How to Remove Search.starttab.co

Can’t Remove Search.starttab.co hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Search.starttab.co Removal instructions!

The Search.starttab.co website is just a facade. It is the face of a nasty browser hijacker. If you don’t act promptly, this parasite will wreak havoc on your computer. The Search.starttab.co hijacker works behind your back. It has infected your web browsers. For their popularity, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Microsoft Edge are its most common victims. Yet, no browser is immune to this infection. The symptoms are obvious. The hijacker will replace your homepage. It will redirect you constantly, often to shady and highly questionable websites. This malicious tool will bombard you with tons of advertisements. Ad-banners, pop-up windows and in-text ads will cover all opened web pages. Even websites that used to be ad-free are heavy on commercials now. The Search.starttab.co hijacker knows no boundaries. At the most unexpected times, it will open pop-up messages right under the cursor of your mouse. Thus, trick you into clicking on commercials unintentionally. The longer the hijacker remains on your PC, the more aggressive the ads will become. Your computer will become extremely sluggish. Some older machines may start to freeze and crash frequently. You must not put up with this madness. The Search.starttab.co hijacker can be removed easily. There is a condition, of course. To remove it with ease, you must act immediately. Therefore, don’t waste time. Clean your machine now!

How did I get infected with?

To operate on your computer, the Search.starttab.co hijacker needs your permission. This means only one thing. It was you the one who installed the hijacker. You may not like it, yet, this is the truth. You must change your habits. Become more careful and vigilant. There are many malware distribution techniques. All of them rely on your carelessness. Freeware bundling, spam emails, and fake software updates are the most common malware distribution techniques. If you are vigilant, you can prevent their success. Never rush through an installation. Opt for advanced setup wizard. And don’t skip the terms and conditions/Eula. As annoying as these steps may be, they are the only way you can spot breaches. Trust your instincts. If you think that something looks suspicious, there probably is a good reason for that. One can never be too careful. Abort the installation if it is necessary. Better be safe than sorry. The Internet is bursting with dangerous parasites. Ransomware and Trojan horses are also using these same techniques. This time you were lucky. The hijacker can be removed.

Why is this dangerous?

The Search.starttab.co hijacker was designed with only one goal – to generate revenue for its owners. Your comfort and security were never considered. This app uses a pay-per-click marketing system. For every ad you click on, the owners of the hijacker will be paid. To guarantee their income, the malicious app will drown you in a sea of adverts. This sounds more annoying than dangerous. The truth is somewhere in between. Yes, the hijacker is annoying, but it is also dangerous. This tool will not check who the advertisers are. Hackers often get an advantage of the situation. They use hijackers to spread malicious content. One click is all it takes for a virus to be downloaded on your computer. There is no way to tell which ads are corrupted and which are not. In fact, you are exposed to more ads than you might think. All search results you are seeing, no matter the provider, are corrupted. The hijacker injects sponsored entries among them. You can’t make an objective research with this tool running on your computer. Furthermore, dodgy websites pay hefty sums for their ads to be displayed at the top. The Search.starttab.co utility is limiting your access to free Internet. Luckily, we can help you. Follow our guide and remove this parasite for free. If you are not confident in your computer skills, download a trustworthy anti-virus program.

How to Remove Search.starttab.co virus

The Search.starttab.co infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Search.starttab.co infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

WARNING! Stopping the wrong file or deleting the wrong registry key may damage your system irreversibly.
If you are feeling not technical enough just use Spyhunter Professional Malware Removal Tool to deal with the problem!
>>Download SpyHunter – a Professional Remover.

Please, keep in mind that SpyHunter’s scanner tool is free. To remove the Search.starttab.co infection, you need to purchase its full version.

STEP 1: Track down Search.starttab.co related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Search.starttab.co startup location

STEP 3: Delete Search.starttab.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Search.starttab.co related processes in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Search.starttab.co startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Search.starttab.co virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

STEP 3 : Clean Search.starttab.co traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Search.starttab.co by clicking on the little recycle bin
• Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

• Open Mozilla Firefox

• Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
• Disable the unwanted Extension
• Go to Help
• Then Troubleshoot information
• Click on Reset Firefox

• Open Internet Explorer

• On the Upper Right Corner Click on the Gear Icon
• Click on Internet options
• go to Toolbars and Extensions and disable the unknown extensions
• Select the Advanced tab and click on Reset

• Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Search.starttab.co

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Search.starttab.co, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

You must clean all your browser shortcuts as well. To do that you need to

• Right click on the shortcut of your favorite browser and then select properties.

• in the target field remove Search.starttab.co argument and then apply the changes.
• Repeat that with the shortcuts of your other browsers.
• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Search.starttab.co Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible registry leftovers or temporary files.