Do you know what Startpageing123.com is?
At first glance, Startpageing123.com may look like a genuine search provider that should help you locate important websites and other items you are looking for when you browse the web. But if you stop and think for a second, you will realize that this search engine hopped on your browser without your permission. Do you remember adding it to your browser? Probably not. Therefore, this program is a browser hijacker that could seriously harm your computer if it remains on-board. Please remove Startpageing123.com immediately, and then take all the measures necessary to protect your PC from harm.
We have just discussed the Funnypage123.com hijacker on your site recently, and it is probably easy to see that this program also comes from the same family. Our research team also says that Startpageing123.com belongs to the ELEX family, and it is similar to youndoo.com, amisites.com, trotux.com, and a few other browser hijackers. It also means that all of these programs are developed and distributed for the same purpose: money. Luckily, browser hijackers cannot steal your money directly, and they do not even try to. Instead, they turn users into their task force, indirectly making them work for the hijacker developers by clicking random outgoing links.
You will probably be surprised to hear that this tactic is not illegal. In fact, quite a few popular and reputable websites employ it too to raise revenue through advertising. It is the security measures around this tactic that bothers us. The problem with browser hijackers is that they do not review the third-party content they promote. For example, if you see various commercial advertisements or outgoing links embedded by the program itself, there is no way to know whether they lead to a reliable website. And this is why browser hijackers sometimes get exploited by cyber criminals to promote and distribute malware.
Startpageing123.com screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions
Of course, malware infection is the worst-case scenario that might befall in the case you have Startpageing123.com installed on your browser. For the most part, you will be spammed with annoying commercial content and redirected to unfamiliar websites. Most of the websites will be affiliated with the hijacker somehow, and it will try to redirect you to these pages in order to boost their user traffic. What’s more, with each click you make the people behind this browser hijacker will be paid via the pay-per-click system, and this is what we meant when we said that the programs makes you work for them.
Luckily, this program does not try to hide its presence. For example, Trojans or other stealthy infections try to remain undetected in the target computers for as long as possible. Browser hijackers, on the other hand, are very open about it. The moment this program it installed on your PC, it will change your homepage, automatically employing tracking cookies to monitor your online activity. It will also try to trick unsuspecting users into thinking that Startpageing123.com is a good search engine because it employs Google Search. However, when you think about it, why would you need a third party program to use Google when you can do it directly?
This should be the first wake-up call which basically tells you that this browser hijacker cannot be trusted. Second, would be focusing on the browser hijacker’s distribution manner. This program does not have a direct distribution source. Therefore, it is easy to assume that it travels bundled with freeware. If that is really the case, then Startpageing123.com is one of the many unwanted applications installed on your computer, and the presence of this browser hijacker is a sign that you should scan your PC with a licensed antispyware tool immediately, to locate other unwanted programs.
So when you remove Startpageing123.com from your system, be sure to terminate other undesirable applications, too. It should not be hard to do if you rely on a powerful security application that will locate and delete all the potential threats for you automatically.
Of course, the manual removal is always possible, but it is not recommended unless you are an experienced computer user. What’s more, relying on a powerful computer security application would allow you to protect your system from other unexpected intruders.
How to Remove Startpageing123.com
Internet Explorer
- Press Win+R and type regedit. Click OK.
- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
- On the right side, right-click the Start Page value.
- Select Modify and change your homepage address. Click OK.
- Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}.
- On the right-side, modify the following values:
FaviconURL
FaviconURLFallback
TopResultURL
URL
Firefox
- Press Win+R and type %AppData% into the Open box. Click OK.
- Go to Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\[User ID].
- Find the prefs.js file and open it.
- Delete this string from the file: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://Startpageing123.com");
- Save changes and exit the file.
Chrome
- Press Win+R and the Run prompt will open.
- Type %LocalAppData% into the Open box and press OK.
- Go to Google\Chrome\User Data\Default.
- Delete the Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data files.
In non-techie terms:
Startpageing123.com gets set as your homepage when your computer gets infected with a browser hijacker. This program simply wants to make a profit by redirecting you to unknown websites. Of course, there are security risks in that, and you should not tolerate such behavior. The sooner you remove Startpageing123.com from your system, the better. Otherwise, you might eventually have to deal with a severe computer infection.