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Published Feb 17, 2005 | Updated Sep 15, 2017

Trojan:Win32/Startpage.TE

Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Aliases: No associated aliases

Summary

Trojan:Win32/Startpage.TE is a destructive Trojan that targets certain versions of Microsoft Windows. The Trojan sets the Internet Explorer default home page to a malicious URL when any user logs on to an infected computer.
To manually recover from infection by Win32/StartPage.TE, follow these steps:
  1. Disconnect from the Internet.
  2. Terminate all running instances of Internet Explorer.
  3. Delete the Trojan file from your computer.
  4. Delete the Trojan registry entries.
  5. Take steps to prevent re-infection.

Disconnect from the Internet

To help ensure that your computer is not actively infecting other computers, disconnect it from the Internet before proceeding. Print this Web page or save a copy on your computer; then unplug your network cable and disable your wireless connection. You can reconnect to the Internet after completing these steps.

Terminate all running instances of Internet Explorer

To terminate all instances of Internet Explorer
  1. Close all Internet Explorer windows that are currently open.
  2. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  3. In Task Manager, click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
  4. If iexplore.exe appears in the list, click it and click End Process.
  5. Repeat step 4 for each instance of iexplore.exe in the list.
  6. Close Task Manager. 

Delete the Trojan registry entries

Win32/StartPage.TC adds values in the Windows registry to continually reset the user's Internet Explorer default start page or home page. These values should be deleted.
To delete the worm registry entries
  1. On the Start menu, click Run.
  2. Type regedit and click OK.
  3. In the left pane, navigate to the key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  4. In the right pane, right click the value QuickTime Task.
  5. Make a note somewhere of the full path of the data that is in the value QuickTime Task. The full path should end with the file name qttasks.exe.
  6. Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
  7. Repeats steps 3 through 5 for the registry key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  8. Close the Registry Editor.

Delete the Trojan file from your computer

To delete the Trojan file from your computer
  1. Click Start, and click Run.
  2. In the Open field, type cmd.
  3. At the command prompt, type del <full path to qttasks.exe>
  4. On the Desktop, right-click the Recycle Bin and click Empty Recycle Bin.
  5. Click Yes.

Take steps to prevent re-infection

Do not reconnect your computer to the Internet until the computer is protected from re-infection. See the "Preventing Infection" section for more information.
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