If your web-browser’s start page or search engine are being redirected to the web site called Startface.net, then you most likely have a hijacker installed on your machine. The hijacker will alter your web-browser’s search engine by default, homepage and new tab so that they automatically open the Startface.net page and use it for searches. If you would like to get rid of Startface.net and are unable to do so, you can follow the guide below to find out and remove this browser hijacker and any other unwanted software for free.
http://startface.net/
In addition, the Startface.net hijacker can also modify the search engine selected in the internet browser. When you try to search on the affected web browser, you’ll be presented with search results, consisting of ads and Google (or Yahoo, or Bing) search results for your query. Among these search results can occur links that lead to unwanted and ad web-sites.
It’s not a good idea to have an unwanted application such as Startface.net hijacker infection on your personal computer. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you do not know about. The browser hijacker be able to gather lots of your personal information that can be later sold to third party companies. You don’t know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe. And of course you completely do not know what will happen when you click on any advertisements on the Startface.net web site.
To find out how to delete Startface.net search, we suggest to read the few simple steps added to this blog post below. The guide was designed by cyber threat analysts who discovered a method to delete the annoying Startface.net hijacker out of the machine.
Remove Startface.net from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP)
Not all undesired software like browser hijacker infection responsible for redirecting your web browser to Startface.net web-page are easily uninstallable. You might see a new homepage, newtab page, search engine and other type of undesired changes to the Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox and Edge settings and might not be able to figure out the application responsible for this activity. The reason for this is that many unwanted applications neither appear in Windows Control Panel. Therefore in order to completely delete Startface.net redirect, you need to use the steps below. Certain of the steps will require you to restart your computer or close this web-page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Startface.net, complete the following steps:
- How to delete Startface.net startpage without any software
- Run free malware removal utilities to completely get rid of Startface.net startpage
- How to stop Startface.net
- Where the Startface.net hijacker comes from
- Finish words
How to delete Startface.net startpage without any software
Read this section to know how to manually remove the Startface.net hijacker. Even if the guidance does not work for you, there are several free malware removers below that can easily handle such browser hijackers.
Delete potentially unwanted software using Windows Control Panel
First, you should try to identify and remove the program that causes the appearance of intrusive advertisements or web-browser redirect, using the ‘Uninstall a program’ which is located in the ‘Control panel’.
- If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next click Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
- If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then press “Start” button and press “Control Panel”.
- It will show the Windows Control Panel.
- Further, press “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
- It will display a list of all software installed on the system.
- Scroll through the all list, and uninstall suspicious and unknown programs. To quickly find the latest installed programs, we recommend sort applications by date.
See more details in the video tutorial below.
Delete Startface.net from Firefox by resetting web-browser settings
If the Mozilla Firefox browser search provider, new tab and start page are changed to Startface.net and you want to restore the settings back to their original settings, then you should follow the step-by-step guidance below. When using the reset feature, your personal information such as passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.
First, run the Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will show the drop-down menu. Next, click the Help button (
).
In the Help menu press the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page press on “Refresh Firefox” button as on the image below.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
Delete Startface.net startpage from IE
By resetting Microsoft Internet Explorer internet browser you restore your internet browser settings to its default state. This is good initial when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by browser hijacker infection such as Startface.net.
First, open the IE, click 
) button. Next, press “Internet Options” as displayed in the figure below.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will open the Reset Internet Explorer settings dialog box. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.
You will now need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. It will remove hijacker responsible for Startface.net search, disable malicious and ad-supported browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings like search provider, start page and new tab to default state.
Remove Startface.net from Google Chrome
In this step we are going to show you how to reset Chrome settings. PUPs like the Startface.net can make changes to your internet browser settings including default search engine, newtab and homepage, add toolbars and undesired addons. By resetting Google Chrome settings you will remove Startface.net and reset unwanted changes caused by hijacker infection. Essential information such as bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, cookies, auto-fill data and personal dictionaries will not be removed.
- First start the Chrome and press Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
- It will display the Google Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then press Extensions.
- You’ll see the list of installed addons. If the list has the plugin labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guidance: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- You will see the Google Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Advanced” link.
- Scroll down again and click the “Reset” button.
- The Chrome will open the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
- Next press the “Reset” button.
- Once this process is done, your internet browser’s search provider, homepage and newtab will be restored to their original defaults.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Clean up the internet browsers shortcuts that have been hijacked by Startface.net
Important to know, most anti malware programs which are able to remove Startface.net browser hijacker infection and other browser’s malicious add-ons, but unable to scan for and recover changed shortcut files. So, you need to fix the desktop shortcut files for your IE, Firefox, Chrome and Edge internet browsers manually.
To clear the browser shortcut file, right-click to it and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text such as “http://site.address” which has been added here. You need to delete it.
When the text is removed, press the OK button. You need to clean all shortcut files of all your internet browsers, as they may be infected too.
Run free malware removal utilities to completely get rid of Startface.net startpage
Manual removal tutorial does not always help to completely delete the browser hijacker, as it is not easy to identify and remove components of hijacker and all malicious files from hard disk. Therefore, it is recommended that you run malicious software removal tool to completely remove Startface.net off your PC. Several free malware removal utilities are currently available that can be used against the browser hijacker infection. The optimum method would be to use Zemana Free, MalwareBytes and HitmanPro.
Get rid of Startface.net with Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM)
You can get rid of Startface.net home page automatically with a help of Zemana Anti Malware. We advise this malicious software removal utility because it may easily remove browser hijackers, potentially unwanted programs, ad supported software and toolbars with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.
- Zemana can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164037 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web browser will open the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- Once the downloading process is finished, please close all applications and open windows on your computer. Next, run a file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- This will run the “Setup wizard” of Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) onto your personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana Free will launch and open the main window.
- Further, press the “Scan” button to start scanning your machine for the hijacker that causes internet browsers to show intrusive Startface.net web site. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the Zemana AntiMalware is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified either as being malware.
- Once Zemana Anti Malware has finished scanning your personal computer, Zemana Free will create a list of undesired programs adware.
- When you are ready, press the “Next” button. The utility will get rid of browser hijacker responsible for Startface.net redirect. Once that process is finished, you may be prompted to restart the system.
- Close the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) and continue with the next step.
Get rid of Startface.net redirect from web-browsers with HitmanPro
The HitmanPro utility is free and easy to use. It can scan and remove Startface.net hijacker infection and other internet browser’s malicious extensions, malware, potentially unwanted software and ad-supported software from personal computer (MS Windows 10, 8, 7, XP) and thereby restore internet browsers default settings (home page, search provider and newtab). HitmanPro is powerful enough to scan for and remove malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the computer.
- Hitman Pro can be downloaded from the following link. Save it to your Desktop.
- After the download is complete, double click the HitmanPro icon. Once this utility is started, click “Next” button to detect browser hijacker that cause a redirect to Startface.net site. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your machine.
- Once the scan get completed, you will be opened the list of all detected threats on your computer. All found items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply press “Next” button. Now click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malware found.
Use Malwarebytes to remove browser hijacker infection
We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to scan for and delete Startface.net start page from your PC. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats exist on the PC.
- Installing the MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) from the link below.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326391 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- Once the downloading process is finished, close all apps and windows on your PC. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once install is done, click the “Scan Now” button to find hijacker which redirects your web browser to intrusive Startface.net page. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC. During the scan MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will search for threats exist on your computer.
- When MalwareBytes has completed scanning, you can check all items detected on your computer. When you are ready, click “Quarantine Selected”. Once finished, you can be prompted to restart your PC system.
The following video offers a tutorial on how to remove browser hijacker infections, ‘ad supported’ software and other malware with MalwareBytes.
How to stop Startface.net
Enabling an ad blocking application such as AdGuard is an effective way to alleviate the risks. Additionally, adblocker software will also protect you from malicious advertisements and sites, and, of course, stop redirection chain to Startface.net and similar web pages.
- Visit the following page to download AdGuard. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.
Adguard download
26629 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading it, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the setup is finished, click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will allow 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 launch your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted pop up ads, pages such as Startface.net, as well as other malicious or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon called AdGuard, that is located on your desktop.
Where the Startface.net hijacker comes from
The Startface.net hijacker infection spreads with a simple but quite effective way. It is integrated into the installation package of various free software. Thus on the process of install, it will infect your web browser and change it’s settings on the Startface.net. To avoid browser hijacker infection, you just need to follow a few simple rules: carefully read the Terms of Use and the license, select only a Manual, Custom or Advanced installation type, which enables you to make sure that the program you want to install, thereby protect your system from the browser hijacker like the Startface.net.
Finish words
Once you have finished the step-by-step guidance above, your personal computer should be free from browser hijacker that cause a redirect to Startface.net web-site and other malware. The Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge, Google Chrome and Microsoft Internet Explorer will no longer open annoying Startface.net page on startup. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker infection, and then the best way – ask for help here.
