Remove Smileys We Love toolbar adware hijacker

“Smileys We Love toolbar” by “SqueakyChocolate LLC” is another adware and hijacker program bundled inside other free software installation programs. When “Smileys We Love Community toolbar” is installed on your computer, it modifies your Internet search settings, it changes your Internet home page to Conduit search engine (search.conduit.com) which performs browsing redirects and displays advertisements from unknown vendors. 

"Smileys We Love toolbar” can be installed on common Internet browsers (Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox) if a user doesn’t pay attention when installing free software (commonly).

To remove “Smileys We Love toolbar” & restore your browser search settings, follow the steps below:

How to remove "Smileys We Love toolbar” toolbar from your computer:

Step 1. Uninstall applications installed by Smileys We Love toolbar software.

1. To do this, go to Start > Control Panel.

{Start > Settings > Control Panel. (Windows XP)}

2. Double click to open “Add or Remove Programs” if you have Windows XP or

“Programs and Features” if you have Windows 8, 7 or Vista.

3. In the programs list, find and Remove/Uninstall these applications:

a. Smileys We Love toolbar (By SqueakyChocolate LLC)

b. Smileys We Love toolbar for IE (By SqueakyChocolate LLC)

c. UpdateChecker

d. Uninstall any other application installed from “Conduit” publisher.

Step 2. Remove Smileys We Love toolbar & Smileys We Love search settings from your Internet browser.

Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox

Internet Explorer

How to remove Smileys We Love toolbar & Smileys We Love search settings from Internet Explorer.

1. Open Internet Explorer and then open “Internet Options”.

To do this from IE’s file menu, choose “Tools” > “Internet Options”.

Notice*: In the latest versions of IE press the “Gear” icon on the top right.

2. At “General” tab, Delete the “search.conduit.com” from “Home page” box and type your preferred Home Page (e.g. www.google.com)

3. Then press “Settings” in Search section. *

Notice*: If you want to modify search settings in Internet explorer while in main Internet Explorer window, just press the “Gear” icon (on the top right corner) and choose “Manage Add-ons” .

4. On "Search Providers" options, choose and "Set as default" a search provider other than "Smileys We Love Customized Web Search".

5. Then choose the “Smileys We Love Customized Web Search” and click Remove.

6. Choose “Toolbars and Extensions” on the left pane and then choose and disable (one by one) all unwanted Toolbars and extensions from Conduit Ltd.:

a. SmileysWeLove

b. SmileysWeLove Toolbar

c. Also Disable any toolbar belonging to Conduit Publisher.

7. Close all Internet Explorer windows and proceed to Step 3.

Google Chrome

How to remove Smileys We Love toolbar & Smileys We Love search settings from Google Chrome.

1. Open Google Chrome and go to chrome menu and choose "Settings".

2. Find the "On startup" section and choose "Set Pages".

3. Delete the "search.conduit.com" from startup pages by pressing the "X" symbol on the right.

4. Set your preferred startup page (e.g. http://www.google.com) and press "OK".

5. Under “Appearance” section, check to enable the “Show Home button” option and choose “Change”.

6. Delete the “search.conduit.com” entry from “Open this page” box.

7. Type (if you like) you preferred webpage to open when you press your “Home page” button (e.g. www.google.com) or leave this field blank and press “OK”.

5. Go to "Search" section and choose "Manage search engines".

6. Choose your preferred default search engine (e.g. Google search) and press "Make default".

7. Then choose the "search.conduit.com" search engine and remove it by pressing the "X" symbol at the right. Choose "OK" to close "Search engines" window.

8. Choose "Extensions" on the left.

9. In “Extensions” options, remove the “Free Smileys & emoticons” extension by clicking the recycle icon at the right.

10. Close all Google Chrome windows and proceed to Step 3.

Mozilla Firefox

How to remove Smileys We Love toolbar & Smileys We Love search settings from Mozilla Firefox.

1. Click on “Firefox” menu button on the top left of Firefox window and go to “Options”.

2. In “General” tab delete the “http://search.conduit.com” page from “Home Page” box and type your preferred HomePage (e.g. http://www.google.com).

Press “OK” when finished.

3. From Firefox menu, go to “Tools” > “Manage Add-ons”.

4. Choose “Extensions” on the left and then make sure that “SmileysWeLove” extension doesn’t exist.*

* If “SmileysWeLove” extension exists, then press the “Remove” button in that line.

5. Choose “Plugins” on the left and “Disable” the “Conduit Plugin” found there.

6. Close all Firefox windows and proceed to the next Step.

Step 3. Remove “Conduit Floating Pluging” plugin from Windows Startup.

1. Download and run CCleaner.

2. At “CCleaner” main window, choose "Tools" on the left pane.

3. In "Tools" section, choose "Startup".

4. Choose "Windows” tab and then select and delete the following malicious entry, if it exists:

a. "ConduitFloatingPlugin"

Yes    HKCU:Run    ConduitFloatingPlugin_jbofmngeodhmdlnicmlnfhjmmbdbcokh    Microsoft Corporation    "C:\Windows\system32\Rundll32.exe" "C:\Program Files\Conduit\CT176960\plugins\TBVerifier.dll",RunConduitFloatingPlugin jbofmngeodhmdlnicmlnfhjmmbdbcokh

5. Close “CCleaner” and continue to the next step

Step 4: Clean remaining registry entries using “AdwCleaner”.

1. Download and save “AdwCleaner” utility to your desktop.

2. Close all open programs and Double Click to open ”AdwCleaner” from your desktop.

3. Press “Delete”.

4. Press “OK” at “AdwCleaner – Information”and press “OK” again to restart your computer.

5. When your computer restarts, close "AdwCleaner" information (readme) window and continue to the next step.

Step 5. Clean your computer from remaining malicious threats.

Download and install one of the most reliable FREE anti malware programs today to clean your computer from remaining malicious threats. If you want to stay constantly protected from malware threats, existing and future ones, we recommend that you install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware PRO:

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1. Run "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware" and allow the program to update to it's latest version and malicious database if needed.

2. When the "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware" main window appears on your screen, choose the "Perform quick scan" option and then press "Scan" button and let the program scan your system for threats.

3. When the scanning is completed, press “OK” to close the information message and then press the "Show results" button to view and remove the malicious threats found.

4. At the "Show Results" window check – using your mouse's left button- all the infected objects and then choose the "Remove Selected" option and let the program remove the selected threats.

5. When the removal of infected objects process is complete, "Restart your system to remove all active threats properly"

6. Continue to the next step.

Advice: To ensure your computer is clean and safe, perform a Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware full scan in windows “Safe mode“.*

*To get into Windows Safe mode, press the “F8” key as your computer is booting up, before the appearance of the Windows logo. When the “Windows Advanced Options Menu” appears on your screen, use your keyboard arrows keys to move to the Safe Mode option and then press “ENTER“.

Step 6. Clean unwanted files and entries.

Use “CCleaner” program and proceed to clean your system from temporary Internet files and invalid registry entries.*

*If you don’t know how to install and use “CCleaner”, read these instructions.

Step 7. Restart your computer for changes to take effect and perform a full scan with your antivirus program.

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Konstantinos Tsoukalas

Konstantinos is the founder and administrator of Wintips.org. Since 1995 he works and provides IT support as a computer and network expert to individuals and large companies. He is specialized in solving problems related to Windows or other Microsoft products (Windows Server, Office, Microsoft 365, etc.).

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