How to remove Spicy Start [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

The Spicy Start is a new hijacker from the big family of browser hijackers. It rewrites your Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Chrome’s search engine by default, home page and newtab and can redirect your web browser to some intrusive pages. Of course, it’s not a malware or virus in the “general meaning” of this word. The Spicy Start hijacker will not delete or damage your files, but it can change some PC’s settings. So, you’d better to get rid of Spicy Start using the guidance below and thereby restore your favorite startpage and search engine.

As mentioned above, the Spicy Start browser hijacker also alters the browser’s search provider. So, your web-browser, when searching something, will open a hodgepodge of ads, links to unwanted and ad web sites and search results from the big search engines like Google or Bing. As a result, actual use of a internet browser’s search becomes uncomfortable. Moreover, it can also lead to slowing or even freeze your web-browser.

As well as unwanted internet browser redirects to Spicy Start, the hijacker can gather your Internet browsing activity by saving URLs visited, IP addresses, web browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and web-pages visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or personal information theft. This is another reason why the browser hijacker that reroutes the browser to Spicy Start, is defined as PUP (potentially unwanted program).

The Spicy Start hijacker can alter current settings of all your typical web-browsers, but often that the undesired software can also infect all types of web-browsers by modifying their desktop shortcuts. Thus forcing the user to see Spicy Start intrusive web site every time launch the internet browser.

We strongly recommend you to complete the few simple steps which follow below. We’ll show you how to get rid of browser hijacker infection and thus remove Spicy Start from your Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox forever.

How to remove Spicy Start

When a hijacker like the Spicy Start gets installed on your computer without your knowledge, it’s not easy to delete. Most often, there is no Uninstall program that simply delete the hijacker responsible for redirecting your web-browser to Spicy Start web-site from your computer. So, we suggest using several well-proven free specialized utilities like Zemana, MalwareBytes Anti Malware or AdwCleaner. But the best solution to remove Spicy Start will be to perform several manual steps, after that additionally run antimalware tools.

To remove Spicy Start, execute the steps below:

1. How to manually get rid of Spicy Start
   • Delete Spicy Start associated software by using Microsoft Windows Control Panel
   • Fix infected internet browsers shortcuts to get rid of Spicy Start redirect
   • Delete Spicy Start from Google Chrome
   • Remove Spicy Start from Microsoft Internet Explorer
   • Delete Spicy Start start page from FF
2. How to delete Spicy Start start page with freeware
   • Use Zemana Free to get rid of Spicy Start
   • Scan and clean your PC system of hijacker with Malwarebytes
   • Scan your PC system and get rid of Spicy Start home page with AdwCleaner
3. How to block Spicy Start redirect
4. Prevent Spicy Start browser hijacker from installing
5. Finish words

How to manually get rid of Spicy Start

The step-by-step guide will help you remove Spicy Start search. These Spicy Start removal steps work for the Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Google Chrome, as well as every version of Microsoft Windows operating system.

Delete Spicy Start associated software by using Microsoft Windows Control Panel

First of all, check the list of installed programs on your machine and delete all unknown and recently installed applications. If you see an unknown application with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malware and you should clean it off first with malicious software removal utility such as Zemana Anti-malware.

Make sure you have closed all internet browsers and other apps. Press CTRL, ALT, DEL keys together to open the MS Windows Task Manager.

Click on the “Processes” tab, look for something questionable that is the hijacker that causes internet browsers to display intrusive Spicy Start page then right-click it and select “End Task” or “End Process” option. In many cases, malicious software masks itself to avoid detection by imitating legitimate MS Windows processes. A process is particularly suspicious: it is taking up a lot of memory (despite the fact that you closed all of your programs), its name is not familiar to you (if you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for its name in Google, Yahoo or Bing).

Next, remove any unwanted and suspicious applications from your Control panel.

Windows 10, 8.1, 8

Now, click the Windows button, type “Control panel” in search and press Enter. Select “Programs and Features”, then “Uninstall a program”.

Look around the entire list of applications installed on your PC. Most probably, one of them is the hijacker related to Spicy Start search. Select the questionable application or the program that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.

Windows Vista, 7

From the “Start” menu in Windows, choose “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, choose “Uninstall a program”.

Choose the dubious or any unknown applications, then click “Uninstall/Change” button to uninstall this undesired program from your PC.

Windows XP

Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.

Choose an undesired program, then click “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.

Fix infected internet browsers shortcuts to get rid of Spicy Start redirect

Unfortunately, the hijacker related to Spicy Start redirect, can also hijack Windows shortcut files (mostly, your web-browsers shortcuts), so that the Spicy Start start page will be opened when you run the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer or another internet browser.

Right click to a desktop shortcut file for your hijacked web-browser. Choose the “Properties” option. It will open the Properties window. Select the “Shortcut” tab here, after that, look at the “Target” field. The hijacker that created to redirect your web browser to the Spicy Start web-site can replace it. If you are seeing something like “…exe http://site.address” then you need to remove “http…” and leave only, depending on the web-browser you are using:

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

Look at the example as on the image below.

Once is done, click the “OK” button to save the changes. Please repeat this step for web-browser shortcut files which redirects to an undesired web pages. When you have finished, go to next step.

Delete Spicy Start from Google Chrome

In order to be sure that there is nothing left behind, we recommend you to reset Google Chrome web-browser. It’ll restore Chrome settings including search engine, start page and newtab page to defaults.

Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal dotes (). It will show the drop-down menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions.

Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the addon labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy otherwise, just go to the step below.

Open the Chrome main menu again, click to “Settings” option.

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, as shown below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.

Remove Spicy Start from Microsoft Internet Explorer

If you find that IE internet browser settings like startpage, default search engine and newtab having been hijacked, then you may revert back your settings, via the reset internet browser process.

First, open the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon . It will open the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the browser, then press the “Internet Options” as on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then press the “Reset” button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” prompt. Further, press the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as on the image below.

When the process is finished, press “Close” button. Close the IE and reboot your personal computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web-browser’s home page, default search provider and new tab page to default state.

Delete Spicy Start start page from FF

The Firefox reset will keep your personal information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill data and delete unwanted search provider and startpage like Spicy Start, modified preferences, extensions and security settings.

First, open the Mozilla Firefox and press button. It will display the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web-browser. Further, click the Help button () as displayed on the image below.

In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the browser adress bar and press Enter. It will show the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.

It will open the confirmation prompt. Further, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will begin a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the browser hijacker infection which created to redirect your internet browser to the Spicy Start site. After, it is finished, press the “Finish” button.

How to delete Spicy Start start page with freeware

If you’re not expert at computer technology, then all your attempts to remove Spicy Start hijacker by completing the manual steps above might result in failure. To find and remove all of the Spicy Start related files and registry entries that keep this browser hijacker infection on your computer, use free antimalware software such as Zemana Free, MalwareBytes and AdwCleaner from our list below.

Use Zemana Free to get rid of Spicy Start

We recommend you to use the Zemana that are completely clean your system. Moreover, the utility will help you to get rid of potentially unwanted apps, malware, toolbars and ‘ad supported’ software that your machine can be infected too.

Now you can setup and use Zemana Anti Malware to delete Spicy Start from your web browser by following the steps below:

Please go to the following link to download Zemana Free setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your PC. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.

Launch the setup file after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to install this tool on your PC system.

During installation you can change some settings, but we advise you do not make any changes to default settings.

When setup is done, this malware removal tool will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as displayed below.

Now click the “Scan” button for checking your system for the hijacker that changes internet browser settings to replace your default search engine, home page and newtab with Spicy Start web site. While the tool is scanning, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned.

After finished, you can check all items detected on your machine. Next, you need to press “Next” button.

The Zemana Anti-Malware will delete Spicy Start browser hijacker and other web browser’s harmful extensions. When disinfection is finished, you can be prompted to reboot your computer to make the change take effect.

Scan and clean your PC system of hijacker with Malwarebytes

Remove Spicy Start browser hijacker manually is difficult and often the hijacker is not completely removed. Therefore, we suggest you to use the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your machine. Moreover, the free program will help you to remove malicious software, potentially unwanted apps, toolbars and ad-supported software that your PC may be infected too.

1. Click the following link to download MalwareBytes Free. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   326384 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your browser will display the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. Once the downloading process is done, please close all applications and open windows on your computer. Double-click on the icon that’s called mb3-setup.
4. This will open the “Setup wizard” of MalwareBytes onto your computer. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the MalwareBytes will launch and show the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan Now” button to start scanning your system for the browser hijacker infection which cause Spicy Start web-page to appear. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your computer. When a malicious software, ad-supported software or potentially unwanted apps are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is finished.
7. After the scanning is done, MalwareBytes will display a list of detected threats.
8. Review the report and then press the “Quarantine Selected” button. After finished, you may be prompted to reboot the system.
9. Close the Anti Malware and continue with the next step.

Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.

Scan your PC system and get rid of Spicy Start home page with AdwCleaner

AdwCleaner is a free utility that can identify browser hijacker responsible for modifying your browser settings to Spicy Start. It is not always easy to locate all the undesired applications that your personal computer might have picked up on the World Wide Web. AdwCleaner will search for the ‘ad supported’ software, browser hijacker infections and other malicious software you need to erase.

Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdwCleaner for Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Once the downloading process is finished, open the file location and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will start the AdwCleaner utility. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to open the application, click Yes button to continue.

Next, click “Scan” for checking your computer for the hijacker that changes web-browser settings to replace your startpage, newtab page and search engine by default with Spicy Start web-page. Depending on your computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. During the scan AdwCleaner will find threats present on your personal computer.

When AdwCleaner has completed scanning, AdwCleaner will show a list of found threats as shown in the following example.

Review the results once the utility has finished the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply press “Clean” button. It will open a dialog box. Click “OK” button. The AdwCleaner will begin to delete hijacker infection which reroutes your web-browser to unwanted Spicy Start site. After that process is finished, the tool may ask you to reboot your system. After reboot, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.

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

How to block Spicy Start redirect

Enabling an ad-blocker program such as AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, ad blocker apps will also protect you from malicious ads and web pages, and, of course, stop redirection chain to Spicy Start and similar sites.

Installing the AdGuard is simple. First you’ll need to download AdGuard on your computer from the link below.

After the downloading process is done, double-click the downloaded file to launch it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as displayed on the image below.

Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions like below.

Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will assist you get to know AdGuard better.

Each time, when you start your computer, AdGuard will run automatically and stop popups, Spicy Start redirect, as well as other harmful or misleading sites. 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 can be found on your desktop.

Prevent Spicy Start browser hijacker from installing

Many browser hijackers such as Spicy Start are included in the free software setup package. Most commonly, a user have a chance to disable all included “offers”, but some installers are developed to confuse the average users, in order to trick them into installing an ad-supported software or PUPs. Anyway, easier to prevent the browser hijacker rather than clean up your personal computer after one. So, keep the web-browser updated (turn on automatic updates), run a good antivirus applications, double check a freeware before you launch it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid harmful and unknown pages.

Finish words

Once you’ve done the tutorial shown above, your personal computer should be clean from browser hijacker responsible for modifying your internet browser settings to Spicy Start and other malware. The Google Chrome, FF, Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer will no longer display intrusive Spicy Start page on startup. Unfortunately, if the step by step guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.