Uninstall Ourstartpage.com virus (Uninstall Guide) - Oct 2016 updated
Ourstartpage.com virus Removal Guide
Description of Ourstartpage.com virus
Is it safe to use Ourstartpage.com search engine?
Ourstartpage.com virus is another browser hijacker that infiltrates computer’s system without user’s consent, modifies browser’s settings and makes browsing the Internet unbearable by delivering tons of ads. At first glance, your new homepage looks aesthetically and eye pleasing, but don’t get fooled by lovely pictures of nature and animals. Indeed, if you forget the fact that browser hijacker entered the system secretly, you may think that Ourstartpage.com is a reliable search engine. But once you try using this search engine, you will discover a wild world of advertisements. Commercial material is everywhere and is delivered in every possible type and form: pop-ups, banners, in-text ads, redirects and links that are included in the search results. The creators get revenue from generating traffic to third-party websites, and that explains an excessive amount of aggressive ads. Users try to click X button to get rid of the annoying ads. Sometimes it helps; sometimes they are redirected to promotional Internet sites. However, it’s impossible to stop these annoying ads so simply, because the virus edits Registry settings. For Ourstartpage.com removal you should choose a powerful anti-malware tool such as FortectIntego.
Computer users do not notice Ourstartpage.com hijack, but they soon realise that something has modified their browser’s settings. Virus hijacks all web browsers and might change their homepage, default search engine or new tab URL. These modifications are the main symptoms that a computer was infected with a browser hijacker. Sooner or later users have to expect an excessive amount of ads and unwanted redirects to questionable websites. Ourstartpage.com redirect problem might show up out of the blue or when users click on various links or shortcuts provided on the main page. The main page includes links to popular social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) and shopping sites (Amazon and Ebay). It also has other pleasant features such as displaying the time, offering to download background pictures for free and delivering cute sayings. However, these features are not worth dealing with commercial content. Lots of sponsored links are provided in the search results and, obviously, they are irrelevant. Various advertisements might be misleading, fraudulent or even malicious. These activities will reduce your browsing experience and might put your computers safety and your personal privacy at risk. We do not recommend hesitating with virus elimination. You should remove Ourstartpage.com as soon as it appears on your PC.
How to avoid Ourstartpage.com hijacker?
Browser hijackers and other potentially unwanted programs usually spread bundled with freeware. So, Ourstartpage.com hijacker might infiltrate computer’s system with the programs users download and install from the Internet. It usually happens because users often choose ‘Recommended’ or ‘Quick’ installation mode. Under these settings hide all browser hijackers, adware, suspicious add-ons, browser extensions and other PUPs. So, next time for software installation you should choose ‘Advanced’ or ‘Custom’ mode, because it allows opting the list of additional programs that are offered to install as well. If you see the list of optional programs, deselect all of them and continue the installation process.
Getting rid of the browser hijacker
Ourstartpage.com virus is created for boosting traffic to sponsored third-party content. The developers do not care about problems caused by a huge amount of ads and do not take responsibility for affiliates’ contents’ credibility and safety. The developers are only interested in generating as much money as possible, in any possible way. If your browser was hijacked, you should remove Ourstartpage.com with a help of professional anti-malware tools. Run a full system scan and a program will eliminate the browser hijacker with all additional tools. Additionally, you can do this job manually. However, this task is quite challenging and requires more patience and knowledge about potentially unwanted programs. If you decide to do it the hard way, follow our prepared instruction for manual Ourstartpage.com removal bellow.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of Ourstartpage.com virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall Ourstartpage.com in Windows systems
In order to remove Ourstartpage.com browser hijacker, you have to find and uninstall all its components. For doing this, you have to locate questionable toolbars or other suspicious applications. Also, you should remove //www.ourstartpage.com/….. from Windows Shortcuts/Target field.
Terminate suspicious programs from Windows 10/8 machines by following these instructions:
- Type Control Panel into Windows search and once the result shows up hit Enter.
- Under Programs, choose Uninstall a program.
- Find components related to suspicious programs.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- Click Yes when User Account Control shows up.
- Wait for the process of uninstallation to be done and click OK.
Windows 7/XP instructions:
- Click on Windows Start and go to Control Panel on the right pane.
- Choose Add/Remove Programs.
- Select Uninstall a program under Programs in Control Panel.
- Click once on the unwanted application.
- Click Uninstall/Change at the top.
- Confirm with Yes.
- Click OK and finish the removal.
Uninstall Ourstartpage.com in Mac OS X system
To eliminate browser hijacker you have to find and uninstall all suspicious programs from your Mac.
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Users who use OS X should click on Go button, which can be found at the top left corner of the screen and select Applications.
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Wait until you see Applications folder and look for Ourstartpage.com or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Eliminate Ourstartpage.com virus from Microsoft Edge browser
For hijacker’s elimination you have to clear all browsing data from Microsoft Edge.
Delete suspicious extensions from MS Edge:
- Go to the Menu by clicking on the three horizontal dots at the top-right.
- Then pick Extensions.
- Choose the unwanted add-ons on the list and click on the Gear icon.
- Click on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other data:
- Click on the Menu and from the context menu select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, select Choose what to clear.
- Choose everything except passwords, and click on Clear.
Alter new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
Reset MS Edge fully:
- Click on the keyboard Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Choose More details arrow at the bottom.
- Go to Details tab.
- Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it.
- Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.
When none of the above solves the issue, you might need an advanced Edge reset method, but you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on the PC: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on the selection and choose Delete
- Right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- Copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions:
- Open Edge and click Settings.
- Then find Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions with the Remove.
Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and then Settings.
- Find Privacy and services.
- Locate Clear browsing data, then click Choose what to clear.
- Time range.
- Click All time.
- Select Clear now.
Reset Chromium-based MS Edge browser fully:
- Go to Settings.
- On the left side, choose Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Click Reset.
Delete Ourstartpage.com from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Check the ‘Extensions’ list and eliminate all suspicious components.
Remove suspicious Firefox extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the three horizontal lines at the top-right to open the menu.
- Select Add-ons in the context menu.
- Choose plugins that are creating issues and select Remove.
Reset the homepage on the browser:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner.
- This time select Options.
- Under Home section, enter your preferred site for the homepage that will open every time you launch Mozilla Firefox.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Options.
- Find the Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to choose Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data… option.
- Click Cookies and Site Data, Cached Web Content and press Clear.
Reset Mozilla Firefox:
If none of the steps above helped you, reset Mozilla Firefox as follows:
- Open Mozilla Firefox and go to the menu.
- Click Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
- Locate Give Firefox a tune-up section, click on Refresh Firefox…
- Confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox on the pop-up.
Chrome browser reset
Look through the list of extensions and uninstall all malicious entries that might have been installed recently.
Find and remove suspicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- In Google Chrome, open the Menu by clicking three vertical dots at the top-right corner.
- Select More tools > Extensions.
- Once the window opens, you will see all the installed extensions.
- Find any suspicious add-ons related to any PUP.
- Uninstall them by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click the Menu and select Settings.
- Find Privacy and security section.
- Choose Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history.
- Cookies and other site data, also Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.
Alter settings of the homepage:
- Go to the menu and choose Settings.
- Find odd entries in the On startup section.
- Click on Open a specific or set of pages.
- Then click on three dots and look for the Remove option.
Reset Google Chrome fully:
You might need to reset Google Chrome and properly eliminate all the unwanted components:
- Go to Chrome Settings.
- Once there, scroll down to expand Advanced section.
- Scroll down to choose Reset and clean up.
- Click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Click Reset settings again.
Delete Ourstartpage.com from Safari
To remove Ourstartpage.com virus you have to find suspicious extensions and uninstall them all.
Get rid of questionable extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari.
- Then go to Preferences…
- Choose Extensions on the menu.
- Select the unwanted extension and then pick Uninstall.
Clear cookies from Safari:
- Click Safari.
- Choose Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, find and pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari fully:
- Click Safari and then Preferences…
- Choose the Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in the menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop.
- Then select Empty Caches.
Even if you have completed all the steps above, we still strongly recommend you to scan your computer system with a powerful anti-malware software. It is advisable to do that because an automatic malware removal tool can detect and delete all remains of Ourstartpage.com, for instance, its registry keys. The anti-malware program can help you to easily detect and eliminate possibly dangerous software and malicious viruses in an easy way. You can use any of our top-rated malware removal programs: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting browser hijacker
Securely connect to your website wherever you are
Sometimes you may need to log in to a content management system or server more often, especially if you are actively working on a blog, website, or different project that needs constant maintenance or that requires frequent content updates or other changes. Avoiding this problem can be easy if you choose a dedicated/fixed IP address. It's a static IP address that only belongs to a specific device and does not change when you are in different locations.
VPN service providers such as Private Internet Access can help you with these settings. This tool can help you control your online reputation and successfully manage your projects wherever you are. It is important to prevent different IP addresses from connecting to your website. With a dedicated/fixed IP address, VPN service, and secure access to a content management system, your project will remain secure.
Recover files damaged by a dangerous malware attack
Despite the fact that there are various circumstances that can cause data to be lost on a system, including accidental deletion, the most common reason people lose photos, documents, videos, and other important data is the infection of malware.
Some malicious programs can delete files and prevent the software from running smoothly. However, there is a greater threat from the dangerous viruses that can encrypt documents, system files, and images. Ransomware-type viruses focus on encrypting data and restricting users’ access to files, so you can permanently lose personal data when you download such a virus to your computer.
The ability to unlock encrypted files is very limited, but some programs have a data recovery feature. In some cases, the Data Recovery Pro program can help recover at least some of the data that has been locked by a virus or other cyber infection.
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