How to remove MyStart Search Protection

What is MyStart Search Protection?

MyStart Search Protection is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that has been created with an intension to protect other potentially unwanted programs. It spreads using misleading ‘bundling’ distribution method and is usually related to browser hijacker. It is known that once inside it corrupts DNS settings on each of the web browser that it finds on the target computer and sets mystart.com or mystartsearch.com as a default homepage and search engine. After doing so, MyStart Search Protection virus is responsible for making sure that those changes will remain and won’t be unchanged by other third party programs. When this misleading add-on is inside your computer, you may noticed such and similar notifications:

Search Settings Change Notification
MyStart Search Protection has blocked an attempt by another program to change your default search settings.

MyStart. Attempted Search Settings Change
An attempt has been made to switch your default search away from Search The Web:
Keep Search The Web
Disable default search protection and change my default search to: Google

The later notification may appear right after your attempts to change this your homepage and search engine manually. If you have already seen such and similar alerts, we highly recommend you to scan your PC with a reputable anti-spyware, such as Fortect Intego because using the search engine that is set against your will may cause serious issues. Be aware that it seeks to earn the money from affiliate marketing and in order to do so tracks your online activities, delivers altered search results, makes its users visit unknown and sometimes unsafe websites and so on. All these operation may result in system slow downs, infiltration of other potentially unwanted programs on your computer and so on. Therefore, if goes without saying that you have to take needed actions to eliminate it from your computer..

How can MyStart Search Protection hijack my computer?

MyStart Search Protection can get inside your computer right after installing another free program from the Internet. That’s because this misleading add-on is mainly distributed using a well-known method that is called ‘bundling’. Developers of popular free software are paid by third parties for the possibility to add their advertisements alongside various download managers PDF creators, video streaming software and so on. That’s why it is very important to select and install freewares carefully. First of all, you should always read End-User’s License Agreement, Privacy Policy, comments and reviews related to your selected program and ensure that it’s reliable. After that, you should opt for Advanced or Custom installation option and carefully check every notification. Specifically look for those that has been already check by default and claim that you accept to install add-on, toolbar, plug-in or extension on your computer. Besides, never allow that your homepage or search engine would be replaced from Google, Yahoo or Bing to unknown one. In case SearchProtection.exe process running in the Windows Task Manager and mystart.com appears as your default homepage and search engine, do not waste your time because that’s a clear sign indicating that potentially unwanted program hides on your computer.

How to remove MyStart Search Protection virus?

Be careful with MyStart Search Protection redirect because this add-ons is closely related to browser hijacker and may force you to visit unsafe websites. Therefore, follow the guidelines that are below and get rid of it as soon as possible.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:

In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:

Select Go > Go to Folder.
Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.
Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
Click Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:

Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
Then find On startup section.
Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
Select 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.

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and site data:

Click on Menu and go to Settings.
Select Privacy, search and services.
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Under Time range, pick All time.
Select Clear now.

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
On the left side, pick Reset settings.
Select Restore settings to their default values.
Confirm with Reset.
This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
Select Add-ons.
In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:

Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
Choose Settings.
Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

Click Menu and pick Settings.
Go to Privacy & Security section.
Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
Click on Clear Data...
Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

Click on Menu and pick Settings.
Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
Click Clear data.

Change your homepage:

Click menu and choose Settings.
Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

Click on Menu and select Settings.
In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
Confirm with Reset settings.

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:

Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:

Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.