Unwanted Search Engine

Dear Madame L,

All of a sudden whenever I open a new tab on my browser a new search engine appears. It's called Delta Search, and it has a lot of ads and it is clearly tracking and reporting every move I make on my computer, because after I search for any item, ads for those same kinds of items keep appearing on whatever page I open next. I don't like it, I didn't ask for it, and I want to get rid of it. Can you help me?

Sincerely,

I Can Choose My Own Search Engine, Thank You Very Much


Dear Searching,

Actually, without knowing it, you DID ask for this search engine at some point when you uploaded and installed some free app on your computer.

Madame L has found a great uninstall guide for getting rid of Delta Search. If you'll follow these instructions, you'll be fine. However, Madame L notes that the last two steps say to install some registry-cleaning and malware-detection software---which contradicts the instructions given earlier not to download and install software you're not familiar with.

Madame L recommends that you get some kind of computer and Internet security program that you trust, i.e., not some free download, and then don't install anything at all on your computer that you're not absolutely sure of.

Sincerely,

Madame L