Faststartpage.com

Faststartpage.com is a browser hijacker that is very similar to other well-known infections that, despite their visual differences, act in the same way. Some of these threats are Pesonal-Spage.com, Loadblanks.ru, and Searchbuw.ru. If your web browser is corrupted by any of these threats, you need to take care of their removal immediately. According to our research, the primary targets of this malware include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer browsers, which, of course, are widely used all across the world. The hijacker manifests itself by modifying the browser’s Target, which is why you cannot remove Faststartpage.com by changing the homepage. Have you tried this already? If you have, you know that the annoying hijacker pops up regardless of your endeavor. The good news is that there is a way to get rid of this infection, and you do not even need experience because we have created a step-by-step guide that will help you eliminate this annoying and potentially dangerous threat.

Needless to say, Faststartpage.com does not have an official installer that would represent the infection. It is most likely to be spread using third-party installers that might package malware along with the browser hijacker. The hijacker itself could be introduced to you as a harmless search tool, or it could be integrated into a more desirable application. It also could be installed without your knowledge at all, in which case you should realize quickly that it is unreliable. In either case, as soon as you find your browser modified, we advise scanning your operating system first. In the worst case scenario, you will find more dangerous threats installed, and, if that is the case, you want to take care of them first. Unfortunately, many users will not even realize that their operating system was infected by Faststartpage.com because this hijacker quickly redirects to http://net-quick.com/ivi/, and so it might be hard to understand which threat you are actually dealing with.

When Faststartpage.com slithers in, it immediately modifies the Target of the targeted browser. Instead of pointing to the location of the original browser’s .exe file (the launcher), the Target will be modified to represent exe.xoferif.bat – %Homedrive%:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\Browsers\exe.xoferif.bat. This batch file is located in the %Appdata%\Browsers folder, and you need to delete it right away. The file itself hides a command to open Faststartpage.com on startup. Of course, as we have discussed already, you are redirected to a third-party search provider as soon as this hijacker is launched. Net-quick.com/ivi/, at first sight, looks like a normal search tool, but it is not trustworthy. That becomes obvious when you realize that no information about it (e.g., privacy policies, contact details, etc.) are provided to you. Also, the search engine displays clearly unreliable banner advertisements. Sponsored ads are added to the search results as well, and it does not matter that the logo of Google is attached to them. The hijacker exploits Google Custom Search just to make the results shown to you appear more trustworthy, and they can be VERY untrustworthy. Needless to say, this is one of the most important reasons to delete Faststartpage.com ASAP.

The instructions below show how to delete Faststartpage.com components from your Windows operating system. Although it is important that you remove all files and shortcuts associated with the threat, you should not forget to modify your browser’s Target as well. The elimination of the threat is quite simple if you take the operation one step at a time, as shown below. If you are stuck on any of the steps presented, do not hesitate to ask questions via the comments section below. If you do not want to waste your time with manual removal – which might be the case if the malware scanner detects other dangerous threats – it is smart to install anti-malware software that is created to locate and eliminate malicious components automatically. If you install this software, make sure you keep it updated for full-time protection.

Faststartpage.com Removal

1. Launch Explorer by tapping Win+E keys.
2. Enter %AppData% into the bar at the top.
3. Right-click and Delete the folder named Browsers (if you cannot see it, you might have to adjust the settings to show hidden files and folders).
4. Right-click and Delete the shortcut of the hijacker in these directories:
   • %USERPROFILE%\Desktop
   • %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Programs
   • %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
   • %USERPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
   • %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
   • %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs.
5. Right-click the shortcut of the infected browser and select Properties.
6. Click the Shortcut tab and navigate to Target.
7. Erase the hijacker’s path and re-enter the path to the original browser’s .exe file. Click OK.

N.B. You might have to modify all shortcuts representing the same browser.