Loadstart.net

Loadstart.net is a new questionable search engine page that may appear in your browsers as your new home page, new tab page, and default search engine after you click on the wrong third-party content. Most users do not even realize when they install this potentially harmful search page. As a matter of fact, we have labeled this threat as a browser hijacker because of its capabilities. People usually do not read license agreements when installing software or bundles of free programs and this is how they may let such infections on board. Unfortunately, this hijacker may also crawl onto your system along with other malicious threats. Therefore, you should be careful and act ASAP. We suggest that you remove Loadstart.net from your computer and do the same with all other possibly harmful programs you may find on your PC.

If your browsers get infected with this browser hijacker, there is a good chance that you have recently clicked on unsafe third-party content that resulted in your downloading and installing a freeware bundle that must have contained this infection as well. Although it is possible that this is the only threat you drop by this fatal click, these malware programs usually travel bundled together. It is possible to find a bunch of adware programs, browser hijackers, fake warnings, Trojans, and potentially unwanted applications as well. Imagine what such a lot can cause on your system. Before long, you could lose files, your personal data could be stolen, or your operating system could start acting abnormally until it finally crashes.

It is essential for you to understand how you can infect your system with Loadstart.net so that you can avoid similar malware attacks in the future. If you are exposed to unsafe third-party content, it can mean two things. First, it is possible that your computer is infected with ad-supported programs or browser hijackers. Second, you may land on a shady torrent or freeware site that is filled with unreliable third-party ads. As you can see, no matter how this infection sneaked onto your system, it is quite likely that there are other malware threats waiting to strike. If you want to prevent more serious system security issues from happening, you should delete Loadstart.net right away.

Our research indicates that this browser hijacker is hosted on a web server (IP: 50.115.127.222) that actually gives home to several other suspicious search engines, including Foryourweb.net, Your-home-page.net, Safebrowsing.biz, and Safesurfs.com to name few. In order to make your attempt to remove Loadstart.net from your browsers more difficult, this infection modifies the Target lines of your browser shortcuts. Obviously, inexperienced computer users will not know this trick so when they change the home page or other settings in their browsers, or even if they reset them, this browser hijacker will regenerate every time they launch any of the affected browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, and Internet Explorer.

This search engine looks totally normal and legitimate at first sight. It has some thumbnail links below the search box leading to popular and advertising websites, including Facebook, Twitter, and AliExpress. You should not trust these links fully because a few of them may redirect you to potentially unreliable websites. The main feature is also questionable. This hijacker redirects all your queries to a third-party search engine, plusnetwork.com. The problem is that this infection may modify the results to include affiliated parties’ ads and links leading to their websites. Since cyber criminals can easily pose as third parties, you will not be able to tell the difference on this search results page between safe and potentially unsafe contents. Therefore, if you click on an advertisement or a sponsored link, you may find yourself on a malicious website, which could trick you into revealing your banking details or your personal information, which could be used by crooks to drain your bank account or commit different online frauds. If this is not the kind of experience you wish to look for in the virtual world, we suggest that you delete Loadstart.net as soon as possible.

As we have mentioned before, this browser hijacker changes your Target lines; therefore, it is not that simple to remove Loadstart.net. But do not worry, though, because we are here to provide you with the solution, the necessary steps. After you restore all your browser shortcuts using our instructions below, you just need to reset your browsers, and this threat should be history. We believe that if you follow our guide, you should be able to take care of this infection even if you are not an experienced user. However, if you want powerful protection for your PC, we recommend that you find a trustworthy malware removal application, such as SpyHunter, and install it; the sooner, the better. Such a security tool can automatically protect your computer from any possible malware invasion if you keep it always up-to-date and active.

Restore the Target lines

1. Right-click on your browser shortcut on your desktop.
2. Choose Properties and select the General Tab.
3. The Read-only box should be unchecked.
4. Now, select the Shortcut tab.
5. Edit the Target line and click OK.
6. Right-click on the browser shortcut on your Taskbar.
7. Right-click on the browser name option at the bottom.
8. Repeat steps 2 to 5 to restore the Target line.
9. Repeat steps 1 to 8 for all other browsers.

Remove Loadstart.net from your browsers

Google Chrome

1. Tap Alt+F and select Settings.
2. Click Show advanced settings at the bottom.
3. Click Reset settings at the bottom.
4. Click Reset.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Tap Alt+H and open Troubleshooting Information.
2. Press Refresh Firefox at the top.
3. Click Refresh Firefox again in the pop-up.
4. Press Finish.

Internet Explorer

1. Tap Alt+T and go to Internet Options.
2. Select the Advanced tab and press Reset.
3. Mark Delete personal settings.
4. Click Reset and click Close.