What is Startgo123.com?
Startgo123.com is a questionable search engine that is considered to be a browser hijacker. The application falls under this category because it can modify user’s browser preferences, such as default homepage. However, the main problem with it is the possible third-party advertising in the search results. Such ads might be potentially harmful if users get redirected to web pages, which distribute suspicious software or malicious applications. Needless to say that if you do not want to continue using such an unreliable search tool, you should eliminate the threat at once. The deletion part should not be too difficult since our researchers at Anti-spyware-101.com prepared removal instructions. You can quickly check them if you slide below the article.
Where does Startgo123.com come from?
You may have downloaded Startgo123.com while clicking malicious pop-ups ads. It might surprise you, but such advertisements could be displayed by an unreliable application already installed on the computer. For instance, it could be another browser hijacker, adware, potentially unwanted program, suspicious toolbar, and so on. Often, users download such programs with bundled installers that may come from untrustworthy file-sharing web pages. Therefore, we advise users to be careful on such websites and pay more attention to the additional suggestions on the setup wizard.
How does Startgo123.com work?
Same as other similar browser hijackers, the application’s primary goal is to promote its search engine. In order to do this, the program replaces your homepage with Startgo123.com. Since the software might be using Google, Yahoo, Bing or other search engines to collect the results, users could think that there is no difference between them. In fact, the results you receive while using the browser hijacker may differ from the ones that would appear on original google.com, yahoo.com, and so on. It is possible that the application could modify the results and infect them with advertising content from its third-party partners. Startgo123.com creators might even receive money from your clicks, while the only thing you get is an unreliable search tool and potentially harmful advertising content.
The provided ads might not look as dangerous, but the web pages they could lead the user may be malicious. Naturally, we cannot say that all of them may be harmful, but some of them might be, and users should be aware of it. To give you an example, the ads could redirect you to web pages that advertise similar browser hijacker or other questionable software. In some cases, the third-party sites might even promote malware, e.g. Trojans, ransomware, and so on.
How to eliminate Startgo123.com?
Even though the application might seem troublesome, its removal is not that complicated as it could appear to be. To settle on the system, the browser hijacker modifies particular data of users default browser. Thus, to eliminate the threat, you would have to fix or delete such data. For more instructions, you should take a look at the provided removal steps below; they will show users how to erase Startgo123.com from Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. On the other hand, if you do not feel experienced enough to delete the application manually, you could also install a legitimate antimalware tool on the computer and use its scanning tool to get rid of the browser hijacker.
Erase Startgo123.com
Internet Explorer
- Press Windows Key+R, type regedit and select OK to access the Registry Editor.
- Look a value name called Start Page in the following path: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
- Right-Click the start page, select Modify, and given value data (http://startgo123.com) with any website you prefer.
- Click OK.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open the Explorer and go to this directory:
C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID} - Search for a file called Prefs.js and open it with Notepad.
- Locate and remove the following code line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://startgo123.com”).
Google Chrome
- Launch the Explorer and navigate to the following directory: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
- Look for files titled as Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.
- Right-click them separately and select Delete.
tested removal of Startgo123.com*
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