Webstart-page.com - How to remove

Webstart-page.com (and its cousin Web-start-page.com) serves as a new tab page replacement. It looks nice, but it lacks a lot of basic features that a new tab page should have.

On top of that, Webstart-page.com appears to be a browser hijacker or a search redirect virus. It serves no purpose other than to spy on its users and control how they search the web.

About Webstart-page.com:

Type of threat	Browser hijacker, potentially unwanted program.
How Webstart-page.com gets installed	Bundled with free app installers, advertised online, downloaded by other apps and programs.
Problems and changes to the browser	The new tab is replaced, it lacks some of the features that the default new tab offers, it is not good for privacy because it can read people’s search queries.
How to remove Webstart-page.com	Uninstall suspicious browser extensions, scan your device with anti-malware tools, such as Combo Cleaner for Mac, Spyhunter for PC, and others.

What is Webstart-page.com?

A useless website

Webstart-page.com and Web-start-page.com are closely related, though separate, and so this applies to both of them.

Webstart-page.com is a regular-looking start page for a search engine. It provides no value other than letting you customize your background picture. Indeed, it has fewer features than the default new tab page of Google Chrome (How to customize it without extensions). It also doesn’t allow users to choose which search engine to use.

Another interesting tidbit is that a few antivirus programs detect Webstart-page.com as malicious – Virustotal.com.

This strange website has been around for years. It’s by Bontio Media, the same company that made Startwebsearch.com, Webofsearch.com, Start-pagesearch.com, Webhome-page.com, Homepage-web.com – all exactly the same as Webstart-page.com. These sites haven’t changed at all over the last four years, and yet they’re quite popular. Even though all they do is redirect to Bing or Yahoo.

Based on web analytics, the same people who visit Webstart-page.com also frequent Astromenda and Taplika, known malicious browser hijackers.

Installed unexpectedly

With all this in mind, it is difficult to explain Webstart-page.com’s popularity (it’s estimated to receive over 600,000 visits each month). Or rather, it’s difficult not to jump to conclusions that it used deceitful means to infect computers.

Bontio Media does have that reputation – Answers.microsoft.com. A site made by the same company is, naturally, suspicious.

If Webstart-page.com appeared unexpectedly in your browser, if you didn’t install it yourself, then it must have been installed without your knowledge. This happens in a few ways:

• Bundling.
• Deceptive ads.
• Adware downloads apps in the background.

Bundling is when an installer for a free program may have ads inside it, such as OpenCandy. These ads offer other programs and browser extensions. Sometimes, they are so slick that you do not even notice them or assume that they’re just a natural part of the workflow. This results in the unintentional installation of the advertised software.

Deceptive ads could be anything from pop-ups saying “you must install this important update” to fake download buttons. They download adware bundles that usually have more than one unwanted item.

Adware and other malware can also download malware for you. Sometimes – quietly, other times – by showing you a fake warning to get you to download it.

Most likely, the Webstart-page.com infection is caused by a browser extension.

Search Hijacker

If you use Webstart-page.com, it logs your search queries, what items you click on, device information, etc. It decides what site to direct you to. It could be Google, or Bing, or Yahoo, or a random advertisement.

Depending on how Webstart-page.com was installed, it can also inject ads into webpages. If a browser extension is behind Webstart-page.com, then all it needs is permission to access a few sites.

Alternatively, Webstart-page.com can redirect search queries to affiliate links, which often results in more ads than usual being displayed in the results.

How to remove Webstart-page.com

Check your browser settings to see what extension is controlling your new tab page. Also, check your search engine settings – there, it should say which extension is in control over your search engine. Then, go into your extension settings and remove the offending extension. Then, check those settings again to make sure they are as you want them to be.

If there’s nothing in either location, then any extension could be at fault. It could be using its access to your tabs instead of replacing the default search site. Disable all of your extensions until Webstart-page.com redirects stop happening.

It’s advisable to have an antivirus program, like Combo Cleaner for macOS, Spyhunter for Windows, or others scan your computer. Like I mentioned earlier, it’s very possible that if one unwanted app infiltrated, then so did others. It’s good to be careful and take of problems before they become big.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Remove Webstart-page.com manually

How to remove Webstart-page.com using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Webstart-page.com 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 Webstart-page.com . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Webstart-page.com 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.

TopHow To remove Webstart-page.com 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 Webstart-page.com, 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 Webstart-page.com 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 Webstart-page.com, 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 Webstart-page.com 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 Webstart-page.com 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 Webstart-page.com, 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.