you perform a search through Search.memeinc.net, in addition to search results from Yahoo, Bing or Google Custom Search that provide links to web pages, news articles, images or videos you will also be shown a large number of unwanted ads. The authors of Search.memeinc.net doing this to generate advertising revenue from these ads.
Also, ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) can be installed on the Apple Mac together with Search.memeinc.net browser hijacker. It will insert lots of advertisements directly to the web-pages which you view, creating a sense that advertisements has been added by the makers of the web site. Legal ads may be replaced on fake ads that will offer to download and install various unnecessary and harmful apps.
Moreover, the Search.memeinc.net hijacker has the ability to collect lots of your confidential information that may be later transferred third party companies.
If you are unfortunate have browser hijacker, adware or malware running on your MAC, you can follow the suggestions here to get rid of Search.memeinc.net startpage from your web-browser.
How to remove Search.memeinc.net from Chrome, Firefox, Safari
Fortunately, we’ve an effective solution that will help you manually or/and automatically delete Search.memeinc.net from your machine and bring your web browser settings, including start page, newtab and default search provider, back to normal. Below you’ll find a removal tutorial with all the steps you may need to successfully delete this browser hijacker infection and its traces. Some of the steps below will require you to exit this web-site. So, please read the steps carefully, after that bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Search.memeinc.net, complete the following steps:
- How to manually remove Search.memeinc.net
- How to remove Search.memeinc.net redirect with freeware
- How to block Search.memeinc.net
- How to prevent Search.memeinc.net hijacker from getting inside your computer
- Finish words
How to manually remove Search.memeinc.net
Most common hijackers may be removed without any antivirus apps. The manual hijacker removal is step-by-step guide that will teach you how to get rid of Search.memeinc.net . If you do not want to remove Search.memeinc.net in the manually due to the fact that you are an unskilled computer user, then you can run free removal utilities listed below.
Delete dubious applications using the Finder
First method for manual hijacker removal is to go into the Finder, then Applications. Take a look at the list of applications on your MAC OS and see if there are any suspicious and unknown apps. If you see any, you need to delete them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Web search to find details on the program. If it is a potentially unwanted application, adware or malware, you will likely find information that says so.
- Open the Finder.
- Click “Applications”.
- It will display a list of all programs installed on the MAC OS.
- Scroll through the all list, and remove questionable and unknown applications. Pay maximum attention to the program you installed last.
- Drag the suspicious program from the Applications folder to the Trash.
- Empty Trash.
Remove Search.memeinc.net from Mozilla Firefox
If the Mozilla Firefox browser application is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Mozilla Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring Mozilla Firefox settings like search provider by default, homepage and newtab to their default values. However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed, deleted or cleared.
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as shown in the figure below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, press “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed on the image below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to restore your Firefox internet browser settings to their original settings.
Remove Search.memeinc.net from Chrome
Use the Reset web-browser utility of the Chrome to reset all its settings like newtab page, start page and search engine by default to original defaults. This is a very useful tool to use, in the case of browser hijacks like Search.memeinc.net.
Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (). It will display the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.
Carefully browse through the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.
Open the Chrome main menu again, click to “Settings” option.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, as displayed in the figure below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Remove Search.memeinc.net search from Safari
By resetting Safari browser you return your web browser settings to its default state. This is first when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by browser hijacker such as Search.memeinc.net.
Click Safari menu and select “Preferences”.
It will open the Safari Preferences window. Next, click the “Extensions” tab. Look for unknown and suspicious extensions on left panel, choose it, then click the “Uninstall” button. Most important to remove all unknown extensions from Safari.
Once complete, click “General” tab. Change the “Default Search Engine” to Google.
Find the “Homepage” and type into textfield “https://www.google.com”.
How to remove Search.memeinc.net redirect with freeware
If you are not expert at computer technology, then we recommend to use free removal tools listed below to remove Search.memeinc.net startpage for good. The automatic method is highly recommended. It has less steps and easier to implement than the manual solution. Moreover, it lower risk of system damage. So, the automatic Search.memeinc.net removal is a better option.
Run MalwareBytes to remove browser hijacker
Manual Search.memeinc.net search removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the browser hijacker may be not completely removed. We recommend that run the MalwareBytes that are fully clean your MAC system of browser hijacker infection. Moreover, this free application will help you to remove malicious software, potentially unwanted apps, ad-supported software and toolbars that your computer can be infected too.
- Please go to the link below to download MalwareBytes.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware (Mac)
20800 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: September 10, 2020
- Once the download is done, close all programs and windows on your machine. Open a folder in which you saved it. Run the downloaded file and follow the prompts.
- Click the “Scan” button . MalwareBytes Free tool will begin scanning the whole MAC system to find out browser hijacker responsible for redirecting your web-browser to Search.memeinc.net web site. This task may take some time, so please be patient. During the scan MalwareBytes Free will search for threats present on your machine.
- After the scan is complete, the results are displayed in the scan report. Review the results once the tool has complete the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply click “Remove Selected Items”.
How to block Search.memeinc.net
We recommend to install an ad-blocking program which can stop Search.memeinc.net and other unwanted sites. The ad-blocking tool like AdGuard is a application that basically removes advertising from the Internet and stops access to malicious webpages. Moreover, security experts says that using ad-blocking programs is necessary to stay safe when surfing the Net.
AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link.
3657 downloads
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: January 17, 2018
When downloading is finished, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen. Follow the prompts.
Each time, when you run your MAC OS, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted ads, block Search.memeinc.net, as well as other harmful or misleading web sites.
How to prevent Search.memeinc.net hijacker from getting inside your computer
It’s very important to pay attention to additional checkboxes during the installation of freeware to avoid installing of potentially unwanted programs, ad-supported software, browser hijackers or other unwanted apps. Never set up the third-party applications that the application wants to install with it. Inattentive freeware download can result in setup of undesired program such as this browser hijacker responsible for redirects to Search.memeinc.net.
Finish words
After completing the steps outlined above, your machine should be free from hijacker related to Search.memeinc.net redirect and other malicious software. The Safari, Chrome and Mozilla Firefox will no longer show intrusive Search.memeinc.net web-page on startup. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help here.