I have been getting popups in all browsers in the bottom right and left corners of my browser screen. That is really annoying. And I also notice that my homepage is hijacked by HotStartSearch.com. Each time when I type a web site in the address bar, it redirects me to another website. Also I set Google as my homepage usually, now it turns to be Hot Start Search page. Is there any way I can get rid of this hijacker permanently and get Google back?
HotStartSearch.com is classified as a browser hijacker which is a deceptive website pretending to be a legitimate search engine to trouble users. Its purposes are more in line with hijacking your web browser and redirecting it to hostile websites – most notably, including HotStartSearch.com. As soon as it is installed, it attacks Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer, and can function in most versions of Windows, including Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Also its toolbar may be installed as part of a bundle with other applications and you cannot find a way to uninstall it. It changes your browser setting and degrades overall web browser stability and performance.
Every time you search and click websites in Google Chrome, HotStartSearch.com pops up. If you attempt to uninstall it, you will find the name does not exist in Add and Remove programs, nor as it lists under “Extensions” in “Tools”, so you can’t delete it. This a fake search engine that creates links to self-serving sites (such as websites that provide affiliate revenue to HotStartSearch.com) instead of to safe websites that are relevant to a given set of search terms. It will not provide you any reliable search results related to your queries. All it can do is to compromise your web browser and change your default search engine and homepage. Therefore, if you do see symptoms of browser redirects to HotStartSearch.com, please follow the manual guide below to remove it step by step.
1. It can redirect you to malicious websites with numerous pop up ads to interrupt and stop you from doing anything on your computer;
2. It can turn your computer to run slowly and pose sudden death;
3. It can introduce more unwanted viruses and rogue programs to do further harms;
4. It can help cyber criminals track your online activities and capture significant personal data to cause you a loss of value.
5. It can change your default DNS configuration and block you accessing your favorite sites.
6. It forcibly customizes the default homepage, search engine and bookmarks of your computer.
HotStartSearch.com virus may be installed if a computer user has ever visited illegal or malicious websites or downloaded freeware or shareware from untrustworthy sources. It can cause annoying redirection to disturb users. This problem happen when you use Internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox, even Google Chrome to browse online. Being as a redirect virus, it keeps tracking of computer users’ online activity and causing web browser to display unwanted advertisements and pop-up windows. It poses huge risk for all the computer systems. If you have been forced to visit those unwanted websites against your authorization, particularly for this domain, you must immediately remove HotStartSearch.com hijacker as soon as possible in order to secure your computer.
Considering HotStartSearch.com virus can’t be fixed by any security tools, uses can use the manual guide below to fix this issue without any risk.
1. Clear all the cookies of your affected browsers.
Since tricky hijacker virus has the ability to use cookies for tracing and tracking the internet activity of users, it is suggested users to delete all the cookies before a complete removal.
Google Chrome:
Click on the “Tools” menu and select “Options”.
Click the “Under the Bonnet” tab, locate the “Privacy” section and click the “Clear browsing data” button.
Select “Delete cookies and other site data” to delete all cookies from the list.
Internet Explorer:
Open Internet explorer window
Click the “Tools” button
Point to “safety” and then click “delete browsing history”
Tick the “cookies” box, then click “delete”
Mozilla Firefox:
Click on Tools, then Options, select Privacy
Click “Remove individual cookies”
In the Cookies panel, click on “Show Cookies”
To remove a single cookie click on the entry in the list and click on the “Remove Cookie button”
To remove all cookies click on the “Remove All Cookies button”
2. Remove all add-ons and extensions
Google Chrome: Wrench Icon > Tools > Extensions
Mozilla Firefox: Tools > Add-ons (Ctrl+Shift+A)
Internet Explorer: Tools > Manage Add-ons
3. Show hidden files and folders.
Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.
Click the View tab.
Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click OK.
4. Remove all the malicious files manually.
%AppData%\Local\[random].exe
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\~r
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\.dll
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\{random}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current\Winlogon\”Shell” = “{random}.exe”
HotStartSearch.com is a clone of identical websites that offers fraudulent search engines in exchange for your traffic to affiliate sites. It looks like a friendly website, with its bright colors and welcoming-looking search box called Hot Start Search. But don’t be taken in by the juvenile tactics. This is just a spam engine that does nothing but delivers ads. Like other redirect viruses, it may constantly use your internet connection to send your private information to remote servers, as well as receive ads and pop-ups from third party servers, which causes much slower internet connection speed and overall connection instability. Therefore, HotStartSearch.com removal is needed as quickly as possible before your computer turns to be a total mess.
If you are not a computer wiz and afraid of making mistake, please contact experts from YooCare Online Tech Support for further help.
Published by on May 7, 2013 2:01 am, last updated on May 7, 2013 2:01 am
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