Startwebsearch.com virus - How to remove

Startwebsearch.com virus is a product by Bontio Media, and one of its recent designs was discussed in an article, going by the title of Webofsearch.com. Such websites direct people to unknown platforms for searching and their main goal is to generate web traffic for their owners. It is emphasized that people, standing behind the name of Bontio Media, are going through great lengths to hide their identity. By concealing this info, the company obtains freedom to do whatever it wishes. The EULA and Privacy Policies of this search engine are available in a number of languages: Swedish, Russian, Spanish. Norwegian, Japanese, Korean, German and etc.

After analyzing these documents, we noticed that Trovi.com is mentioned. It is an older browser hijacker and providers of TroviSearch are indicated to be responsible for data collection. This link could mean that Bontio Media is just a speculative title for Trovi to proceed without getting caught. Nevertheless, whether ClientConnect is involved in the production of this and comparable search engines remains unclear. Like most of its other products, Startwebsearch.com is hosted through CloudFlare.

For your own good, you are to disfavor exploring the Internet with a product, generated by a company that withholds information and hijacks your browser for its own gain. Browsers’ home pages are expected to change if Startwebsearch.com virus will invade your operating system. Violation of your privacy will extend to the point that your browsing activities will be closely monitored by unknown parties that will have plans to exploit it for tailor-suiting of advertisements and even more vicious strategies.

In order to provide certain functionalities of its services, ensure proper proceedings, update and improve the website, Bontio (or the real authorities behind it) may collect data from its users, or may automatically update their app. This means that a specific program that has brought the latter search engine into your browser will receive a permission to auto-execute updates or even auto-install additional applications from its partners.

We have not yet been informed about an exact application or a malicious browser extension that could be responsible for the arrival of Startwebsearch.com browser hijacker. If you are noticing this website among your preferences and you do not recall making such changes, you could start by checking the active plugins in your browser. If you notice some extension that you did not approve of, you should remove from the list as soon as possible. However, this elimination might not be enough to get rid of this bizarre search engine.

If the hijacker returns after you reboot your device, then the parasite has done more damage than you could have pictured. This requires an analysis with an anti-malware tool which would show the exact location of the malicious sources. Spyhunter or Malwarebytes will determine the exact reason for having browsers’ preferences rearranged. An alternative is to follow the guidelines below and remove the browser hijacker on your own. Every step is explained quite explicitly, but if you have any issues, we are glad to provide you with support.

To properly solve the issue, it is not enough to remove the infection. Users have to learn about the modifications that they have to make to improve to avoid similar obstacles in the future. Do not visit adult-oriented, illegal websites or explore the deep/dark web. Browser extensions that assign unknown search engines as preferences usually come bundled with other applications or are automatically installed during a visit to a malicious website. Domains could be altered to contain scripts that will automatically run after a person visits a domain. This will result in an installation of a malicious payload.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal of Startwebsearch.com virus

How to remove Startwebsearch.com virus using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Startwebsearch.com virus install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to Startwebsearch.com virus . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Startwebsearch.com virus easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove Startwebsearch.com virus from macOS

Delete Startwebsearch.com virus from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Startwebsearch.com virus app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopHow To remove Startwebsearch.com virus from Google Chrome:

• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select More Tools→Extensions
  
• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.
  
• Click on the 3 horizontal lines icon on a browser toolbar and Select Settings
  
• Select Manage Search engines
  
• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list
  
• Go back to settings. On Startup choose Open blank page (you can remove undesired pages from the set pages link too).
• If your homepage was changed, click on Chrome menu on the top right corner, select Settings. Select Open a specific page or set of pages and click on Set pages.
  
• Delete malicious search websites at a new Startup pages window by clicking “X” next to them.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to Startwebsearch.com virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on a Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on theReset browser settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How To remove Startwebsearch.com virus from Firefox:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (Or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything Startwebsearch.com virus related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on the Firefox menu in the top right corner, select Options → General. Enter a preferable URL to the homepage field and click Restore to Default.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Startwebsearch.com virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• ChooseTroubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on theReset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program to identify malicious entries.

How to remove Startwebsearch.com virus from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Select all malicious extensions and delete them.

• Click on the three-dot menu on the browser toolbar and Select Settings

• Select Privacy and Services and scroll down. Press on Address bar.

• Choose Manage search engines.

• Remove unnecessary search engines from the list: open the three-dot menu and choose Remove.

• Go back to Settings. Open On start-up.
• Delete malicious search websites at Open specific page or pages by opening the three-dot menu and clicking Delete.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to Startwebsearch.com virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings

• Click on Edge's menu button and select Settings. Click on the Reset Settings button on the left.
• Press the Restore settings to their default values option.

• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove Startwebsearch.com virus from Safari:Top

Remove malicious extensions

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences.
  
• Select Extensions and uninstall Startwebsearch.com virus and other suspicious extensions.
  
• If your homepage was changed, click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Preferences and choose General tab. Enter preferable URL to the homepage field.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings(older versions) If you are still experiencing any issues related to Startwebsearch.com virus, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari…
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.