Remove MyStart Search. MyStartSearch engine removal in Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer
All the what’s and how’s about the potentially unwanted program called MyStartSearch are analyzed in this guide to lend infected users a hand.
The browser homepage replacing program generally called MyStartSearch is both stereotypical as an adware and unordinary in some of its attributes. It was obviously programmed to ignore and bypass such an essential thing as user permission while deploying its hijacking routine. Ultimately, the compromised person ends up getting their browsing preferences modified without being asked. Therefore the scope of control over the Internet surfing gets overrun by an app that was never clearly allowed to infiltrate the PC in the first place.
MyStartSearch, more precisely its payload, gets promoted via third-party installations. For example, downloading a software update from a doubtfully reputable site or installing a ‘cool’ new media player that looks too good to be true – in either case you may find yourself entrapped by the infection. The adware is most frequently included in the default setup for affiliated software, and it can sometimes be unselected from the custom installation screen. Anyway, the propagation of this sample is definitely not transparent, to put it mildly.
The effect that MyStartSearch has on the attacked computer is predominantly concentrated on the web browsing component. Firefox, Chrome and Internet Explorer are subject to substantial configuration changes that aren’t authorized by the victim. Namely, the new tab page, search provider and homepage are no longer up to the user, turning into MyStartSearch.com instead of the original settings. As can be seen from the snapshot above, it’s a web search service, at least that’s what it looks like. But first of all, the page contains ‘useful links’ on it, which hints at the web traffic redistribution pattern being implemented. Secondly, the native search part there is a complete dummy as all queries get outsourced to another engine. So it appears that MyStartSearch.com delivers no value of its own – it’s simply providing user hits to other websites and gets rewarded for that, the instrument for this being the compromised users. By the way, the pest’s non-triviality is that it enables visitors to slightly customize the landing page by adding up to four preferred links from a list provided.
Now that it’s clear that MyStartSearch is intrusive and not safe privacy-wise, the verdict is nothing but removal. Since you may run into hurdles getting rid of this infection through common methods like add-on uninstalling – and that’s the most likely scenario – review the steps below and perform the cleanup which is proven to fix the problem.
MyStartSearch removal with automatic cleanup tool
An optimal workflow for eliminating the MyStartSearch virus is to leverage a security application which will identify all potentially malicious software on your computer and handle it the right way. This approach ensures thoroughness of the removal and system remediation, and allows avoiding unintended damage that might occur as a result of manual malware deletion.
1. Download and install MyStartSearch removal software. Launch it and click the Start New Scan button. Wait for the application to check your computer for threats
Download MyStartSearch.com remover
For Windows
2. When the app is done scanning your system, it will come up with an extensive list of detected objects. Click the Fix Threats option to have the utility completely remove this adware and affiliated infections found on your PC.
Uninstall troublemaking software through Control Panel
– Go to Start menu and select Control Panel on the list
– Click on the Add or Remove Programs (Uninstall a program) button
– Take a good look at the software list displayed. Search for MyStartSearch proper, mystartsearch uninstall or, if not found, see which suspicious apps are there, in particular ones installed recently, prior to the hijack issues. These might be: Network System Driver, Search Protect, Wsys Control, WPM or VLC Addon. When found, the probable culprit should be uninstalled
– Again, be advised MyStartSearch as such may not be listed anywhere on Control Panel therefore it may be problematic to figure out which particular program is associated with the virus in your case. If you are unsure, stick to the automatic cleanup advice or try the browser reset option described below.
Get rid of MyStartSearch.com by resetting the affected browser
FYI: This procedure will lead to the loss of custom browser settings, including bookmarks, cookies, passwords saved, and all browsing history. Also, some components of the virus may be beyond the browsers proper. Please keep this in mind when making a decision to proceed.
Reset Internet Explorer to its defaults
– Go to Tools –> Internet Options
– Select the Advanced tab as shown below and click the Reset button
– Read the warning about the effects of resetting IE. If you are sure, proceed by checking the Delete personal settings option and clicking Reset
Reset Mozilla Firefox
– Go to Help –> Troubleshooting Information
– Firefox will come up with the Troubleshooting Information screen. Click the Reset Firefox button to complete the process
Reset Google Chrome
– Go to the Chrome Menu icon and pick Settings on the list
– Click on the Show advanced settings button
– Click on the button reading Reset browser settings
– On the notification box that pops up, review the consequences of Chrome reset and click Reset if it’s ok with you
Double-checking never hurts
To make sure the MyStartSearch.com malware has been removed, consider running an additional security scan as a completion of the cleanup procedure
Download and install MyStartSearch removal software
For Windows
My start or any new software … I (just formatted and installed os) is not in my control panel to uninstall and also it is not present in chrome extension to remove it. I have no 3rd party add ons … I installed malware bytes and adware software also they did not detect any virus and still my start is still there… Wat to do ???
Fernandez,
Consider resetting the affected browser. See instructions above to learn how.
good article it really helped me
I need to remove the boring software mystart
thank you
I need to remove software mystart
TNX
thank you so much it is so helpful
Thank you. :3
Thank you for the advice, my problem’s been resolved, following your expert instructions. Who the hell do these people think they are? They annoy the life outta me!!
i want delite mystartsearch
when removing programs, look for uncertified programs resembling familiar software like flash, shockwave, popupblockers etc, usually with typos in the name e.g. “yoouutube popup blocker” .
Thanks!
What do we do if mystartsearch is not in the list of installed programs?
Sharyn,
Regretfully, that’s pretty normal with this type of infection. Look for any suspicious programs on the list, in particular the recently installed ones. Also, consider using the rest of the instructions above to get rid of MyStart Search bug.
Thanks for your feedback.!
Thank you soo much! It actually removed this threat from my computer. Excellent!
Yay thank you so much its gone.
How do i down load it when the programme i want to get rid of prevents it
Kevin,
In the event of interference of that kind (which is rare with this infection), consider booting into Safe Mode with Networking by hitting F8 multiple times during system startup.
Very helpful article 🙂
THNXXX
Thanks for the guide. I had to do one extra thing, which was to correct the launcher shortcut for Internet Explorer in the start menu. It had been altered to pass mystartsearch as an argument to the program, meaning the default homepage was overridden and mystartsearch was opened automatically even after completely reinstalling Internet Explorer (the launcher is apparently not corrected by your tool and not removed when reinstalling IE by the standard method). It took quite a couple of hours to figure that out, so would be great if you could add it to your ‘howto’.
Mike,
Thanks, that’s a great tip. Normally, resetting the affected browser should fix the shortcut as well, but obviously that’s not always the case. So thanks again!
Thank you sooo much! I have finally got rid of it!!! I had tried everything and nothing worked.
Thank you so much – It’s finally gone!
Resetting Mozilla Firefox solved this annoying problem for me – Thanks
You may also find that this hijacks the application shortcuts on your desktop and on the pinned start bar.
To fix this – right mouse click the desktop icon for Chrome and select properties – and you will see
“C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe” “http://mystartsearch.com/”
This is sneaky, because its not stored in your registry, resetting it from Chrome won’t work because you are telling the browser when it starts up to open that page explicitly. The fix is simple – just remove the “http://mystartsearch.com” from the end of the application shortcut and you should be back to normal.
For internet explorer (pinned to the start bar), its a bit trickier as you have to hold shift, right mouse click and select properties. you will then see the same trick again
“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe” “http://mystartsearch.com/”
just remove the url (i.e. it should read
“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe”
)
This took me an hour to figure out – stupid gotcha. Good luck people.
The simplest and the most effective one. Actually the only effective one. I tried all malware removals and they didn’t detect it.I looked for suspicious programs but there are none and I even tried to reset browser to factory default but that didn’t help. This is the only one that worked! Thank you so much!!
This is the only one that worked for me too. I had already uninstalled it and manually cleaned the registry to no avail.
In my case I had no desktop shortcut, so I unpinned Chrome from the task bar. I then simply opened chrome.exe from C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application and right clicked on the icon that appeared on the task bar and pinned it there.
This creates a new shortcut in the taskbar without the trailing argument.
Done. Thanks for the tips.
For what it’s worth, this payload arrived when I downloaded and installed the trial version of Ccleaner. That’s also now been removed from my system.
Steve, what a lifesaver you are, it seems like months that I have been trying to get rid of this curse and after spending 5 minutes following your tips the problem is solved. Can’t thank you enough!!!
Great job !!! … I´ve been trying to uninstall all the toolbars and program but mysearch has been still there until I used your trick – thanks !
Thank you so much, it worked 🙂
Thanks Steve, got rid of the pest from IE but still appears in the Control Panel???
Maureen
Maureen,
Editing browser extension properties isn’t a complete fix as the adware is still running – you simply eliminate a symptom. Use the rest of the instructions provided in the article to get the job done.
Gracias
omg it worked thx so much
thanks.was able to get rid of it from google chrome by following your instructions
Thank you
thx I will test and try
even I had reset my internet explorer,the my start search is still present.pls help me
thanks
thankyou so much!!! I’m so happy! Being trying for hours. Just following the steps worked 🙂
Sravan,
If the reset didn’t help, consider the automatic fix (see instructions above).
Thanks for your comment
work fine edit the properties
thank you helpful article thanx thanx thanx
It is unable to uninstall/remove from control panel please suggest..
Rj,
Consider using the rest of the instructions provided in this post. Adware like that isn’t likely to let you uninstall it from Control Panel. Even if it does, the actual browser problems will persist.
Thx you so much , its really help me to removed that adware.
thank u so much. mystartsearch idiot was deleted !
Thank you 🙂
Resting my chrome seems to be fixing the problem finally disposing this adware to hell , i got hit by them yesterday (thx for AVG removing them) but mystartsearch seems to bypassed through , i got the tool and i rested my chrome fixed the problem THX ADMIN U REALLY MADE IT EASIER !
how to get this f****n’ start engine out from opera browser?
Santana,
Click the Opera menu button, select Settings in the drop-down list and choose Delete Private Data option. Then follow the prompts, which are pretty self-explanatory and intuitive. Also, you might want to consider using the automatic remover, it will do the cleaning job for you.
Valuable information. Lucky me I found your site by chance,
and I am surprised why this twist of fate did not took place earlier!
I bookmarked it.