*Source of claim SH can remove it.
iStart
iStart is a software application that targets Windows browsers, causing them to open advertising sites without user permission. iStart also changes a number of browser settings in order to generate more ads and to keep tabs on the user’s online activities.
If your browser has recently been infected by this browser-hijacking app, you are advised to remove it as soon as possible. iStart itself is probably not going to cause any damage or corruption to your system or data, but its presence in the browser could potentially result in security weaknesses that may lead to attacks from hackers and more dangerous forms of malware (Trojans, Spyware, Ransomware viruses, and more).
The iStart Virus
Some of the most obvious signs that the iStart virus is attached to your Chrome, Safari, or Edge browser are the unauthorized replacement of elements such as the default homepage address or the search engine tool your browser normally uses. In addition, you may notice that the iStart virus new toolbar buttons have been added without your permission and that aggressive and questionable popups and banners oftentimes get generated on your screen even when you aren’t on a site that is typically known for such adverts.
Of course, all of this could make browsing the Internet quite the frustrating and unpleasant experience. For most users, this intrusiveness alone is enough to try to remove the iStart or the Dorputolano hijacker. However, even if you think that you can put up with the ads, the browser changes, and the automatic page redirects, it would still be in your best interest if you uninstall this invasive browser-redirecting app. The reason for that has to do with the potential security weaknesses this app might result in if it is allowed to stay in your browser for long.
iStart Webssearches
The iStart Webssearches browser hijacker app is mostly harmless on it own – even if some researchers refer to it as malware, the truth is that the iStart Webssearches hijacker app typically lacks any real damaging abilities. After all, the goal of applications like iStart Webssearches is to profit their creators through paid ads and site promotions that users are supposed to interact with. There’s no point in harming the user’s computer.
However, this doesn’t mean that it is perfectly safe to keep iStart attached to your browser. The main security problem here is that the content normally promoted by software apps of the hijacker variety tends to be questionable or, at times, misleading. It is, therefore, not excluded that you may end up landing on a site that offers low-quality downloads disguised as useful programs. It’s even possible that some of the ads displayed on the sites you get redirected to could try to trick you into downloading the software they offer by outright lying to you. For example, you may get shown a warning about hidden malware on your machine that can only be removed if you download the promoted software. Needless to say, you must not trust such sketchy online warnings – it is far more likely to get your computer infected by some nasty Trojan or Ransomware virus if you download what’s offered on such sites rather than if you close the site and never visit it again.
If you want to stop all the aggressive adverts and page redirects, follow the iStart removal instructions below and you should be able to easily and quickly remove the hijacker.
SUMMARY:
| Name | iStart Search Bar |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Detection Tool | We tested that SpyHunter successfully removes parasite*, and we recommend downloading it. Manual removal may take hours, it can harm your system if you re not careful, and parasite may reinstall itself at the end if you don't delete its core files. |
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Remove iStart Search Bar
A quick way to remove iStart Search Bar from your browser is to go to its Settings, open More Tools/Add-ons, and then select the Extensions tab. Once you get there, search for any iStart Search Bar-related extensions and remove them by clicking on the Trash bin icon or the Remove button that is next to them. If that doesn’t resolve the problem and the browser hijacker keeps disturbing you, then please follow the detailed steps in the removal guide below:
For the smooth completion of the steps in this guide, we highly recommend that you boot your computer in Safe Mode.
Before you do so, however, first Bookmark this page so you can load it quickly after the reboot.
WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
Read more details in the first ad on this page, EULA, Privacy Policy, and full terms for Free Remover.
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Browser Hijackers like iStart Search Bar may run one or more processes related to their activity in the Windows Task Manager. To find these processes and stop them, first, press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC together and click on the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10). Then, look carefully at the list of processes and try to locate the ones that are related to the browser hijacker. When you find a process that you believe is linked to iStart Search Bar, right-click on it and tap on Open File Location.
After that, drag and drop the files from that location in the free online virus scanner that is available here and run a scan:
End the right-clicked processes if its files turn out to be malicious and delete their folders from the file location.
Next, type Control Panel in your Windows search field and navigate to Programs>>>Uninstall a program.
Once you get there, search for suspicious entries in the list of programs and Uninstall them if they appear to be questionable or seem to be related to iStart Search Bar.
After that, close the Control Panel and head to the Windows Search Field. Type msconfig in it and press enter. After that, select the Startup tab and see if iStart Search Bar has added some entries there. If you find any, remove their checkmark and click OK. Pay extra attention to entries with Unknown Manufacturer and remove their checkmark as well if they seem to be unwanted or dangerous.
Read more details in the first ad on this page, EULA, Privacy Policy, and full terms for Free Remover.
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Next, open the Registry Editor by typing Regedit in the windows search field and clicking OK. In it, press CTRL and F keyboard keys simultaneously and type the Name of the problematic browser hijacker in the Find box that pops up on the screen. Click on Find Next and if the find function detects entries with that name in the Registry, right-click on them and delete them. If no entries are detected in this way, go manually to these directories and delete/uninstall them:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random
When you remove the iStart Search Bar-related traces from the Registry, close it and go to your desktop.
Press the Start and R keyboard keys together and copy this in the Run box that pops up:
notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts
Next, click OK and you should see a Hosts file open on your screen. Scroll down and find Localhost. If your computer is hacked, you will see suspicious IPs below Localhost, just as explained in the image below:
If you see dangerous IPs below “Localhost” in your Hosts file, write to us in the comments.
If you see nothing suspicious, move to the next step.
Next, click on the Windows Start button and navigate to Network Connections. Once in it follow these instructions:
- Highlight the Network Adapter you are using and right-click on it.
- Next, click on Properties and highlight Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP), then click the Properties button.
- After that make sure that the “Obtain DNS server automatically” is selected and then click on Advanced
- In the Advanced TCP/IP Settings window, click on the DNS tab and remove any rogue DNS. Click OK after that.
The instructions in this step will help you remove iStart Search Bar from the most commonly used web browsers. Make sure that you apply these instructions in all browsers that have been affected in order to get rid of the browser hijacker completely.
Note: For demonstration purposes, below we are showing the instructions in Google Chrome but you can apply the same for Firefox, IE or any other browser that you are using.
Right-click on the browser’s shortcut icon and select Properties.
Once you get inside the Properties window, tap on the Shortcut tab at the top. Then, find where it writes Target, and remove everything that has been added after .exe. Click OK to save the changes.
Launch the Internet Explorer browser and click 
Find the iStart Search Bar-related add-ons (it could be one or more) and Disable it/them. After that go back to
In Firefox the instructions are almost identical. Simply open the browser and click 
Finally, close Chrome (or whichever is the affected browser) and navigate to:
C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data.
Search for a folder named Default, and right-click it. Then, RENAME that folder to Backup Default and restart the browser.
If iStart Search Bar doesn’t want to get removed after you complete these steps, scan your computer with the recommended removal tool and follow its instructions. Also, feel free to share your comments or questions with us in the comments section below this post.
FAQ:
iStart Search Bar is a rogue search engine installed in the browser by the iStart search browser hijacker. iStart Search Bar seeks to monitor user searches and redirects them to sponsored content, which could sometimes result in the system’s exposure to malware. Oftentimes, sites promoted by browser hijacker apps like iStart Search are known to contain misleading elements such as fake ads, questionable downloads, and links that may redirect to malware-filled pages. If the iStart Search Bar search engine is added to your browser, then you may also notice additional unwanted changes. For instance, some unwanted extensions may have been added to the browser without your approval and the browser’s homepage may have been replaced with an unknown site. Researchers report that the iStart Search Bar is closely related to other rogue websites like awesomehp.com, nationzoom.com, and sweet-page.com so if you are frequently getting redirected to them, this is yet another sign that you have a hijacker in your browser. In such cases, it’s important to quickly find an effective way to delete everything related to the unwanted software and to restore the regular settings of the browser in order to secure your PC and avoid getting exposed to more serious and problematic forms of malware.
Browser Hijackers on Windows 10 computers are undesirable software components that target the browsers installed on the computer and seek to page-redirect their users and show obstructive pop-ups, banners, and ads. A Browser Hijacker on a Windows 10 machine could also modify the browser settings. The changes introduced to the browser by a hijacker app are aimed at facilitating the ad-displaying campaign of the undesirable software. For instance, a Windows 10 Browser Hijacker could replace the browser’s default homepage in order to promote a certain ad-filled site. Many hijackers also take over the search engine and change it to a fake one that is designed to promote advertised sites in its results instead of showing the most relevant content when the user searches for something. If you see there’s a hijacker on your computer, make sure to uninstall it ASAP, or else its ads may expose you to dangerous malware, including Trojans, Rootkits, Ransomware, and more.
Step 1: Start the PC in Safe Mode in order to keep the hijacker inactive while you are working to remove it.
Step 2: Try to find any processes related to iStart Search Bar in the Task Manager. If you find such processes, go to their File Location folders, delete them, and then quit the suspicious processes.
You can also use the following online malware scanner to check the files of suspected processes for harmful code and thus determine if the process itself is rogue.
Step 3: Look for unwanted programs in the Programs and Features list and uninstall anything that may be linked to iStart Search Bar and/or was installed right before you started noticing hijacker symptoms in your browsers.
Step 4: See if there are any unknown and rogue startup items in the System Configuration utility and disable them to block them from being launched automatically on startup.
Step 5: Check the DNS settings of the network you are using at the moment: Make sure that DNS servers are being obtained automatically for the Internet Protocol Version 4 and that there are no rogue DNS servers added to its settings.
Step 6: Check the computer’s Hosts file for modifications from the hijacker and delete anything that may have been added by it to the file’s text.
Step 7: Search for iStart Search Bar-related items in the Registry Editor of your computer and if you find anything from the hijacker, delete it, but be very careful so that you don’t end up deleting any other items that aren’t from the unwanted software.
Step 8: Clean all your browsers from anything in them that may be related to iStart Search Bar.
First, check the browser extensions and delete the ones that you are not familiar with and that may be causing browsing disturbance.
After that, check important browser settings such as the address of the homepage and the default search engine and revoke any changes made to them by the hijacker.
Lastly, clean the browsing data (cookies, caches, etc.) and the browsing history.
Step 9: If you are still having problems with iStart Search bar, you may need to resort to a specialized anti-malware program to help you with the deletion of this hijacker.
Step 1: Go to the Programs and Features list from the Control Panel and find and uninstall any potentially unwanted programs that you may find there.
Step 2: Use the Task Manager to find unusual processes that are currently running, go to their folders (file locations), and scan the files stored there with the following free malware scanner:
Step 3: If you find any malware files, delete them together with the whole location folder and quit the process they are related to.
Step 4: Boot the PC in Safe Mode to help keep the iStart’s processes inactive in case you didn’t manage to find and quit them in Step 2 and 3.
Step 5: Check the Hosts file and the Startup tab of System Configuration for modifications made by the hijacker and undo any such changes that you didn’t permit in the first place.
Step 6: Check the Shortcut’s Target for each of your browsers and if it has been altered, restore it to its regular state.
Step 7: Delete potentially unwanted extensions that may be in your browsers.
Step 8: See if the homepages and/or search engines of your browsers have been replaced by iStart and if they have, restore the previous ones.
Step 9: Search in your computer’s Registry for settings added by the hijacker and if you find any, delete them.
Step 10: Use a reliable security tool that can automatically find and delete malware and browser hijackers in the system.
Step 11: Lastly, if nothing else helped, try using the System Restore Windows 10 feature to revert your system to an earlier state when the hijacker wasn’t present.