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Spyware News
  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • System tools
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Mar 2021

How to remove StartupMaximizer

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Jake Doevan · Computer technology expert

StartupMaximizer is a fake system optimization software you should not trust

StartupMaximizer is an alleged PC optimizer that can help you find all the underlying issues on your computer and fix them automatically. Speaking of system optimizers, we would like to state that hundreds of rogue computer optimizers pretend to be legitimate and useful programs. Unfortunately, this application belongs to this category, and we do not recommend using it.

However, you should not call it the StartupMaximizer virus because it is not malicious itself. The 2-Spyware team has decided to assign this PC optimizer to the “potentially unwanted programs” (PUP) category and also to the “system tools” sub-category. At the end of this post, you can find detailed removal instructions that our team has prepared.

StartupMaximizer PUP sets itself as a startup program and initializes random system “scans,” which allegedly detect the following:

  • various computer errors,
  • junk files that need to be cleaned,
  • invalid shortcuts that need to be deleted,
  • other computer problems that supposedly exist.

After the fake scan, it displays pushy pop-up ads on the computer screen, stating that StartupMaximizer has found hundreds of items that need to be cleaned or optimized. However, in order to fix all these “problems,” the user must buy a licensed version of Startup Maximizer.

Essentially, this is the whole point of the app – to make users believe that their computers are in bad condition and then ask them to purchase the full license to allegedly clean their machines. Do not be tricked by this – many online scams rely on this technique and will never be able to fix your computer. If you are actually having some Windows PC problems, we highly recommend using an automatic repair tool FortectIntego.

If you started to see StartupMaximizer ads on your computer screen, you should not rely on its shady scan results because computer security experts claim that the app only seeks to frighten the computer user and urge him/her to purchase the full version of StartupMaximizer, which is hardly useful.

What is more, this program might slow down your computer and also block access to certain Internet sites to create an illusion that the computer really needs to be fixed. Therefore, we suggest you remove StartupMaximizer from your computer with SpyHunterCombo Cleaner or just uninstall it manually – we provide the instructions below.

StartupMaximizer

Software bundling – one of the main reasons PUPs access users' PCs without permission

One thing that makes this PC optimizer look suspicious is that it can appear on the computer system out of nowhere. However, nothing happens without reason. Potentially unwanted programs like StartupMaximizer hijack computers when the user installs a program that includes several optional applications added to it.

Such software packs are also known as “software bundles.” If the computer user chooses the Default or Standard option to install such software pack, all included attachments are installed without even notifying the user. You should not install programs on your computer “blindly”; do not rush and read all information that the setup wizard provides.

Software bundling is a very effective software distribution technique, so there is no doubt that software developers are not going to give it up anytime soon. To avoid installing unwanted apps when you are willing to install only one program, set Advanced or Custom installation settings and then opt-out of each suspicious optional application added to your selected program.

How to remove StartupMaximizer

It seems that the Startup Maximizer app is rogue and just seeks to give the impression that the computer is messed up. If you scanned your computer with any anti-spyware software, you would see that it identifies StartupMaximizer as a potentially unwanted program.

If you want to optimize your computer, we suggest using a trustworthy PC optimizer like Reimage. To uninstall StartupMaximizer from your computer, you can run a scan with an anti-spyware program or just uninstall it manually using these removal instructions:

  1. Click “Start” and go to “Control Panel”.
  2. Click “Uninstall a Program” under “Programs”.
  3. Select “StartupMaximizer” and then select the “Uninstall/Change” option.
  4. Click “Yes” and “OK” to apply the changes.

If you are using Mac OS X operating system, follow, you should click the “Go” button at the top left of the screen and select “Applications.” Wait until you see the “Applications” folder and find StartupMaxizer or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select “Move to Trash.”

Do not forget to clean your browsers as per instructions below. If you want an automatic option for this, you can opt for FortectIntego.

 

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

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

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. 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.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

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

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. 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.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

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

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Reset the homepage:

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

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

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

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

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

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. 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:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

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

Clear history and website data:

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

Reset Safari:

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

 

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4 comments

  1. QWr

    thanks for sharing these tips! easily got rid of this stupid program. I didnt like it nor needed it, so yeah.

  2. Romanov

    I have no idea how did StartupMaximizer end up being in my Programs.

  3. thommy

    this optimizer shows fake numbers, I swear. Downloaded another optimizer and it did not find any errors.

  4. Vincent

    i did the same !! you cannot trust startupmaximizer

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