Mybeginning123.com search engine might trick you into visiting shady Internet sites
Mybeginning123.com virus is a computer program that aims to change browser settings in Chrome, Mozilla and other popular web browsers. Once installed, Mybeginning123 can modify browser shortcuts, add unknown programs or browser extensions to the system and start collecting information about user’s browsing preferences and general interests. What is more, the virus starts redirecting to hxxp://mybeginning123.com page, which contains a search engine. This search engine is judged by cybersecurity experts because it functions as a tool for revenue making instead of being a beneficial web search service. It seems that the majority of results it provides points users to affiliate websites instead of ones that are associated with user’s search query. Besides being completely useless, this hijacker is also distributed using shady techniques, which makes us put this program to potentially unwanted programs’ (PUPs) list. However, even if this program seems to be quite bad, it actually is a legitimate application, and technically it cannot be called a virus[1]. However, its annoying behavior has earned it this title. Besides, the fact that very similar hijackers such as StartPageing123.com[2], Myluckypage123.com, Myluckysurfing.com or Launchpage.org[3] fall into most aggressive browser hijackers of 2017 lists should encourage you to remove Mybeginning123.com without a wait.

According to research, the described hijacker can affect PC and Mac users. After installing it, users shortly discover that it appears in almost all web browsers after opening them or a new tab in them. It is so because this hijacker sets the aforementioned URL as default homepage and new tab page address. On top of that, it might also assign this value to “default search” setting. The website that gets promoted suggests using a shady Mybeginning123 search engine, which provides many sponsored search results instead of suggesting more organic ones. Therefore, while looking for important information online, the user might get redirected to sites that he/she never wanted to visit. It is important to note that these websites are not monitored or controlled by the developer of the hijacker and the search engine, and they can be dangerous to visit. However, the author of the search engine says that it is not responsible for privacy practices of such other sites, and “encourages [the user] to read the privacy statements of each and every website.” Everybody knowns that it almost never happens in practical situations because reading these documents takes a lot of time. The most worrisome thing Mybeginning123 hijacker does is that it silently installs tracking cookies[4] into user’s browser and starts collecting user’s search queries, the list of visited websites, observing how much time one spends on certain websites and even more. All collected data can be used for selection of targeted ads, which might get integrated into search results. As we said, clicking on them can take you to quite dangerous web pages. This is yet another reason why we recommend you to remove Mybeginning123.com straight away.

Ways to protect your PC from browser hijackers
Users who want to protect their PCs from browser hijackers should carefully install free programs they download from the Internet. These programs usually offer to install a couple of free additions alongside them, and it is up to the user whether he/she wants to get them or not. Contrary to a popular belief, “Standard” or “Default” software installation settings aren’t the trustworthy ones. Users should always swap these options with “Custom” or “Advanced” ones because these will provide the possibility to alter bundled software that came with the main program. The user gets the right to drop off unwanted components, meanwhile suggested default installation settings usually never notify the user about their existence. When dealing with a program that promotes this hijacker, users should encounter suggestions to “set Mybeginning123 as home and new tab page in web browsers.” After deselecting such suggestions, the user should proceed to the next software installation step and be attentive to every detail provided by the installer.
Remove Mybeginning123.com manually or using anti-malware software
You can remove Mybeginning123.com virus without using any additional programs if you follow these uninstall instructions carefully. Of course, an even easier way to get rid of this hijacker is to use an anti-spyware or anti-malware program. We must point out that some antivirus programs might not be capable of deleting this browser hijacker because such programs typically target more critical viruses such as ransomware[5] or Trojans. However, it won’t hurt to run a system scan with one if you have it on your PC already. Make sure it is up-to-date before you try to carry out Mybeginning123.com removal with it!
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.
Reset Internet Explorer
Remove dangerous add-ons:
- Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
- Pick Manage Add-ons.
- You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:
- Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
- Select Internet Options.
- In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
- Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:
- Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
- Under Browsing history, click Delete...
- Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:
- Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
- Select Reset.
- In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

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.

Was this guide helpful?
4 comments