Remove Startpage.com Redirect Virus Completely

Startpage.com redirect virus means that a malicious code has taken over and modified the settings of your browser without your knowledge，with a lot of pop-up windows related to their other products flood into your browser, turning your surfing experience into a nightmare. Startpage.com redirect virus can be classified as a extremely dangerous redirect infection to force PC users to visit its site. The main objective of this redirect virus is to disturb internet activities and get monetary benefit from victims. In brief, the cyber criminals created this browser hijacker with the ultimate goal of making money. It is strongly recommended that keep your mouse pointer away from any pop-up window about Startpage.com and unsafe links, otherwise your computer would get a chance to contain ransomware, spyware or other malware.

Consequences of Startpage.com

Startpage.com is able to take over the browser settings and configuration and network settings once it is allowed to enter the computer. The Startpage.com redirect virus may redirect your Internet searches to random sites, disallow you from visiting certain websites, and change your Internet homepage. The browser hijacker may lead to a number of problems and interrupt users when they are browsing the web, such as keep redirecting users to visit its own site or other specific sites. Besides, the redirect virus may deliver a lot of attractive pop-ups on users’ browsers. Fake information as discounts, untrue product sale, banners or coupons displayed by this malicious Startpage.com browser virus are not trustworthy because this virus only wants to make money from victims. Then, the cyber hackers may take the chance to steal users’ money from their online banking accounts. Apart from that, the sensitive information will be used to perform evil activities.

How to Remove Startpage.com Redirect Virus Completely

It’s not an easy task to get rid of the browser hijacker virus completely from an infected computer whose system settings have been changed and in whose registries generated plenty of virus entries which make it merely impossible to remove the virus thoroughly. Computer users who are not familiar enough with the system entries and system files take risks to delete any virus file which is not recommended because they may make the case worse by deleting system files instead of the virus. Here we recommend you to use a professional malware removal tool to scan the PC and fix the browser hijacker problem conveniently.

Remove Startpage.com Redirect Virus Step by Step

Step 1: Set the default homepage back

For Internet Explorer:
Click on Browser Tools
Select Manage Add-ons on the tools window
Click Search Provider
Here you can see many kinds of search engine option as Bing and Google, select your favorite one to be a default homepage.
Choose Search Results and click on Remove icon to eliminate it
Click Tools, select Internet Options and then the General tab. Here you can option a website you like and save it.
c. Select ‘Search Results’ and click ‘Remove’ to remove it;

For Google Chrome:
Open Customize and control
Click on Settings
Select on Basic Options icon
Here you can reset your homepage (e.g.Google.com）
Once you choose a default homepage, click on Manage Search Engines and then click Google to be your default search engine.
Remove it from the browser by clicking Search Result and then the X’ mark

For Mozilla Firefox:
Click Manage Search Engine
Select Search Results and then click Remove option, click OK
Open Tools, under the General tab, set Google.com as default homepage

Step 2: Locate related files of Startpage.com and remove them from the computer
%AllUsersProfile%
%AllUsersProfile%\Programs\{random letters}\
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~r
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~dll

Step 3: Remove cookies on all browsers
Internet Explorer:
Click options on the browser and then choose Internet Options
Open General tab, click Delete Browsing History to remove all related cookies
Select cookies and click Delete

Firefox:
Click option
Select Privacy and then click on Remove Individual Cookies icon
Delete relevant cookies list on the box

Google Chrome:
Click option
Open Under the Bonnet tab
Select Privacy and then click Clear browsing data
Delete all cookies

Step 4: Remove malicious registry entries
Open Registry Editor on the start menu
Type in Regedit and click OK
Remove all the following registry entries
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings “CertificateRevocation” = ‘1’
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Attachments “SaveZoneInformation” = ‘0’

Conclusion

Startpage.com can be distributed in different ways and it is usually bundled with third-party applications, especially freeware and shareware, and installed on the target machines silently when users download and install certain software from the Internet. Many PC users tend to install the software they need on their computers without taking a careful look at the End-User License Agreement, which gives the redirect virus a good chance to get installed on their computer. Most of time, PC users are careless to download and install something insecure from some unsafe sites or suspicious links. This is the way that the browser hijacker compromises a computer. Then, this redirect virus can modify the browser settings and causes users’ browsers to be constantly redirected to unwanted websites. After infected with this Startpage.com redirect virus, you are bombarded with advertisements and pop-ups. Have difficulty in removing the browser hijacker manually? It can not only perform a full scan of your computer, but also can delete the threat automatically with a few clicks and prevent other threats from your PC.