How I Resolved the Startup Browser Redirection to an Unsafe Website

Recently, I encountered a persistent and frustrating issue where a command prompt window would briefly appear every time I started my computer, followed by my browser automatically redirecting to a suspicious website, “ururgisha[.]net.” After some investigation and troubleshooting, I successfully resolved the problem, and I’m here to share the steps I took for anyone experiencing a similar issue.

Step 1: Investigating the Windows Registry

The first thing I did was check the Windows Registry for any unwanted startup entries. Here’s how to go about it:

1. Press Win + R to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and hit Enter to launch the Registry Editor.
2. I navigated to the following path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
3. Within this section, I discovered an entry linked to my username that appeared suspicious: it looked like “YourUserName” REG_SZ “cmd.exe /c start www[.]dongdonger[.]org.”
4. To remove this malicious entry, I right-clicked on it and selected Delete.

Step 2: Checking the Task Scheduler

Next, I turned to the Task Scheduler to ensure that no unwarranted tasks were set to trigger at startup:

1. I opened Task Scheduler by pressing Win + R, typing taskschd.msc, and hitting Enter.
2. Within the Task Scheduler Library, I scoured the list of scheduled tasks.
3. To my dismay, I found a task that bore my user name and was indeed disturbing.
4. After right-clicking the task and selecting Properties, I found that it was also configured to execute “cmd.exe /c start www[.]dongdonger[.]org.”
5. Without hesitation, I deleted this task entirely by right-clicking and selecting Delete.

Step 3: Restarting My Computer

After completing the cleanup process, I proceeded to restart my computer to verify if my efforts had resolved the issue.

Lo and behold, my browser no longer launched to the unwanted site upon startup!

Conclusion

This troubleshooting method worked seamlessly for me, and I genuinely hope it provides assistance to anyone grappling with this troublesome startup dilemma. Always remember to keep your system protected with reliable antivirus software and take the time to investigate any unexpected behaviors on your device. Happy computing!