Start-search.com virus - How to remove

Have your homepage and default search provider been changed to start-search.com? Beware that your browser has been hijacked. Start-search.com virus is compatible with three main browsers – Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Once it gets there, you will not be able to modify the settings that easily and your browsing will change completely.

It is recommended to remove Start-search.com virus before it causes more issues on your system. To do that automatically, run a full system scan with a reputable anti-malware program, like Spyhunter or StopZilla. Manual removal tutorial is provided below this article.

About Start-search.com virus

Start-search.com virus was designed to promote various websites and distribute potentially unwanted programs. If you make a search using it, you will see that it lists numerous sponsored websites. It may also display tons of ads in your search results and offer you installing unknown programs.

It is safe to say that Start-search.com virus should be removed immediately. If you do not do it, you will only end up experiencing even more computer problems.

Distribution Methods of Start-search.com virus

The reason why your browser or browsers were affected by this hijacker is because you downloaded some freeware and allowed it to change some of the settings. Most likely, you haven’t even noticed when exactly the changes were made. However, you could have avoided that. Whenever you download some freeware from the Internet, you should take its installation process more seriously. First of all, make sure you opt for a Custom installation. Although it takes longer, you will be able to refuse unwanted changes, like replacing your start page or search engine, etc. Never allow adding extra programs either, if they are not familiar to you.

Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove programs list and uninstall anything related to Start-search.com virus from there. Some versions of this hijacker install software that blocks browser settings from changing. To identify them, scanning with Spyhunter or other reputable antispyware tool might be useful. Then you can uninstall the extensions and reset settings in your browsers.

How to remove Start-search.com virus from Internet Explorer (older versions):

1. Click on the arrow on the right of the search box;
2. Do the following: on IE8-9 choose Manage Search providers, on IE7 click on Change search defaults;
3. Remove Start-search.com from the list.

How to remove Start-search.com virus from IE 11:

1. Click on the Settings icon (top right)->Manage Addons;
2. Select Search Providers;
3. Change the default search engine to Bing or Google;
4. If any of these search providers is not available, follow “Find more search providers” in the bottom of the screen and install Google.

How to remove Start-search.com virus from Firefox:

1. Enter “about:config” in url bar. This will open settings page;
2. Type “Keyword.url” in the search box. Right click and reset it;
3. Type “browser.search.defaultengine” in the search box. Right click it and reset it;
4. Type “browser.search.selectedengine” in the search box. Right click it and reset it;
5. Type “browser.startup.homepage” in the search box. Right click it and reset;
6. Search for “browser.newtab.url”. Right-click and reset. This will make sure that the search page won’t launch on every new tab;
7. If the settings revert and scan with anti-malware programs are clean: close Firefox, open file explorer and enter %AppData% in the address bar. Enter user.js in the search box. If this file exists, rename it and start Firefox again. You will have to repeat the steps above.

How to remove Start-search.com virus from Google Chrome:

1. Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on the browser toolbar;
2. Select Settings;
3. Select Basics ->Manage Search engines;
4. Remove unnecessary search engines from the list;
5. Go back to Settings. On Startup choose ‘Open blank page’ (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too);
6. If your New Tab page is hijacked, you will have to scan with anti-malware program or use New Tab Redirect extension from Chrome Store.

Remove shortcut hijack (all browsers) (optional):

If your browser opens Start-search.com page on startup only, try this:

1. Right click on your browser icon. Choose Properties;
2. Open Short cut tab;
3. Delete Start-search.com part from target field.

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