How to Get Rid of Mega Media Start (Browser Hijacker/PUP)

What is Mega Media Start? And how does it function?

Mega Media Start is a questionable browser extension that supposedly provides users with quick access to movie streaming sites by providing quick links. Aside from that, it also provides users with quick access links to other popular sites like Instagram, Facebook and Yahoo. Be mindful though as Mega Media Start is categorized as a browser hijacker and a potentially unwanted program or PUP. If installed, this browser hijacker will adjust the default settings of your browser such as the default search engine, homepage and new tab page. As a result, the next time you open your browser, you will see UniSearchWeb.com as its homepage and when you open a new tab page, you will also see it as the web page. Aside from that, this browser hijacker can also:

Read and change your data on the websites you visit
Replace the page you see when opening a new tab
Manage your apps, extensions, and themes

Following the changes in your browser, you will also notice the sudden increasing number of advertisements as you browse the web. So don’t be surprised if you see numerous pop-ups, banners, in-text links and other ads. Moreover, this browser hijacker can also spy on all your activities over the web in order to collect your browsing-related information. The harvested data may be used and even shared with third parties to generate more personalized and customized sponsored contents. Bear in mind that not all the ads displayed by Mega Media Start are legitimate as some of them can reroute you to other suspicious websites that might contain harmful or malicious content. So if you want to continue browsing peacefully without getting redirected to shady websites like Mega Media Start, you must get rid of the adware program installed in your computer.
How is Mega Media Start distributed over the web?
Mega Media Start circulate the web in the form of software bundles. These software bundles contain several programs in it, some of which are suspicious ones like Mega Media Start. Adware programs can sneak into your computer without your knowledge when you only use the quick installation setup rather than the recommended Custom or Advanced. So the next time you install any kind of free software package, make sure you do so using the recommended setup.
Refer to the removal instructions given below to delete Mega Media Start from your browser and computer.
Step 1: You need to close the browser infected with the browser hijacker. And if you can’t close it manually, you can close it using the Task Manager instead. Tap the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys and open the Task Manager.
Step 2: Next, look for the process of your browser, right click on it and select End task or End process to close it.
Step 3: Afterwards, tap the Win + R keys to open the Run dialog box and type “appwiz.cpl” in the field and press Enter to open the Programs and Features in Control Panel.
Step 4: From the list of programs installed, look for any programs that could be related to Mega Media Start or any suspicious program you don’t remember installing under the list of installed programs and once you’ve found it, uninstall it.

Step 5: Edit your Hosts File.

Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
Go to System32/drivers/etc.
Open the hosts file using Notepad.
Delete all the entries that contain Mega Media Start.
After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 6: Now you have to flush the DNS cache of your computer. To do so, right click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator). From there, type the “ipconfig /flushdns” command and hit Enter to flush the DNS.
Step 7: After that, restart your computer and then open your browsers and reset them back to their default state.
Google Chrome

Open Google Chrome, then tap the Alt + F keys.
After that, click on Settings.
Next, scroll down until you see the Advanced option, once you see it, click on it.
After clicking the Advanced option, go to the “Restore and clean up option and click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” option to reset Google Chrome.
Now restart Google Chrome.

Mozilla Firefox

Open Mozilla Firefox and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
Select Options and then move to the General menu.
Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

Launch Internet Explorer.
Next, click the wrench icon for Settings.
Then click Internet Options.
After that, go to the Advanced tab.
From there, click the Reset button. This will reset Internet Explorer’s settings to their default condition.
Now click OK to save the changes made.
Restart your computer.

Step 8: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 9: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated to the browser hijacker such as the software bundle it came with and delete it/them.

%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
%TEMP%

Step 10: Close the File Explorer and empty the contents of Recycle Bin.
Refer to the advanced instructions given below to ensure the removal of this browser hijacker from your computer as well as all the file residues it left behind.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot it.
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
Windows will now load the Safe Mode with Networking.
Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.