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How to remove the Puppyness Search browser hijacker

Also Known As: puppyness.club redirect
Damage level: Medium

What is Puppyness Search?

Puppyness Search is rogue software categorized as a browser hijacker. It is endorsed as a tool for easy access to domestic canine-related content, however, following successful installation, Puppyness Search makes alterations to browser settings to promote puppyness.club (a fake search engine).

Puppyness Search also monitors users' browsing activity and collects sensitive information extracted from it, which makes this browser hijacker a serious privacy concern. Due to the dubious techniques used to proliferate Puppyness Search, it is classified as a Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA).

puppyness.club browser hijacker

Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and other popular browsers are common targets of browser hijackers. They assign the addresses of fake search engines as the homepage, default search engine and new tab/window URLs.

Therefore, with Puppyness Search installed, each new browser tab/window opened and search query typed into the URL bar redirects to puppyness.club. Fake search engines are seldom capable of providing unique results, and so they redirect to (or cause redirection chains ending with) Google, Yahoo, Bing and other legitimate sites.

Puppyness.club cannot generate unique results - it simply redirects to the Bing (bing.com) search engine. Furthermore, browser hijackers can restrict/deny access to browser settings and/or reset any permitted changes made. Therefore, recovering an affected browser is impossible without removing the software hijacking it.

As mentioned, Puppyness Search has data tracking capabilities. It can monitor browsing activity (URLs visited, pages viewed, search queries typed, etc.) and gather personal information derived from it (IP addresses, geolocations and other details). This vulnerable information is usually shared with and/or sold to third parties (potentially, cyber criminals).

To summarize, the presence of data-tracking software on browsers/systems can result in serious privacy issues, financial loss and even identity theft. To ensure device integrity and user safety, you are strongly advised to remove all suspicious applications and browser extensions/plug-ins immediately upon detection.

Threat Summary:
Name Puppyness Search
Threat Type Browser Hijacker, Redirect, Search Hijacker, Toolbar, Unwanted New Tab.
Browser Extension(s) Puppyness Search, Puppyness
Supposed Functionality Easy access to domestic canine-related content.
Promoted URL puppyness.club
Serving IP Address (puppyness.club) 162.255.119.243
Affected Browser Settings Homepage, new tab URL, default search engine.
Symptoms Manipulated Internet browser settings (homepage, default Internet search engine, new tab settings). Users are forced to visit the hijacker's website and search the Internet using their search engines.
Distribution methods Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake Flash Player installers.
Damage Internet browser tracking (potential privacy issues), display of unwanted ads, redirects to dubious websites.
Malware Removal (Windows)

To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner.
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Auratab, EasyWebPagePrint and SearchThatMovie are some examples of other browser hijackers. They may seem normal and innocuous, and users are lured into download/installation with offers of various "useful" functionality. Despite how good the features may sound, they rarely work as promised and, in most cases, do not work at all.

This applies to most PUAs. The only purpose of these unwanted apps is to generate revenue for the developers. Regular users receive no real value and can instead experience serious problems. PUAs hijack browsers, force-open untrusted or malicious websites, deliver intrusive advertisement campaigns and collect private data.

How did Puppyness Search install on my computer?

PUAs are distributed through the download/installation set-ups of other products. This deceptive marketing method of pre-packing regular software with unwanted or malicious additions is called "bundling".

Rushing download/installation processes (e.g. ignoring terms, skipping steps and sections, etc.) increases the risk of unintentionally allowing dubious and/or bundled content into the system. Some PUAs have "official" promotional pages from which they can be downloaded. Intrusive ads proliferate these applications as well.

Once clicked, the ads can execute scripts to download/install PUAs without users' consent.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications

You are advised to research all software prior to download/installation and/or purchase. All downloads should be done from official and verified sources, since untrusted channels such as unofficial and free file-hosting sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders commonly offer deceptive and bundled content.

When downloading/installing, read the terms, explore all available options, use the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings and opt-out of additional apps, tools, features, and so on. Intrusive advertisements may seem legitimate, however, they can redirect to dubious websites (e.g. gambling, pornography, adult-dating, etc.).

If you encounter ads or redirects of this kind, inspect your devices and immediately remove all suspect applications and browser extensions/plug-ins. If your computer is already infected with Puppyness Search, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate this browser hijacker.

Puppyness Search browser hijacker asking for various permissions:

Puppyness Search browser hijacker asking for permissions

Appearance of Puppyness Search browser hijacker promoting puppyness.club (GIF):

Puppyness Search browser hijacker appearance GIF

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Quick menu:

Puppyness Search browser hijacker removal:

Windows 11 users:

Accessing Apps and Features in Windows 11

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Accessing Programs and Features (uninstall) in Windows 8

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Accessing Programs and Features (uninstall) in Windows 7

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Uninstall app in OSX (Mac)

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

puppyness.club browser hijacker uninstall via Control Panel

In the uninstall programs window: look for any recently installed suspicious applications (for example, "Puppyness Search"), select these entries and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted applications that cause browser redirects to the puppyness.club website, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Puppyness Search browser hijacker removal from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove browser redirects:

Internet Explorer logoRemove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Removing puppyness.club related Internet Explorer extensions

Click the "gear" icon Internet Explorer options icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage:

Removing puppyness.club from Internet Explorer homepage

Click the "gear" icon Internet Explorer options icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Internet Options", in the opened window remove hxxp://puppyness.club and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you launch Internet Explorer. You can also enter about: blank to open a blank page when you start Internet Explorer.

Change your default search engine:

Removing puppyness.club from Internet Explorer default search engine

Click the "gear" icon Internet Explorer options icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". In the opened window, select "Search Providers", set "Google", "Bing", or any other preferred search engine as your default and then remove "Puppyness Search".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the puppyness.club redirect, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Resetting Internet Explorer settings to default on Windows XP

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Resetting Internet Explorer settings to default on Windows 7

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

Reseting Internet Explorer settings to default in Windows 8 - accessing

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Resetting Internet Explorer settings to default on Windows 8 - Internet options advanced tab

Click the Reset button.

Resetting Internet Explorer settings to default on Windows 8 - click the Reset button in the Internet options advanced tab

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Resetting Internet Explorer settings to default on Windows 8 - confirm settings reset to default by clicking the reset button

Google Chrome logoRemove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Removing puppyness.club related Google Chrome extensions

Click the Chrome menu icon Google Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "Puppyness Search" and other recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage:

Removing puppyness.club from Google Chrome homepage

Click the Chrome menu icon Google Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable "Puppyness Search" (or simply "Puppyness"), look for a browser hijacker URL (hxxp://www.puppyness.club) below the “Open a specific or set of pages” option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select “Remove”.

Change your default search engine:

Removing puppyness.club from Google Chrome default search engine

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon Google Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for "puppyness.club", when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Remove from list".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the puppyness.club redirect, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon Google Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

Google Chrome settings reset step 1

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

Google Chrome settings reset step 2

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Google Chrome settings reset step 3

Mozilla Firefox logoRemove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Removing puppyness.club related Mozilla Firefox extensions

Click the Firefox menu firefox menu icon (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click on "Extensions" and remove "Puppyness Search", as well as all other recently installed browser plug-ins.

Change your homepage:

Removing puppyness.club from Mozilla Firefox homepage

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu firefox menu icon (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Options", in the opened window disable "Puppyness Search", remove hxxp://puppyness.club and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

Removing puppyness.club from Mozilla Firefox default search engine

In the URL address bar, type about:config and press Enter.
Click "I'll be careful, I promise!".
In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled"
Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the Mozilla Firefox switch about:config entry button button.

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with puppyness.club redirect removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, firefox menu icon in the opened menu, click Help.

Accessing settings (Reset Firefox to default settings step 1)

Select Troubleshooting Information.

Accessing Troubleshooting Information (Reset Firefox to default settings step 2)

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

Clicking on Refresh Firefox button (Reset Firefox to default settings step 3)

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Confirm your want to reset Firefox settings to default (Reset Firefox to default settings step 4)

safari browser logoRemove malicious extensions from Safari:

Removing browser hijackers from safari step 1 - accessing preferences

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click Safari menu, then select Preferences...

removing browser hijacker from safari step 2 - removing extensions

In the preferences window select the Extensions tab. Look for any recently installed suspicious extensions and uninstall them.

Removing browser hijackers from safari step 3 - changing homepage

In the preferences window select General tab and make sure that your homepage is set to a preferred URL, if its altered by a browser hijacker - change it.

removing browser hijackers from safari step 4 - changing the default Internet search engine

In the preferences window select Search tab and make sure that your preferred Internet search engine is selected.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

resetting safari step 1

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

resetting safari step 2

Microsoft Edge (Chromium) logoRemove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Removing browser hijackers from Microsoft Edge step 1

Click the Edge menu icon Microsoft Edge (chromium) menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate any recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons, and remove them.

Change your homepage and new tab settings:

Removing browser hijackers from Microsoft Edge step 2

Click the Edge menu icon Microsoft Edge (chromium) menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Settings". In the "On startup" section look for the name of the browser hijacker and click "Disable".

Change your default Internet search engine:

Removing browser hijackers from Microsoft Edge step 3

To change your default search engine in Microsoft Edge: Click the Edge menu icon Microsoft Edge (chromium) menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Privacy and services", scroll to bottom of the page and select "Address bar". In the "Search engines used in address bar" section look for the name of the unwanted Internet search engine, when located click the "Disable" button near it. Alternatively you can click on "Manage search engines", in the opened menu look for unwanted Internet search engine. Click on the puzzle icon Microsoft Edge (Chromium) puzzle icon near it and select "Disable".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the puppyness.club redirect, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon Microsoft Edge (chromium) menu icon (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

Microsoft Edge (Chromium) reset step 1

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Microsoft Edge (Chromium) reset step 2

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Microsoft Edge (Chromium) reset step 3

  • If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

declining installation of browser hijackers while downloading free software sampleA browser hijacker is a type of adware infection that modifies Internet browser settings by assigning the homepage and default Internet search engine settings to some other (unwanted) website URL. Commonly, this type of adware infiltrates operating systems through free software downloads. If your download is managed by a download client, ensure that you decline offers to install advertised toolbars or applications that seek to change your homepage and default Internet search engine settings.

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About the author:

Tomas Meskauskas

Tomas Meskauskas - expert security researcher, professional malware analyst.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of over 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an author and editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest online security threats. Contact Tomas Meskauskas.

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Software uninstall instructions
Malware activity

Global malware activity level today:

Medium threat activity

Increased attack rate of infections detected within the last 24 hours.

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