Initial page 123 virus – How to remove (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge)

The hijacker, which set the Initial page 123 as your homepage can also set this unwanted web-page as your search provider. You will encounter the fact that the search in the internet browser has become uncomfortable to use, because the search results will consist of a large number of advertisements, links to ad and unwanted pages and a small amount of regular links, which are obtained from a search in the major search providers. Therefore, look for something using Initial page 123 web-page would be a waste of time or worse, it can lead to even more infected machine.

The Initial page 123 hijacker infection is not a virus, but the virus behaves similarly. As a rootkit hides in the system, makes various changes to settings of installed web browsers, and blocks them from changing. Also this browser hijacker can install additional web browser addons, extensions and modules that will display ads and pop-ups. And finally, the Initial page 123 browser hijacker can collect lots of personal information about you such as what sites you’re opening, what you are looking for the Web and so on. This information, in the future, can be used for marketing purposes.

We suggest you to remove Initial page 123 and free your computer of hijacker ASAP, until the presence of the hijacker has not led to even worse consequences. Use the steps below that will help you to completely delete Initial page 123 start page, using only the built-in Windows features and a few of specialized free tools.

Remove Initial page 123 virus

Most often browser hijackers requires more than a simple uninstall through the use of MS Windows Control panel in order to be fully removed. For that reason, our team made several removal ways which we’ve summarized in a detailed instructions. Therefore, if you have the Initial page 123 virus on your computer and are currently trying to have it uninstalled then feel free to follow the step-by-step guide below in order to resolve your problem. Certain of the steps will require you to reboot your machine or close the page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.

How to manually remove Initial page 123

Most common browser hijackers may be removed without any antivirus applications. The manual hijacker infection removal is article steps that will teach you how to remove the Initial page 123 homepage.

Removing the Initial page 123, check the list of installed software first

We recommend that you start the system cleaning process by checking the list of installed applications and uninstall all unknown or suspicious software. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious software such as adware and browser hijackers may be bundled with free applications. Uninstall the unwanted programs can remove the unwanted advertisements or web-browser redirect.

1. If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next press Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
2. If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and press “Control Panel”.
3. It will open the Windows Control Panel.
4. Further, press “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
5. It will display a list of all programs installed on the computer.
6. Scroll through the all list, and delete suspicious and unknown software. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort applications by date.

See more details in the video instructions below.

Fix infected internet browsers shortcuts to delete Initial page 123 redirect

A hijacker may hijack various Windows shortcuts on your desktop (most often, all web browsers shortcuts), so in this step you need to check and clean them by removing the argument such as http://site.address/.

Click the right mouse button to a desktop shortcut that you use to start your web-browser. Next, select the “Properties” option. Important: necessary to click on the desktop shortcut for the internet browser which is redirected to the Initial page 123 or other intrusive site.

Further, necessary to look at the text which is written in the “Target” field. The hijacker can change the contents of this field, which describes the file to be launch when you run your internet browser. Depending on the web browser you are using, there should be:

• Google Chrome: chrome.exe
• Opera: opera.exe
• Firefox: firefox.exe
• Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe

If you are seeing an unknown text similar “http://site.addres” that has been added here, then you should remove it, as shown below.

Next, click the “OK” button to save the changes. Now, when you open the browser from this desktop shortcut, it does not occur automatically reroute on the Initial page 123 page or any other undesired web sites. Once the step is finished, we recommend to go to the next step.

Delete Initial page 123 redirect virus from Microsoft Internet Explorer

To restore the new tab page, home page and search engine by default you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, that was when the MS Windows was installed on your PC.

First, open the IE, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as shown in the figure below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click Reset button. The Internet Explorer will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings dialog box. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.

You will now need to restart your system for the changes to take effect. It will remove Initial page 123 browser hijacker, disable malicious and ad-supported internet browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings like start page, new tab page and search provider by default to default state.

Delete Initial page 123 virus from Google Chrome

Reset Google Chrome settings is a simple way to remove the browser hijacker, malicious and adware extensions, as well as to restore the web browser’s new tab page, startpage and search provider by default that have been modified by hijacker infection.

First start the Google Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will show the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to display the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter.

The internet browser will show the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, like below and click the “Reset settings” button.

The Google Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will start the task of cleaning. Once it is complete, the browser’s settings including new tab page, homepage and search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your system.

Remove Initial page 123 redirect from FF

Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as shown on the image below.

A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as shown in the figure below.

Follow the onscreen procedure to revert back your Mozilla Firefox browser settings to its original state.

Initial page 123 automatic removal

If your PC system is still infected with the Initial page 123 browser hijacker virus, then the best method of detection and removal is to use an antimalware scan on the system. Download free malware removal tools below and launch a full system scan. It will help you remove all components of the browser hijacker infection from hardisk and Windows registry.

Automatically remove Initial page 123 home page with Zemana Anti-malware

We suggest using the Zemana Anti-malware which are completely clean your PC of the hijacker. The tool is an advanced malware removal program made by (c) Zemana lab. It is able to help you get rid of PUPs, hijacker infections, ad-supported software, malware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your system for free.

1. Download Zemana anti malware (ZAM) by clicking on the link below.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164052 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. Once the downloading process is finished, close all software and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
3. Further, press Next button and follow the prompts.
4. Once setup is done, press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker infection and web-browser’s malicious extensions. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your system and the speed of your system. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is done.
5. Once the scan is done, it will show a screen that contains a list of malware that has been found. Next, you need to click “Next”. Once disinfection is complete, you can be prompted to restart your machine.

How to automatically remove Initial page 123 with Malwarebytes

We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your machine of the browser hijacker infection. The free utility is an advanced malware removal application created by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This application uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It’s able to help you remove browser hijackers, potentially unwanted programs, malicious software, ad supported software, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your PC system for free.

Download Malwarebytes Free on your computer by clicking on the link below. Save it on your desktop.

After downloading is finished, close all windows on your system. Further, open the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as shown below, click the “Yes” button.

It will show the “Setup wizard” which will assist you install Malwarebytes on the computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is finished successfully, click Finish button. Then Malwarebytes will automatically start and you can see its main window as shown on the screen below.

Next, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the browser hijacker and other malicious software and ‘ad supported’ software. Depending on your machine, the scan may take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a malware, ad-supported software or potentially unwanted software are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.

Once the system scan is complete, it will show a scan report. Make sure all entries have ‘checkmark’ and click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes will start removing Initial page 123 hijacker virus and other security threats. Once disinfection is complete, you can be prompted to restart your computer. We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the Malwarebytes to remove browser hijacker, ad-supported software and other malware.

If the problem with Initial page 123 virus is still remained

AdwCleaner is a free removal utility that may be downloaded and run to get rid of browser hijackers, ad supported software, malicious software, PUPs, toolbars and other threats from your PC. You may use this utility to scan for threats even if you have an antivirus or any other security application.

Download AdwCleaner utility by clicking on the link below. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Once the download is finished, open the directory in which you saved it and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will run the AdwCleaner tool and you will see a screen like below. If the User Account Control dialog box will ask you want to show the application, press Yes button to continue.

Next, press “Scan” to perform a system scan for the Initial page 123 browser hijacker virus and web browser’s malicious extensions. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your machine and the speed of your system. While the program is scanning, you may see count of objects it has identified as threat.

When the system scan is complete is complete, it will display a scan report as shown on the screen below.

Review the report and then click “Clean” button. It will open a dialog box. Click “OK” to begin the cleaning process. Once the clean-up is complete, the AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your computer. After restart, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.

All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video instructions.

Block Initial page 123 and other unwanted sites

In order to increase your security and protect your machine against new unwanted advertisements and harmful pages, you need to use ad-blocker program that stops an access to dangerous ads and web pages. Moreover, the program may block the open of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of web sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Download AdGuard program from the following link.

After downloading is finished, launch the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as on the image below.

Follow the prompts. When the installation is finished, you will see a window as shown on the image below.

You can click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.

In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your system, AdGuard will start automatically and block popups, as well as other dangerous or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which is located on your desktop.

Tips to prevent Initial page 123 and other unwanted applications

The Initial page 123 hijacker virus usually gets on your computer together with another program in the same installer. The risk of this is especially high for the various free software downloaded from the Net. The developers of the programs are hoping that users will use the quick installation mode, that is simply to press the Next button, without paying attention to the information on the screen and don’t carefully considering every step of the setup procedure. Thus, the hijacker may infiltrate your computer without your knowledge. Therefore, it is very important to read all the information that tells the application during install, including the ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’. Use only the Manual, Custom or Advanced install mode. This mode will help you to disable all optional and unwanted software and components.

Finish words

After completing the few simple steps outlined above, your machine should be clean from malware and browser hijackers. The Google Chrome, IE, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge will no longer display Initial page 123 intrusive page on startup. Unfortunately, if the instructions does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help.

1. Download HijackThis from the link below and save it to your Desktop.
   
   

   HijackThis download
   4698 downloads
   Version: 2.0.5
   Author: OpenSource
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 7, 2015
   
2. Double-click on the HijackThis icon. Next click “Do a system scan only” button.
3. When it completes the scan, the scan button will read “Save log”, click it. Save this log to your desktop.
4. Create a Myantispyware account here. Once you’ve registered, check your e-mail for a confirmation link, and confirm your account. After that, login.
5. Copy and paste the contents of the HijackThis log into your post. If you are posting for the first time, please start a new thread by using the “New Topic” button in the Spyware Removal forum. When posting your HJT log, try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately.
6. Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the annoying Initial page 123 virus.