How to remove iStartSurf.com

What is istartsurf.com

iStartSurf.com by Skytech is browser search hijacker and redirect for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. It modifies browsers homepage, replaces your default search engine and opens as a new tab every time you start your browsers. In some cases it modifies browser desktop and start menu shortcuts, adding web address in target field. This results in constant redirect to http://www.istartsurf.com. It is hard to remove as hijacker uses techniques to re-install itself and protecting browser settings from further change from users side. Here is 100% working tutorial to remove istartsurf.com search from your PC.

How istartsurf.com infected your PC

iStartSurf.com hijacker, despite being very annoying and very wide-spread, uses very simple method to get to your PC. It distributes along with software installers and is offered as “great search tool”. As usual, users are not expecting malware to be packed with program they install. However, today, 90% of legitimate utilities of different kind are bundled with adware, hijackers and scareware scanners. Even some antiviruses like Ad-Aware or Avira install Web Companion (shopping add-on) and Avira Safe Search (modified Ask.com search). The only way to stay safe is to be attentive working on your PC, especially installing new stuff.

Download Removal Tool

Download Removal Tool

To remove istartsurf.com completely we recommend you to use SpyHunter 5. It detects and removes all files, folders and registry keys of istartsurf.com and several millions of other adware, hijackers, toolbars.

Remove istartsurf.com manually for free

Here is manual step-by-step tutorial for full istartsurf.com removal from your computer. This works 99% and was checked with the latest versions of istartsurf.com installer on operating systems with latest updates and browser versions.

Remove istartsurf.com from Control Panel

To start removing istartsurf.com you should uninstall it using Control Panel. It can be present by different names – “istartsurf uninstall” or just “istartsurf.com”. It should uninstall correctly, however, we recommend you to use IObit Uninstaller to clean leftover items after uninstalling. Here are instructions for Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Latest versions of istartsurf.com hijacker are protected by program called XTab that is located in C:\Program Files\XTab. This program is not present in the list of installed programs, but you can uninstall it manually by going to this folder and running uninstall.exe file. Or you can use SpyHunter 5 antimalware to remove it completely.

Remove istartsurf.com from Windows XP:

1. Click on Start button.
2. Choose Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Find istartsurf uninstall.
5. Click Uninstall.

Remove istartsurf.com from Windows 7:

1. Click Start button.
2. Then go to Control Panel.
3. Click Uninstall a Program.
4. Find istartsurf uninstall and click Uninstall.

Remove istartsurf.com from Windows 8:

1. Hover mouse pointer to the bottom-right corner to see Menu.
2. Click Search.
3. After that click Apps.
4. Then Control Panel.
5. Click Uninstall a Program under Programs.
6. Find istartsurf uninstall, click Uninstall.

Remove istartsurf.com from Windows 10:

There are 2 ways to uninstall istartsurf.com from Windows 10

Way one

1. Click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Settings.
3. Click on the System tile.
4. Click Apps & features and locate istartsurf uninstall in the list.
5. Click on it and then click Uninstall button near it.

Way two (classic)

1. Right-click on the Start button.
2. In opened menu choose Programs and Features.
3. Locate istartsurf uninstall in the list.
4. Click on it and then click Uninstall button above.

Cannot uninstall istartsurf.com

In some cases istartsurf.com won’t uninstall and gives you message that “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall istartsurf. Please, contact your system administrator” when you try to remove it from Control Panel or “Access denied” error when removing istartsurf folder and files. This happens, because process or service does not allow you to do it. In this case I will recommend you to use SpyHunter 5 or Malwarebytes or uninstall istartsurf.com in Safe Mode. To boot in Safe Mode do the following:

1. Reboot your computer.
2. While it starts booting press F8 button.
3. This will open Advanced Boot Options menu.
4. Choose Safe Mode and wait until Windows loads.
5. Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a program and remove “istartsurf uninstall”

>> See detailed instructions and video tutorial on how to boot in Safe Mode

Remove malicious add-ons from your browsers

Uninstalling istartsurf from Control Panel often does not bring desired effect. It sometimes have browser extension and it may still be active in Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. Here are instructions on how to remove istartsurf related extension from your browsers manually.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://extensions/.
3. Find suspicious extensions.
4. Click the trash can icon to remove them.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:addons.
3. Choose suspicious extension.
4. Click Disable or Remove button.
5. Remove all suspicious extensions from the list.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

Note: There is no feature to remove browser extensions from browser in latest version of Internet Explorer. To remove istartsurf from Internet Explorer, please, perform instructions for uninstalling program from Control Panel. To disable istartsurf.com, please, do the following:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu Manage Add-ons.
4. Select Toolbars and Extensions.
5. Click Disable istartsurf.com.
6. Also disable other suspicious extensions from the list.

Opera Browser:

Generally, istartsurf.com does not install in Opera browser however you can always double check. Do the following:

1. Start Opera browser.
2. Go to Tools > Extensions > Manage Extensions.
3. Find istartsurf.com extension.
4. Click Uninstall button.
5. Also remove other suspicious extensions from the list.

Reset browsers settings (homepage, default search)

istartsurf.com installs search engine that hijacks your browsers. Here is instruction to reset your browsers homepage, newtab and search engine to default values.

Google Chrome:

1. Start Google Chrome browser
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) chrome://settings/.
3. Scroll down and find Show advanced settings link.
4. Click on it and scroll down to the bottom again.
5. Click Reset browser settings button and click Reset to confirm.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Start Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. In address box type (or copy-paste) about:support.
3. Click Reset Firefox… button.
4. Click Reset Firefox to confirm.

Internet Explorer (9, 10, 11):

1. Start Internet Explorer.
2. Click on gear/asterisk icon in the top-right corner.
3. In opened menu choose Internet options.
4. Click Advanced tab.
5. Click Reset button.
6. Choose Delete personal settings and click Reset.

Opera Browser:

1. Close Opera and open command prompt from the start menu.
2. Type following command del %AppData%\Opera\Opera\operaprefs.ini
3. Start Opera.

Remove following files and folders

istartsurf.com files:


UninstallManager.exe
235.json
247.json
277.json


istartsurf.com folders:


C:\Users\{your username}\AppData\Roaming\istartsurf


Alternative way to remove adware browser extensions and reset browser settings

For safe and effective browser extension removal use avast! Browser Cleanup utility. Run it with administrator privileges and remove all extension with bad rating including related to istartsurf.com. You can also reset your browser settings for each of your browsers: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox.

Download Avast Browser Cleanup

Cleaning browsers shortcuts

You can clean your browser shortcuts manually right-clicking on your browser icon, choosing “Properties” and removing hijacker address from “Target” field (leave just the path to your browser). However it is easier to use free Shortcut Cleaner from BleepingComputer. Download it here – its FREE:

Download Shortcut Cleaner

Final tips

Be careful surfing the internet and downloading software, as programs like istartsurf.com may become a real headache as they are hard to remove and break your privacy. To keep safe from such threats we recommend you always use antivirus and one of antimalware programs available on the market. One of the best anti-spyware and antimalware programs is SpyHunter 5. It can protect your PC from threats like istartsurf.com.