Hi there. I had Start.alawar.com hijacker on my PC and I need help removing it. It changed my default homepage Google to its own page and didn’t allow me to change it back. I have already deleted all the suspicious extensions and toolbar, but it didn’t change anything. Whenever I was online, I can see tons of ads on my browser which are really annoying. What should I do? Any way to get rid of this hijacker completely?
Start.alawar.com is another fake website that uses browser helper objects and third party malware including sponsored adware and spyware platforms to change your homepage and modify your browser settings without your permission. It only offers fraudulent search results and displays many sponsored links or pop-up ads to interrupt user’s online activities. Although it seems like a regular search page as similar as Google or Bing, it can’t really show users any reliable search results. This spam search puts sponsored links and ads pages to the top of its search results, and it aims to redirect users to all kinds of sponsored websites and build traffic for them. Now the hijacker can affect web browsers including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox Web browsers. It can add unwanted applications, browser helper objects (add-ons, extensions, toolbars), and third party programs to your system without user’s permission and knowledge so you had better get rid of it as soon as possible.
Start.alawar.com hijacker can perform many corrupted actions on the infected computer, it includes: downloading other malicious programs, creating a backdoor in your PC security and creating advertisements. It also redirects your search results or your favorite page to other questionable Web pages that may contain sponsored advertisements. Once you click on the ads, you will end up having infections or installing potentially unwanted programs in your system. Practically all browser hijackers are created for commercial, advertising or marketing purposes. It can be installed by hazardous free applications, ad-supporting programs or shareware, which include a variety of browser plug-ins and toolbars. In a word, Start.alawar.com is designed to offer fraudulent search results and it represents a risk for both your privacy and computer security, you have to remove it as quickly as you can.
It belongs to browser hijacker virus which can totally mess up your browser setting.
It changes your default DNS configuration and blocks you accessing your favorite sites.
It may install some malware in your computer to make bad influence without your consent.
It degenerates your computer performance gradually.
Browser hijacker infection like Start.alawar.com may enter your system as an add-on for your browser or bundled-up with some free software. Most of time, it can be downloaded from a website you visited, something you clicked on, or a pop-up that you did not request to view. You may not even know when and how you download this browser hijacker which compromises your internet security until you find your computer is fully messed up. A hijack virus is a type of computer virus known for its ability to disrupt your Internet browsing. It can redirect your Internet searches to random sites, disallow you from visiting certain Web sites, and change your Internet home page. In addition, it is able to slow your computer, decrease your available memory, and flood your computer with popup advertisements. When you detect the presence of such malicious hijacker, a complete removal is needed without any hesitation.
1. You keep getting random pop-ups opening in new browser tabs.
2. When clicking on Google search links you get taken to sites that have nothing to do with the subject you searched for.
3. Anti-virus and firewall software won’t start.
4. Internet stops working.
5. Unknown software has been installed without your authorization.
6. You can’t access reputable sites unless you type the URL into the navigation bar
Start.alawar.com hijacks your browser to redirect your web search results and changes the homepage and browser settings. To completely uninstall it from an infected system, manual removal is the first choice because sometimes antivirus software cannot pick up the exact computer threat timely or remove it permanently. Now most browser hijackers are quite similar to spyware and adware threats and therefore cannot be removed with the help of popular antivirus products. Users can follow the manual guide here to get rid of this browser hijacker completely.
1. Clear all the cookies of your affected browsers.
Since this tricky hijacker virus has the ability to use cookies for tracing and tracking the internet activity of users, it is suggested users delete all the cookies before a complete removal.
Google Chrome:
Click on the “Tools” menu 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”
To remove all cookies click on the “Remove All Cookies” button
2. End the malicious process from Task Manager.
Once Start.alawar.com redirect is installed, computer user may notice that CPU usage randomly jumps to 100 percent. At any time Windows always has many running processes. A process is an individual task that the computer runs. In general, the more processes, the more work the computer has to do and the slower it will run. If your system’s CPU spike is constant and remain at a constant 90-95%, users should check from Task Manager and see if there is a suspicious process occupying the system resources and then end it immediately.
(The name of the virus process can be random.)
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to quickly bring up Task Manager Window：
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 related to Start.alawar.com hijacker manually.
%AppData%Local[random].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main StartPage
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
If your start page was replaced with Start.alawar.com, then your browser must have been hijacked by browser hijacker virus or you may download potentially unwanted programs or adware accidentally. This hijacker is designed to increase revenue for the affiliated company’s bottom line. After it is downloaded, it can hijack and change web browser’s default home page without your permission and stop you from changing it back. Although it seems like a regular search page associated with Bing Search, the fact is that it only offers fake search results to its users and delivers ads. It is strongly suggested that you should stick to the search engines you are used to and do not use any unknown engines. When you found that your start page was changed to Start.alawar.com for no reasons, you should immediately follow the manual guide above to clean up your PC quickly.
Note: If you are not a computer expert and have no idea how to perform the removal, please contact experts from YooCare Online Tech Support for further help.
Published by on June 10, 2015 4:14 pm, last updated on June 10, 2015 4:14 pm
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