The uStart Virus - How to remove

The uStart virus is a browser hijacker that causes redirections to uStart.org or other sites that it promotes. Once installed to an infected computer it replaces default search engine, home page and new tab page with uStart.org. Navigating the Internet and especially performing searches becomes very difficult. When one gets search results, these are mixed with advertised links and you never know if you click on the web address that is relevant to your search or on a promoted one.

Although uStart can be obtained from its official website and the latter tempts to set it as home page by offering free video games, easy access to economy news, movies, computers, sports, mode and shopping, tv series, tasks, Google drive, horoscopes, stocks, and more, not many computer users get it intentionally. Usually the application gets added together with other programs, such as free video file converters, torrents, codecs, etc. It comes bundled with such freeware and is installed by default.

UStart tried to convince Internet users to connect to www.ustart.org using their Facebook accounts motivating them with the option of adding their Facebook wall to the ustart.org home page. Such unpleasant surprises like accessing your friends’ information, contacts, spamming them, tagging them to the post aiming to promote sponsored product and the ustart.org start page follow afterwards.

For uStart to be removed from your Facebook account you should go to Privacy and Security icon at the top of your Facebook menu and select See More Settings. Then click on Apps, locate uStart in the list of Apps you use and click the x. When a selection window opens, choose Delete all your uSart activity on Facebook and click on Remove button.

After uStart is removed from Facebook, you should get rid of it from your computer:

1. Uninstall uStart. You should go to Control Panel Add and Remove Programs list, locate the application there and remove it. If you do not see uStart, use Spyhunter, it will detect any browser hijackers and adware that might have come with uStart or might have been hiden/saved under another name.
2. Check if there is no uStart left among browser extensions:
   • For Internet Explorer: Go to “Tools” (or gear icon in Internet Explorer 9), -> “Manage Add-ons”. Look for uStart and disable these entries.
   • For Google Chrome: Click on the wrench or bars icon on the top right of the screen; go to “Tools”-> “Extensions”. If you see any extensions related to uStart, click on a trash can icon next to them.
   • For Mozilla Firefox: Go to “Tools” -> “Add-ons” -> “Extensions”. If you see any extensions related to uStart, disable them.
3. If your home page is still uStart.org, remove it manually:
   • For Internet Explorer go to Tools ->Internet Options. Remove ustart.org and replace it with your preferred webpage.
   • For Google Chrome click on  the Customize icon -> Settings. Click Set Pages under the startup. Remove ustart.org and replace it with your preferred webpage.
   • For Mozilla Firefox go to Tools -> Options (or click Firefox in the top left corner and click Options). Under the General tab remove ustart.org and replace it with your preferred home page.
4. If your search engine is still uStart.org, reset it to the one you prefer:
   • For Internet Explorer go to Tools -> Manage Add Ons -> Search Providers and remove the ustart.org search engine from the list.
   • For Google Chrome go to the customize icon (wrench or 3 bars) -> Settings -> Manage search engines -> select a new search engine as the default one -> click X next to ustart.org to remove it.
   • For Mozilla Firefox, click on the search magnify glass icon near the search box, click Manage Search Engines. Remove the ustart.org rom the list of search providers by highlighting the selections and clicking Remove.

If you did not scan your computer with Spyhunter in the first step, it is recommended to perform a full system scan after all the steps are completed. It will ensure all the remains of uStart are removed as well as any viruses that might have infected your system while this browser hijacker was active.

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