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Published Feb 14, 2005 | Updated Sep 15, 2017

Trojan:Win32/Startpage.TC

Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Aliases: Generic StartPage.c (McAfee) TROJ_STRTPAGE.O (Trend Micro) Win32/Startpage.FM!Trojan (CA)

Summary

Trojan:Win32/StartPage.TC is a browser-modifying Trojan that targets certain versions of Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer. The Trojan changes the current Internet Explorer settings, specifying a different Web site as the home page or search page.
To manually recover from infection by Win32/StartPage.TC, follow these steps:
  1. Disconnect from the Internet.
  2. Terminate all running instances of Internet Explorer.
  3. End the Trojan process.
  4. Delete the Trojan file from your computer.
  5. Delete the Trojan registry entries.
  6. 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.

End the Trojan process

Ending the worm process will help stop your computer from infecting other computers as well as resolve the crashing, rebooting, and performance degradation issues caused by the worm.
To end the worm process
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
  3. Select the process dktibs.exe if it is in the list, and click End Process.

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 %windir%\system32
  3. Click OK.
  4. Click Name to sort files by name.
  5. Delete the file dktibs.exe if it is in the list.
  6. On the Desktop, right-click the Recycle Bin and click Empty Recycle Bin.
  7. Click Yes.
If deleting the file fails, follow these steps to verify that the files are not running:
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
  3. Confirm that file dktibs.exe is not in the list.

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 SysTime.
  5. Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
  6. Repeats steps 3 through 5 for the registry key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  7. Close the Registry Editor.

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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