Luckystarting.com

Luckystarting.com might be distributed with various software packages, so less attentive users can simply install it even if they did not want to switch their default search provider. Unfortunately, once the application enters the system it may replace not only your search engine but also your start page or new tab page preferences. Such behavior was one of the main reasons why Luckystarting.com was categorized as a browser hijacker. What’s more, users should know that the threat might show them suspicious advertisements, which could be potentially harmful. If you keep reading the text you will learn more about such advertising content and other details about the application. We recommend the browser hijacker’s removal too if you want to avoid any content that could endanger the system. To make this task less complicated, our researchers prepared the removal instructions placed at the end of this article.

As the tool’s “About” section says “Luckystarting.com has partnered with some of the most popular software packages in world, giving you the option to install our search settings during setup.” In other words, the application might be bundled with various other programs. Consequently, users who do not review terms given on the configuration wizard may accept the browser hijacker’s installation accidentally. If it happened to you as well, we would advise you to be more careful, because the application this search engine was bundled with might have been unreliable too. The next time, it would be a good idea to research freeware you want to download at first. Also, to avoid similar threats you should always choose reliable sources to download the installers.

Furthermore, the software’s creators claim their aim is to “provide the ultimate online search experience,” but from the way this search tool works it looks more like their aim is to generate advertising revenue or collect information, which could be used for marketing purposes. At this point, we should mention that Luckystarting.com belongs to the Elex family of browser hijackers. Thus, the search engine is not particularly new or unique. In fact, there are quite a lot of similar clones, for example, the recently created Luckypageing123.com, Funnysite123.com, Startpageing123.com, and so on. These search tools usually use modified versions of Google or other popular engines to collect the main results. The problem is that before the results reach you they might be injected with advertisements of the application’s third-party partners. As it was mentioned in the beginning such content could be potentially harmful.

Apparently, the browser hijacker’s creators do not guarantee that “any content, information, software or other material accessible through the luckystarting services will be free of viruses, “worms”, “Trojan horses”, or other harmful components.” This statements from the application’s Terms of Use document might mean the tool’s developers do not review third-party content. Therefore, interaction with the displayed ads might be dangerous in other ways as well. For example, there is a chance the unreliable ads could promote other browser hijackers, adware, potentially unwanted programs, and other untrustworthy applications too. Plus, they could redirect the user to web pages that may try to gather his personal information and so invade the user’s privacy.

Of course, the mentioned scenarios are only examples as we cannot be one hundred percent sure about what ads could show up while browsing with Luckystarting.com. Nonetheless, it is possible they could be potentially harmful and if you do wish to protect your computer from threats, you may want to get rid of the browser hijacker. To remove it manually we would advise you to use the instructions located a little below this text. They will guide the user through the process step by step. Still, if it looks too difficult, it might be best to acquire a trustworthy antimalware tool. If you choose this option, you only need to install a legitimate antimalware tool, do a system scan and click the deletion button. By doing so users can eliminate not only Luckystarting.com but also other possible threats.

Erase Luckystarting.com

Internet Explorer

1. Tap Win+R.
2. Type Regedit and select OK.
3. Locate a value name called Start Page in this directory: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main
4. Right-click the Start Page and press Modify.
5. Replace http://Luckystarting.com with a reliable web page and click OK.
6. Go to this specific path: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}
7. Find the following value names: FaviconURL, FaviconURLFallback, TopResultURL, URL.
8. Right-click each of it and select Modify.
9. Replace given value data and select OK.
10. Exit the Registry Editor.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Press Win+E.
2. Look for the following directory: C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{Unique Mozilla user ID}
3. Locate a file called Prefs.js.
4. Open it as a Notepad document and find this line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://Luckystarting.com”).
5. Replace http://Luckystarting.com with a link you prefer.
6. Tap Ctrl+S and close the file.

Google Chrome

1. Press Win+E.
2. Search for this specific location: C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
3. Find files titled as Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data.
4. Right-click each of them separately and press Delete.
5. Exit the Explorer.