How I Resolved Browser Launching to an Unsafe Site on Startup

If you’ve ever experienced a CMD window flashing briefly at startup, followed by your browser being redirected to a dubious website, you’re not alone. Recently, I faced this frustrating issue—my browser would automatically navigate to “ururgisha[.]net” as soon as I powered up my computer. Fortunately, I found a couple of straightforward solutions that cleared the problem, and I’m here to share my process in hopes of helping others.

Step 1: Inspecting the Windows Registry for Startup Entries

The first thing I did was dive into the Windows Registry to check for any suspicious startup entries. Here’s how I navigated through it:

1. Access the Registry Editor: I pressed Win + R, typed regedit, and hit Enter.
2. Locate the Startup Path: I navigated to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run.
3. Identify Malicious Entries: In this section, I stumbled upon an entry linked to my username, which had a command that opened an unwanted site.
4. Remove the Entry: By right-clicking on the entry and selecting Delete, I was able to eliminate this harmful command.

Here’s a snapshot for reference:

Step 2: Examining Task Scheduler for Suspicious Tasks

After addressing the registry, I turned my attention to the Task Scheduler, as malware often creates scheduled tasks. Here’s how I navigated this area:

1. Open Task Scheduler: Again, I pressed Win + R, typed taskschd.msc, and hit Enter.
2. Explore Scheduled Tasks: I went to the Task Scheduler Library and started reviewing the list of tasks.
3. Identify Anomalous Tasks: I found a task named after my username that triggered a command to launch the unwanted website.
4. Delete the Task: I right-clicked on the suspicious task, selected Properties, and confirmed that it executed the harmful command. Ultimately, I chose to delete the task.

Reference visual for this step: ![Task