InitialSite123.com Removal Guide

If you have no idea why your browser is loading InitialSite123.com instead of your usual homepage, you most likely received this browser hijacker unknowingly. The research revealed the search engine might be distributed with bundled setup files, so less attentive users could accept it unintentionally if they fail to notice it being offered on the other program’s installer. In any case, no matter under what circumstances you received this search tool we still advise you to consider its removal. According to our researchers, while surfing the Internet with InitialSite123.com, users could encounter irritating and possibly malicious advertisements. If you keep reading the article, we will explain to you more about the browser hijacker’s working manner and risks relating to its usage. Below the text, you will also find our recommended deletion steps, so if you choose to get rid of the application, the instructions can guide you through the process.

Currently, it was determined that the application should be compatible with the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Internet Explorer browsers. It should affect them by replacing the user’s start page, search provider, or even new tab page with InitialSite123.com. This search tool does not even have a unique engine as it gathers results matching the provided keyword with yahoo.com. It might seem there is no use in creating such a tool, but the number of browser hijackers is only increasing. Our researchers say the application could be developed to generate advertising revenue. It appears to be it could inject the results with advertisements from its third-party associates. Meaning, the program’s creators could get advertising revenue for each time you click their displayed pop-ups, banners, sponsored links, and so on.

The worst part is that the injected ads might come from unreliable sources, for example, they could offer you to participate in fake lotteries, install similar threats, or redirect you to a web page containing malware. Such risks are mentioned in the browser hijacker’s Term of Use document that says InitialSite123.com “does not guarantee that any content, information, software or other material accessible through the initialsite123 services will be free of viruses, “worms”, “trojan horses”, or other harmful components. Therefore, if you do not want to risk encountering possibly malicious ads while searching the Internet with this search tool, we recommend removing it right away.

Erasing InitialSite123.com manually might be not so easy since to do so you would need to fix or delete all of the files that might have been altered by this application. Thus, before deciding how to get rid of the browser hijacker, we recommend taking a look at the deletion steps placed below. In case they appear to be too difficult to complete, we would suggest using a trustworthy security tool. No need to worry if you do not have it yet as you can install such software at any time. Click the scanning button to start a full system scan, then wait till the tool provides a report and a removal button. If there are other threats besides the hijacker, you should be able to erase them as well, so it might be a good opportunity to clean up your computer.

Eliminate InitialSite123.com

Internet Explorer

1. Press Windows key+R.
2. Insert Regedit and tap Enter.
3. Find value name called Start Page in this path: HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main.
4. Right-click it and choose Modify.
5. Remove http://InitialSite123.com from value data box, place a link of your choice and click OK.
6. Go to the provided location: HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes\{0633EE93-D776-472f-A0FF-E1416B8B2E3A}
7. Locate these value names:
   FaviconURL
   FaviconURLFallback
   TopResultURL
   URL
8. Right-click the listed value names one by one and choose Modify.
9. Instead of http://InitialSite123.com insert another link and press OK.
10. Exit the Windows Registry.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Tap Windows key+E.
2. Navigate to this directory:
   %APPDATA%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\{unique user profile}
3. Find Prefs.js and launch the file with Notepad.
4. Locate this particular line: user_pref(“browser.startup.homepage”, “http://InitialSite123.com”).
5. Instead of http://InitialSite123.com insert a link you would like and save the document.
6. Close it and leave the Explorer.

Google Chrome

1. Open the File Explorer (Win+E).
2. Go to this location: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default
3. Right-click files called Preferences, Secure Preferences, and Web Data one by one to Delete them.
4. Exit the Explorer.