If your web-browser homepage has replaced to the Hp.tb.ask.com, then most probably that your web-browser has become a victim of a PUP (potentially unwanted program) from Browser hijacker category. It means that an undesired program has taken over and replaced some settings of web-browsers, without your desire or permission. So, if the Internet Explorer, Chrome, Edge and Mozilla Firefox default search engine, home page and newtab page has been replaced or your internet browser being re-directed to this web page you never intended to visit, then it is a sign that you need to clean up your system immediately in order to remove unwanted Hp.tb.ask.com .
Besides the fact that Hp.tb.ask.com hijacker changes your homepage, this intrusive page can set yourself as your search provider. But, obviously, it does not give you a good search results, as they will consist of a large amount of advertisements and only the remaining part is search results for your query from the major search providers. Of course, the very fact that you encounter with the inability to properly search the Internet, is an unpleasant moment. Moreover, the Hp.tb.ask.com hijacker be able to collect confidential info. This user information, in the future, can be sold to third party companies. What creates the risk of theft of your user data.
Often, the machine which has been infected by Hp.tb.ask.com hijacker, will be also affected by adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software) that opens a ton of various advertisements. It can be pop-ups, text links in the web sites, banners where they never had. What is more, the adware may replace the legitimate ads with malicious advertisements that will offer to download and install malicious software and unwanted apps or visit the various dangerous and misleading pages.
In order to remove hijacker infection responsible for modifying your web-browser settings to Hp.tb.ask.com from your computer, clean the affected browsers and return the Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Google Chrome settings to its default state, please use the Hp.tb.ask.com removal tutorial below.
How to remove Hp.tb.ask.com redirect
The Hp.tb.ask.com is a hijacker that you might have difficulty in removing it from your system. Luckily, you have found the effective removal steps in this blog post. Both the manual removal solution and the automatic removal way will be provided below and you can just select the one that best for you. If you’ve any questions or need help then type a comment below. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to exit your internet browser or reboot your computer.
To remove Hp.tb.ask.com, execute the following steps:
- How to remove Hp.tb.ask.com redirect without any software
- Hp.tb.ask.com home page automatic removal
- How to stop Hp.tb.ask.com
- How was Hp.tb.ask.com browser hijacker installed on machine
- To sum up
How to remove Hp.tb.ask.com redirect without any software
The useful removal guide for the Hp.tb.ask.com startpage. The detailed procedure can be followed by anyone as it really does take you step-by-step. If you follow this process to get rid of Hp.tb.ask.com homepage let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.
Uninstall PUPs through the MS Windows Control Panel
In order to delete Hp.tb.ask.com, first thing you need to do is to remove unknown and dubious applications from your computer using MS Windows control panel. When deleting this browser hijacker, check the list of installed programs and try to find questionable programs and uninstall them all. Pay special attention to recently installed apps, as it is most likely that the Hp.tb.ask.com browser hijacker сame along with it.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Click the Microsoft Windows logo, and then click Search . Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown in the figure below.
When the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as shown in the following example.
Windows 7, Vista, XP
Open Start menu and select the ‘Control Panel’ at right as displayed on the image below.
Then go to ‘Add/Remove Programs’ or ‘Uninstall a program’ (MS Windows 7 or Vista) like below.
Carefully browse through the list of installed applications and delete all dubious and unknown apps. We suggest to click ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed applications by date. After you have found anything dubious that may be the hijacker infection which cause a redirect to Hp.tb.ask.com web site or other PUP (potentially unwanted program), then choose this program and press ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the suspicious application blocked from removal, then run Revo Uninstaller Freeware to fully get rid of it from your computer.
Remove Hp.tb.ask.com home page from IE
If you find that Internet Explorer browser settings like startpage, newtab and search provider by default had been hijacked, then you may revert back your settings, via the reset web-browser procedure.
First, run the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” like below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then press the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown on the screen below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.
Get rid of Hp.tb.ask.com redirect from Chrome
Use the Reset web-browser utility of the Chrome to reset all its settings like start page, search engine by default and newtab page to original defaults. This is a very useful utility to use, in the case of internet browser hijacks such as Hp.tb.ask.com.
- First, run the Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will show the Google Chrome main menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions.
- You’ll see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the add-on labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, press “Advanced” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Chrome will display the reset settings prompt as on the image above.
- Confirm the browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the article How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Delete Hp.tb.ask.com startpage from Firefox
The Firefox reset will get rid of unwanted search engine and homepage such as Hp.tb.ask.com, modified preferences, extensions and security settings. It will keep your personal information such as browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.
First, open the Mozilla Firefox and press button. It will display the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Further, click the Help button () as shown on the image below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter. It will display the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed on the screen below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will show the confirmation prompt. Further, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will begin a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the hijacker infection that redirects your internet browser to undesired Hp.tb.ask.com web-page. After, it’s done, press the “Finish” button.
Hp.tb.ask.com home page automatic removal
The manual instructions above is tedious to use and can not always help to completely get rid of the Hp.tb.ask.com browser hijacker infection. Here I am telling you an automatic way to get rid of this browser hijacker from your computer completely. Zemana AntiMalware, MalwareBytes and HitmanPro are anti malware utilities that can find out and delete all kinds of malicious software including browser hijacker infection that cause Hp.tb.ask.com page to appear.
Run Zemana Anti-Malware to delete Hp.tb.ask.com start page
We recommend you to run the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) which are completely clean your machine. Moreover, the tool will help you to get rid of potentially unwanted programs, malicious software, toolbars and adware that your machine can be infected too.
- Download Zemana from the link below.
Zemana AntiMalware
164112 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- Once downloading is complete, close all apps and windows on your system. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is finished, click the “Scan” button to begin checking your system for the browser hijacker infection which modifies browser settings to replace your homepage, search engine by default and newtab with Hp.tb.ask.com site. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your PC system. While the Zemana Free is checking, you may see number of objects it has identified either as being malware.
- As the scanning ends, Zemana will show a list of detected threats. Next, you need to click “Next”. After the task is finished, you can be prompted to reboot your PC system.
Scan and free your personal computer of hijacker with Hitman Pro
Hitman Pro is a free removal tool which can check your PC system for a wide range of security threats like adware, malicious software, PUPs as well as hijacker infection responsible for redirects to Hp.tb.ask.com. It will perform a deep scan of your machine including hard drives and Windows registry. When a malware is found, it will help you to remove all found threats from your system with a simple click.
HitmanPro can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
Download and use Hitman Pro on your machine. Once started, click “Next” button for checking your personal computer for the hijacker which designed to redirect your web browser to the Hp.tb.ask.com web page. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your PC and the speed of your PC system. While the Hitman Pro is scanning, you may see how many objects it has identified either as being malicious software..
Once HitmanPro has finished scanning, Hitman Pro will produce a list of undesired programs ad-supported software.
When you’re ready, click Next button.
It will show a prompt, click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to remove all malware found.
Scan and clean your computer of hijacker with Malwarebytes
You can remove Hp.tb.ask.com automatically with a help of Malwarebytes Free. We recommend this free malware removal utility because it can easily delete browser hijacker infections, ad supported software, potentially unwanted applications and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
Download MalwareBytes Free by clicking on the following link. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.
326462 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the downloading process is finished, close all windows on your system. Further, open the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed on the screen below, click the “Yes” button.
It will show the “Setup wizard” which will allow you install MalwareBytes AntiMalware on the PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is finished successfully, click Finish button. Then MalwareBytes will automatically run and you can see its main window as on the image below.
Next, click the “Scan Now” button to search for browser hijacker that causes web-browsers to show annoying Hp.tb.ask.com site. This process can take some time, so please be patient. During the scan MalwareBytes will detect threats exist on your PC.
Once that process is done, you’ll be displayed the list of all found items on your PC system. Review the scan results and then press “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes Free will start to remove browser hijacker that alters internet browser settings to replace your new tab page, default search engine and home page with Hp.tb.ask.com page. After the process is finished, you can be prompted to restart your PC system. We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes Free to remove hijacker infections, ‘ad supported’ software and other malware.
How to stop Hp.tb.ask.com
It is also critical to protect your browsers from malicious sites and advertisements by using an ad-blocking application such as AdGuard. Security experts says that it will greatly reduce the risk of malicious software, and potentially save lots of money. Additionally, the AdGuard can also protect your privacy by blocking almost all trackers.
Visit the following page to download the latest version of AdGuard for Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
26657 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading it, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown on the screen below.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick instructions like below.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick instructions which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your PC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop pop-ups, Hp.tb.ask.com redirect, as well as other harmful or misleading pages. 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 may be found on your desktop.
How was Hp.tb.ask.com browser hijacker installed on machine
The hijacker is bundled within certain free software. So always read carefully the install screens, disclaimers, ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’ appearing during the install process. Additionally pay attention for additional software which are being installed along with the main application. Ensure that you unchecked all of them! Also, use an ad blocking application that will help to block malicious, misleading, illegitimate or untrustworthy websites.
To sum up
After completing the step-by-step guide outlined above, your PC system should be clean from browser hijacker which changes web-browser settings to replace your new tab, home page and search engine with Hp.tb.ask.com website and other malware. The Microsoft Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox will no longer show undesired Hp.tb.ask.com webpage on startup. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new browser hijacker, and then the best way – ask for help here.