Sometimes when you download freeware or risky warez you will find that your browser has been hijacked by Nattly.com search page. Many people have had this invasion and wonder if it is a virus or not.

Nattly Search it’s technically not a virus, but it does intrude on the user experience by hijacking your browser and more. Many users try to delete the shortcuts to the Nattly.com search page, but that is only the surface of the problem. NattlySearch browser extension includes various features that will modify the default settings in your browser options. For example it can change your homepage to show the Nattly search page, block other software from changing this setting, and also disable the content security policy to allow this script to run freely.

NattlySearch is not user friendly as it removes control from the user without permission.

How To Remove Nattly Search Browser Hijacker

You would think that you could simply go into Internet explorers settings to disable the browser helper object but it is not that easy. Same for Chrome, you cannot just remove the plugin as it is far more persistent than that.

Firstly, the actual Nattly.com website offers instructions to remove Nattly search but many people find that these instruction do not work.

Remove Nattly Search Homepage in Google Chrome

1. Start Chrome and go to the Google Chrome Menu.
2. Click on Settings. Find the selection for On startup, then choose Open a specific page or set of pages.
3. Click on Set Pages and delete the Nattly-Search page from the list.
4. Go back to the Settings screen and select Manage search engines. If you see Nattly-Search as a default search, change it and click Make Default. Then click on Done.
5. Finally go back to the Settings page one more time and click on Extensions. Remove unwanted Nattly-Search extensions from the list.

source: http://nattly.com/chrome.php

Remove Nattly From Registry – Video Tutorial

This video tutorial will show you how to remove the homepage shortcut from the registry for Chrome and delete the exe file that is putting it back there.

1. Go to the start menu at the bottom of the page. Type cmd to open a command window.

2. Type in regedit to open the Windows registry.

3. Go to hkey_current_user or search the registry for “searchprotect”.

4. In hkey_current_user press the + sign next to software.

5. Then scroll down to see the searhprotect folder.

6. You will see an entry on the right pointing to Nattly.com, but we are going to actually delete the entire searchprotect folder.

7. Right click on the searchprotect folder and choose delete from the menu.

8. Close the registry.

9. Go back to the CMD window you have open. Type in cd %temp%\searchprotect and press enter.

10. This will take you to

C:\users\mitz\AppData\Local\Temp\SearchProtect>

11. Now type in del*.exe and press enter. If there is an exe file in the searchprotect folder in the hidden files then it will be deleted.

12. Now when you open chrome you should not see Nattly search.

Remove Toolbar and “Search the web (Nattly)” from Internet Explorer

1. Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.
2. Search for Nattly toolbar on IE in the list. Select the program and click Remove button. If you are using Windows Vista/7, click Uninstall up near the top of that window.
3. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools >> Manage Add-ons.
4. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Uninstall everything related to Nattly Ltd. from the list: Nattly toolbar, Nattly toolbar helper, Nattly IE plugin, NattlyToolbar.com, etc.
5. Select Search Providers. First of all, choose Bing search engine and make it your default search provider (set as default). Then select Search the web (Nattly) and click Remove button to uninstall it (lower right corner of the window).
6. Go to Tools → Internet Options. Select General tab and click Use default button or enter your own website, e.g. google.com instead of search.Nattly.com. Click OK to save the changes.

 Other Quick Tips To Remove Nattly Search

• Do a system restore to a few days earlier as this can get rid of it.
• Use free software to remove the problem. You can download Adwcleaner and Junk removal Tool from Bleeping Computer.
• Get a free scan from PcPitstop’s PCMatic as it has just been awarded VB-100 Certification 2013, so it will find any malware and clean your computer.