How to Remove Mystartsearch.com

Mystartsearch.com browser hijacker is a redirect virus that attacks your computer and takes over your browsers including browser homepage and search engine. This redirect virus is mainly spread through free software and spam emails. It can also be downloaded onto your computer while you click on links which redirect you to Mystartsearch.com or other malicious websites. As soon as this redirect virus enters your computer, it will modify your registry entries so as to make sure that it can run automatically whenever you start the Windows. Then, it starts to change the settings of your currently installed browsers, which results in change of default homepage and search engine. Whenever you open the infected browser, you will see a webpage which is filled with various advertisements and sponsored links. And when you do a search, you will see results exactly related to your search query, but when you click on those results, you will be redirected to websites you are not supposed to visit. Those websites look dubious, for they keep popping up all kinds of windows which state something horrible or attracting to lure you into clicking on them. Please do not click on those pop-up windows, or you might bring more malware to your computer. Apart from messing up your browsers, this redirect virus can badly affect your pc performance and even compromise your privacy by stealing your personal information for the remote hackers. So, it is highly recommended that this threat be removed without any delay.


To protect your computer from being infected by this redirect virus or others again, we give several important tips here: make sure that your system and programs installed are updated regularly; don’t download spam email attachments; avoid clicking on links, especially those look attracting; download software only from trustworthy sources; always read the terms and agreements before installing freeware on your computer; try not to visit websites are identified as malicious or trustless.

How to Remove Mystartsearch.com Redirect Virus

Step 1: Remove the redirect virus through Windows uninstall utility.



Windows XP

Click on Start menu and select “Control Panel”. In the pop-up window, double click on “Add/Remove Programs”. Then you will see a list of all installed programs. Locate any suspicious program and click on “Remove” button. Click “Yes” when a window appears.



Windows 7/Vista

Click on Start menu and select “Control Panel”. Click on “Uninstall a Program” or “Programs and Features”. Find out any suspicious program and click on “Uninstall” button to remove it.



Windows 8


Move the mouse cursor to the right side corner and click the Search box. In the Search box, type “uninstall” and then click on Settings. Click on “Uninstall a program”. Locate any suspicious program and click “Uninstall/Change” to remove it.



Step 2: Remove add-ons related to Mystartsearch.com redirect virus from the browsers.


Internet Explorer

Click on “Tools” and select “Manage add-ons”. On “Toolbars and Extensions” tab, look for any suspicious toolbars or extensions and disable them. Restart IE browser to complete the changes.


Mozilla Firefox

Click on “Tools” and select “Add-ons”. On “Extensions” and “Plugins” tabs, find out and remove/disable any suspicious extensions or plug-ins. Restart Firefox.


Google Chrome

Click on the Wrench icon or 3-bar icon, select “Tools” and navigate to “Extensions”. Search for the suspicious extensions and remove them by clicking on the garbage bin icon on the right side.


Step 3: Delete malicious files and registry entries created by the redirect virus.


Go to the local hard disk C to find out and delete the following files.


%Temp%\ [random].exe

%AllUsersProfile%\random.exe

%AppData%[redirect virus name]toolbarstats.dat

%AppData%[redirect virus name]toolbaruninstallIE.dat

%Appdata%\roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\random.exe

%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\[redirect virus name]\


Click Start menu and select Run. Type “regedit” into the box and press Enter. This will open Registry Editor. Search for and delete the following registry entries.


HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “.exe”

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\run\

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings “CertificateRevocation”=0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced “ShowSuperHidden” = 0′

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System “DisableTaskMgr” = 1

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System “DisableTaskMgr” = 0

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Antivirus Security Pro Virus\UninstallString “%AppData%[RANDOM CHARACTERS][RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe” –u

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Download “CheckExeSignatures” = ‘no’

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main “Use FormSuggest” = ‘yes’


Note: Because the Windows registry is responsible for storing important system information, so spyware, malware and redirect virus often store references to their own files in the Windows registry when invading a computer, so that they can automatically run whenever the Windows is launched. To effectively eliminate Mystartsearch.com redirect virus, users have to delete all the registry keys and values associated with this redirect virus from the computer. However, novice users may not be good at registry editing and will probably delete other useful registry keys by mistake. For this reason, we highly recommend that novice users to download SpyHunter to help delete all malicious files and registry keys safely and completely.