SearchMaid is an adware program that can either be manually installed or bundled in with other software and secretly installed. No matter how it gets on your computer, once it is on it will create a new toolbar in your browser. SearchMaid will also hijack your browser and change the homepage.

Leaving SearchMaid will damage your computer’s performance, as well as your Internet’s speed. Since it monitors your online activity, you should remove it as soon as possible.

To remove it manually, kill the process called “helper.exe” and then delete the following registries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run\winlogon.exe=helper.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchUrl=[site address]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Default_Page_URL=[site address]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Default_Search_URL=[site address]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Local Page=[site address]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Search Bar=[site address]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Search Page=[site address]
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Default_Page_URL=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Default_Search_URL=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Local Page=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Search Bar=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Search Page=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Start Page=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search\CustomizeSearch=[site address]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search\SearchAssistant=[site address]
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VM.VMObj
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\VM.VMObj.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\GoVM.ContextItem
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\GoVM.ContextItem.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{77B2F8DE-CB3F-4b6b-839B-807DD1ADBA1C}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8B0B6F79-C50D-4ea6-8F65-BDF18005DE20}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{835BAA68-B5E5-47D5-A18D-2A4E0F5B72D5}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{AB2DDE8C-CBFF-491A-9825-87B8BB4CBFE0}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{42C7653A-5834-45A1-899A-ED0DFA370D21}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Virtual Maid
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\MenuExt\&RSDN Search
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\WebBrowser\{77B2F8DE-CB3F-4B6B-839B-807DD1ADBA1C}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\{77B2F8DE-CB3F-4b6b-839B-807DD1ADBA1C}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\guid=AA8214E9-C7E6-4b66-A049-19AD20944CBF
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Virtual MaidVirtual Maid

Then you will want to delete the following files:

helper.exe
virtual maid.dll

You will also want to delete the directory called: C:\Program Files\Virtual Maid

Manual removal of any malicious program is tedious and time consuming. It can also be dangerous if you aren’t sure what you are doing. So, you should use SpyZooka to ensure complete and safe removal of SearchMaid. SpyZooka is the only antispyware program guaranteed to remove 100% of spyware, so you can be sure your computer will be back to full health in no time.