If the Firefox, Chrome, IE and Microsoft Edge opens the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top pop-up asking install a questionable browser extension then most probably that your PC is infected with an adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software). This adware alters the Chrome, Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer settings to show lots of unwanted pop-up ads on all web pages, including sites where previously you advertisements have never seen. These ads can be varied: pop-up windows, boxes, in-text ads, different sized banners and so on. What is more, the adware, that displays the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top pop-ups, can cause your Internet connection to be slow or freeze your browser so that the interface is not updated anymore.
The ‘ad supported’ software can change the settings of the Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge, but often that a dangerous software like this can also infect all types of internet browsers by changing their desktop shortcuts. Thus forcing the user each time open the web-browser to see Start.searchcontrolsettings.top annoying ads.
Technically, the adware is not a virus, but it does bad things, it generates lots of advertisements, hindering or completely blocking the work in the web-browser. It may install other unknown and unwanted programs without your permission, force you to visit harmful pages. Moreover, the ‘ad supported’ software can download and install web browser hijacker. Once installed, it’ll replace your home page with an unwanted web site.
So, obviously, you need to remove the ‘ad supported’ software as soon as possible. Use the free instructions below. This guide will help you clean your machine and thereby get rid of the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top annoying pop-up ads.
How can you prevent the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top advertisements
Just as the beginning of this blog post, if you have ever seen the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top web-page appear in your web browser, it means your PC system has been infected with the adware. Most often ad supported software is bundled with free applications. So, think back, have you ever download and launch any free programs? Because most users, in the Setup Wizard, simply click the Next button and don’t read any information such as ‘Terms of use’ and ‘Software license’. This leads to the fact that the PC system is infected, the web-browser’s configured to show a ton of the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top annoying ads. Even removing the free applications that contains this ad supported software, the annoying ads does not disappear. Therefore, you must follow the few simple steps below to clean your PC system from the adware and thereby get rid of Start.searchcontrolsettings.top pop-ups.
How to manually remove Start.searchcontrolsettings.top redirect
The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will assist you manually remove Start.searchcontrolsettings.top redirect from the Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge.
- Remove suspicious and unknown software by using Windows Control Panel
- Delete Start.searchcontrolsettings.top ads from Firefox
- Get rid of Start.searchcontrolsettings.top from Chrome
- Remove Start.searchcontrolsettings.top ads from Internet Explorer
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove Start.searchcontrolsettings.top redirect
- Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Remove suspicious and unknown software by using Windows Control Panel
Press Windows key 
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then click “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It’ll display the Windows Control Panel as shown in the figure below.
Next, press “Uninstall a program” 
It will display a list of all software. Scroll through the all list and delete any suspicious and unknown applications.
Delete Start.searchcontrolsettings.top ads from Firefox
If the Mozilla Firefox settings have been modified by the ad-supported software, then resetting it to the default state can help you to get rid of the reroute onto Start.searchcontrolsettings.top page.
First, start the FF and click 
button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web browser. Next, click the Help button (
) as shown in the figure below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web browser address bar and press Enter. It will display the “Troubleshooting Information” page as on the image below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will show the confirmation dialog box, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the adware. Once it’s finished, click the “Finish” button
Get rid of Start.searchcontrolsettings.top from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a simple way to delete the malicious and ad-supported extensions, as well as to restore the web-browser’s home page, newtab page and search provider by default that have been changed by adware.
- Open the Google Chrome, then click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three horizontal stripes).
- It will open the Google Chrome main menu. Click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, click the “Show advanced settings” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- Further, click the “Reset settings” button, which located at the bottom of the Advanced settings page.
- The Google Chrome will open the reset settings dialog box as shown on the image above.
- Confirm the internet browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, look the post How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Remove Start.searchcontrolsettings.top ads from Internet Explorer
To get rid of the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top pop-up ads you need to reset the Internet Explorer to the state, that was when the Windows was installed on your system.
First, start the Internet Explorer, then press ‘gear’ icon 
. It will open the drop-down menu on the right part of the web browser, then click the “Internet Options” as shown on the image below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, you need to select the “Advanced” tab and click the “Reset” button. The Internet Explorer will display the “Reset IE settings” prompt as on the image below. Next, click the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. After that, click the “Reset” button.
Once the task is finished, click “Close” button. Close the Microsoft Internet Explorer and restart your personal computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web-browser’s settings to default state and disable ‘ad-supported’ extensions.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove Start.searchcontrolsettings.top redirect
When the ‘ad supported’ software is started, it can also change the web-browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you launch the web-browser, it will be redirected to an unwanted ads.
To clear the internet browser shortcut, right-click to it and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text that starts with “http://” which has been added here. You need to remove it.
When the argument is removed, press the OK button. You need to clean all shortcuts of all your web-browsers, as they may be infected too.
Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Once installed, the adware can add a task in to the Windows Task Scheduler Library. Due to this, every time when you launch your personal computer, it will display Start.searchcontrolsettings.top annoying page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and remove all tasks that have been created by adware.
Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard at the same time. It will show a dialog box which called Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, press “Task Scheduler Library”, as shown on the image below.
Task scheduler, list of tasks
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Necessary to look at the text which is written under Details. Found something such as “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address” or “firefox.exe http://site.address”, then you need remove this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it’s a component of the malicious applications, then this task also should be removed.
Further click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as shown in the figure below.
Task scheduler, delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by unwanted applications. Once is complete, close the Task Scheduler window.
How to remove Start.searchcontrolsettings.top with free malware removal application
Manual removal Start.searchcontrolsettings.top requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the ‘ad supported’ software may be not completely removed. We suggest that use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your computer. Moreover, the freeware will help you to delete malware, browser hijackers and toolbars that your personal computer may be infected too.
- Please download Malwarebytes to your desktop by clicking on the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326466 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- At the download page, click the Download button. Your internet browser will open the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your desktop.
- When the download process is finished, please close all applications and open windows on your system. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- This will launch the Setup wizard of Malwarebytes onto your PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the malware remover will start and display the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan Now” button to start checking your computer for the adware that redirects your web-browser to the Start.searchcontrolsettings.top annoying web-page. This procedure can take quite a while, so please be patient.
- When it has finished scanning, it will show a screen that contains a list of malicious applications that has been found.
- When you are ready, click on “Quarantine Selected” button to begin cleaning your computer. When the process is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your computer.
- Close the Anti-Malware and continue with the next step.
Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.
How to stop Start.searchcontrolsettings.top pop-up ads
To increase your security and protect your machine against new annoying advertisements and malicious web-pages, you need to use an application that blocks access to dangerous ads and pages. Moreover, the program can stop the open of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
- Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link.
Adguard download
26660 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- Once the downloading process is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” window. Follow the prompts.
- When the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close it and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see a quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and block ads, Start.searchcontrolsettings.top redirects, as well as other malicious or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that is located on your Windows desktop.
Get rid of Start.searchcontrolsettings.top and malicious extensions with AdwCleaner.
If MalwareBytes cannot delete the unwanted Start.searchcontrolsettings.top advertisements from the Chrome, IE, Firefox and MS Edge, then we suggests to use the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal tool for adware, browser hijackers, PUPs and toolbars.
Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
225301 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
After downloading is finished, open the directory in which you saved it. Double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this tool is started, you will see a screen such as below.
Now, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the malicious extensions and adware that displays ads from Start.searchcontrolsettings.top page. When it has finished scanning your machine, it will display a scan report as shown below.
Review the report and then click “Clean” button. It will open a prompt. Click “OK”. When the cleaning process is finished, AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your PC system.
Look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the AdwCleaner to delete adware, browser hijackers and other malicious programs.
Finish words
After completing the steps outlined above, your machine should be clean from malware and adware. The Google Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Internet Explorer will no longer show Start.searchcontrolsettings.top unwanted ads or redirect you to unwanted web pages. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new type of ‘ad supported’ software, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
