Initialpage123 “Virus” Uninstall Guide

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Welcome to our Initialpage123 “Virus” removal guide. The following instructions will aid you in removing the unwanted software from your PC.

Many people have recently reached us with complaints about a browser hijacking program called Initialpage123 “Virus”. This piece of software usually integrates with your Chrome, Firefox, or Explorer and imposes certain changes to its homepage, installs a new toolbar or replaces your default search engine with some unfamiliar one. As a result, most of your searches may get redirected to different web pages, or your web browsing activity may frequently get interrupted by various intrusive ads, pop-ups, banners and nagging promotional messages. If you are facing similar activity, and you would like to remove it, the next paragraphs are written just for you. There, you will understand what exactly may happen to your PC if you keep such software on it and how to effectively uninstall it from your system.

Is Initialpage123 “Virus” a computer virus or some type of system threat?

Having your browser taken over by a shady and intrusive program like Initialpage123 “Virus” can surely be an unpleasant and frustrating experience. This piece of software is categorized as a browser hijacker and as such, it is capable of causing a number of unwanted modifications to your browser’s homepage or search engine settings as well as frequent page redirects and generation of aggressive ads and pop-ups on your screen. Many people may end up being irritated by this activity and may assume that they have been attacked by a virus or some nasty malware like a Trojan or Ransomware. Fortunately, this is a wrong assumption. When we speak about browser hijackers, we should not think about them as a computer threat or a virus, but as a potentially unwanted piece of software, which is not capable of causing serious system harm. In general, programs like Initialpage123 “Virus” are considered legally developed pieces of software, and unlike nasty threats such as Ransomware, Spyware, and Trojans, they are not used to cause malfunction and destruction of your PC. The people who create browser hijackers are not cyber criminals, but usually vendors, marketers, and different software developers. They use this software as tools, which can help them aggressively advertise their products and services on the users’ screens. Sometimes, different online businesses may also use programs like Initialpage123 “Virus” to incorporate them in Pay-Per-Click remuneration models or program them to display certain sponsored ads for profits. However, this is not considered illegal or malicious.

When may a problem occur?

For most users, nothing fatal or destructive will happen if they have a browser hijacker like Initialpage123 “Virus” on their system. However, the problem for them may occur when the browser hijacker overdoes it with the amount of aggressive ads it displays and starts to interfere with their normal browsing activity, making them unable to use their browser properly. For example, the hijacker may monitor and analyze the users’ latest search queries and may redirect them to some sketchy websites full of ads every time they try to search for something on the web. Or their screen may get completely covered by different intrusive sponsored messages, ads and pop-ups which cannot be closed. Actually, the fact that most of these ads and redirects are usually imposed and are potentially unwanted may really create a lot of frustration to some people and may make them desperately look for ways to remove these changes and uninstall their source. A number of negative effects on their system and their browser (such as frequent system lags, screen freezing and browser crashing) may also add up to this decision.

How to safely uninstall Initialpage123 “Virus” and all of its traces?

If you are disturbed by the aggressive advertising behavior of Initialpage123 “Virus”, most security experts, including our team, would recommend the complete removal of the browser hijacker. This can save you from all of its nagging ads, browser changes and data collecting activities once and for all. One effective way to do that is to carefully follow the instructions in the removal guide below. It will show you a number of steps, which will not only help you uninstall Initialpage123 “Virus”, but also show you how to make sure that there is nothing left from this browser hijacker on your machine. To prevent future contamination with such nagging pieces of software, we would advise you on something simple. Pay attention when you download and install new software on your PC, because browser hijackers like this one usually get installed when they come in a software bundle. Always read the EULA carefully and make use of options like “Advanced” and “Custom” to manually customize the installer and disable any program which you may not want on your system.

SUMMARY:

Name	Initialpage123 “Virus”
Type	Adware/Browser Hijacker
Danger Level	Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk)
Symptoms	This program may impose certain changes to your browser’s homepage, install a new toolbar or replace your default search engine with some unfamiliar one.
Distribution Method	Usually this program gets distributed via software bundles, free installers, automatic installation managers, torrents, spam, free downloads links from the web, shareware and freeware sites.

Initialpage123 “Virus” Removal

I – Safe mode and revealing hidden files

1. Boot your PC into Safe Mode /link/
2. Reveal hidden files and folders /link/

II – Uninstallation

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1. Use the Winkey+R keyboard combination, write Control Panel in the search field and hit enter.
   
2. Go to Uninstall a program under Programs.
   
3. Seek the unwanted software, select it and then click on Uninstall

If you are unable to spot Initialpage123 “Virus”, search for any unrecognized programs that you do not remember installing on your PC – the unwanted software might disguise itself by going under a different name.

III – Cleaning all your browsers

1. Go to your browser’s icon, right-click on it and select Properties.
   
2. Go to the Shortcut tab and in the Target make sure to delete anything written after “.exe”.
   
3. Now, open your browser and follow the instructions below depending on whether you are using Chrome, Mozilla or IE.

• Chrome users:

1. Go to your browser’s main menu located in the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings.
   
2. Scroll down, click on Show Advanced Settings and then select Clear browsing data. Just to be sure, tick everything and clear the data.
   
3. Now, in the left pane, go to Extensions and look through all extensions that are integrated within your browser. If you notice any suspicious add-on, disable it and then remove it.
   

• Firefox users:

1. Similarly to Chrome, go to the main menu and select Add-ons and then Extensions.
2. Remove any suspicious browser extensions that you may have even if they do not have the name Initialpage123 “Virus” on them.

• IE users:

1. Go to Tools and select Manage add-ons.
   
2. Click on all add-on types from the left pane and check if there is anything suspicious in the right panel. In case you find anything shade, make sure to remove it.

IV – Removing Shady processes

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1. Go to your start menu, type Task Manager in the search field and from the results open View running processes with Task Manager.
   
2. Thoroughly look through all processes. The name Initialpage123 “Virus” might not be there, but if you notice any shady looking process that consumes high amounts of memory it might be ran by the unwanted program.
3. If you spot the process ran by Initialpage123 “Virus”, right-click on it, open its file location and delete everything in there. Then go back to the Task Manager and end the process.
   

V – DNS check

1. In the start menu search box write View Network Connections and open the first result.
   
2. Right-click on the network connection you are using and go to Properties.
   
3. Select Internet Protocol Version (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.
   
4. If Obtain DNS server addresses automatically is not checked, check it.
   
5. Go to Advanced and select the DNS If there is anything in the DNS server addresses field, remove it and click OK.
   
6. Click OK on the rest of the opened windows.