Malware and adware installers are very fond of changing the settings of your browser. They do so to give you new home pages, obnoxious toolbars, default search engines, etc.
That happens when you forget to uncheck these options while installing the installers for malware, adware, etc. If you want to restore your browser settings back to default, refer to this article.
These changes in the browser’s settings occur when the malware protection of your system gets weak and then some virus or malware program alter the settings. However, restoring the changed browser settings is typically not that difficult but you might require doing that manually. Even if you are using a legitimate program, just by uninstalling it you probably won’t be able to restore back the preferred default search or home page.
Search Engine
If your browser’s default search engine changes of its own under the impact of some malware, you can change the search engine back to your original engine. Read below, how you can do that in different browsers.
Internet Explorer:
• Click the gear button
• Select Manage Add-ons
• Select the Search Providers category
• From the list, choose your preferred search provider
• At the foot of the window, click the Set as default button
• Tick the check box for “Prevent programs from suggesting changes to my default search provider.”
Mozilla Firefox:
• Go to the Firefox window
• At the top-right corner, in the search box, click the search engine icon
• From the list, select your favored search engine
Google Chrome:
• Go to the top of the Chrome browser window
• Inside the location bar, right-click
• Select ‘Edit search’ engines
• Bring the cursor to your preferred search engine
• Select ‘Make default.’
Home Page
Annoying malware and adware installers very often replace your home page with a new one. These new home pages comprise advertisements to lure you so that its makers can earn money. Even if the new home page doesn’t include ads, it apparently includes a search feature that they want you to use. They can have different protocols of money making if you use their search engine.
Restoring your web browser home page is easy. Read below, how you can do that in different browsers.
Internet Explorer:
• Click the gear button
• Click Internet Options
• Select the ‘General tab’
• In the Home page box, change the ‘addresses’
Mozilla Firefox
• Click the Firefox menu button
• Select ‘Options.’
• Select the ‘General tab’
• In the Home Page box, change the address
Google Chrome
• Click Chrome’s menu button
• Select ‘Settings’
• Select ‘Appearance’
• Check the ‘Show Home button’ option
• Click the ‘Change’ option
• Change the ‘Home Page’
• Select ‘On startup’
• Click the ‘Set pages’ option
• Make sure no additional web pages are set to load at startup
Toolbars and Other Browser Extensions
Toolbars are a yet a problem on the Windows software ecosystem. Even while installing legitimate software like Oracle’s Java, you require installing a terrible ‘Ask toolbar’ that comes by default.
These toolbars promote a company’s product in your web browser and encourage you to use all its features.
If you wish to get rid of these obnoxious toolbars and their browser extension, then you need to uninstall them in Control Panel.
• Go to the Control Panel
• Open the standard Programs and Features Panel
• Try to uninstall the Toolbar
If you are using a legitimate toolbar, then it will appear here in the list of programs. You can then uninstall it normally. But if it doesn’t appear in the list, then you need to disable the toolbar in your browser.
Read below, how you can do that in different web browsers:
Internet Explorer
• Click the gear menu
• Select ‘Manage add-ons’
• Select the ‘Toolbars and Extensions’ Category
• Locate the toolbar add-on which you don’t want to use
• Click it
• Then, click the ‘Disable’ button
• If you don’t get to see the add-on in the list, then click the ‘Show box’ and then select ‘All add-ons.’
Mozilla Firefox:
• Click the Firefox ‘Menu’ button
• Select ‘Extensions’
• Select the add-on you want to disable and then click the ‘Disable’ button.
Google Chrome:
• Click Chrome’s ‘Menu’ button
• Select ‘Settings’
• Towards the left side of the window, select the ‘Extensions’ category
• To the right of every extension, there is an ‘Enabled’ box
• Get the box unchecked for each extension you want to disable
If Settings Change Back
It might happen that your changed settings might get changed again even after you had retrieved them to the default homepage, search engine, etc.
That means there is some program in your computer that is consistently interfering with the browser settings. Here you need to strengthen the malware protection of your computer. You should properly scan your computer for malware, because such a program usually gets detected as malware by antivirus programs. If your current antivirus program isn’t detecting any malware, you can take a second opinion by running multiple online malware scanners.
