Egystart.com Removal Guide

Egystart.com is an annoying infection that is quite hard to remove for inexperienced users. Even though Egystart.com is just a website, it is also referred to as a browser hijacker, because it comes bundled with malicious installers that set it as your computer’s default homepage without your knowledge or consent. This website would not be considered a hijacker if you could simply change your browser’s homepage via the browser settings. Alas, you have to go great lengths if you want to take back control over your browser. If you want to learn more about Egystart.com, please stay tuned.

Currently Egystart.com is distributed with the help of Fannan Codec Lite that can be downloaded from the Software.informer.com software hosting website. You might not think that there is anything wrong with the codec pack, but it is actually not made by Fannan/Fanfox. The installer installs a well-known K-Lite Codec Pack that is only tailored to look different. Other applications that have been created by this developer do not appear malicious, but you should view them with suspicion, because there is no way of knowing what surprises this developer might hold. In any case, Fannan/Fanfox just rebrands software made by other companies and presents it as their own. As far as we know, Software.informer.com is the only freeware website to host this developer’s “products.”

Unlike most browser hijackers Egystart.com is not a search engine. It is just a simple website that displays numerous links to third-party websites. Some of them are quite well-known, since they include Youtube.com, Google.com, Facebook.com, and Twitter.com as well as more exotic links to websites in the Arabic language. Obviously, this hijacker is oriented towards people who live in the Middle East, or at least those that speak Arabic world-wide.

One very important thing to note in order to avoid confusion is that Egystart.com is redirected to Fannfox.com. We have also received information that earlier versions of this hijacker might redirect to its older website Fannan.weebly.com which appears to host Fannan/Fanfox links to software downloads. In any case, Egystart.com is over 3 years old. It is estimated that it is worth approximately $21,000,00 USD. It was clear from the beginning that this browser hijacker’s main objective is to generate web traffic and advertising revenue, because it is likely that some websites pay the developers to include their links.

During our research, we have found that Egystart.com uses to different hijacking techniques for Firefox and Internet Explorer. Chrome users can breathe easier, since this hijacker is not supported by it. For Firefox it is a simple matter of fixing its shortcut’s Target line, but as far as Internet Explorer goes it is a whole different story. This browser hijacker modifies Internet Explorer’s registry so you must fix it, because otherwise you will not be able to change your homepage. In order to remove Egystart.com from your computer you need to uninstall Fannan Codec Lite, fix the target line for Firefox and/or fix Internet Explorer’s registry. Feel free to make use of our manual removal guide for detailed instructions.

Remove Fannan Codec Lite from the operating system

Windows 8/8.1

1. Open the Charm bar and select Settings.
2. Click Control Panel and click Uninstall a program.
3. Locate Fannan Codec Lite and right-click on it.
4. Click Uninstall.

Windows 7/Vista

1. Open the Start menu and select Control Panel.
2. Click Uninstall a program.
3. Locate Fannan Codec Lite.
4. Right-click on it and click Uninstall.

Windows XP

1. Open the Start menu and select Control Panel.
2. Click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Locate Fannan Codec Lite.
4. Click Remove.

Fix Firefox’s Target line

1. Right-click on the Firefox shortcut.
2. Select Properties and open the Shortcut tab.
3. Remove the unwanted browser hijacker address from the end of the Target line.
4. Click OK.

Fix Microsoft Internet Explorer’s registry entry

1. Press Win+R.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Go to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
4. Locate Start Page on the right of the window and double-click on it.
5. Enter your desired Homepage in the Value data line.
6. Click OK.
7. Close the Registry Editor.
8. Done.