This should not be to difficult to fix, if you take your time, and ask it there are things I do not explain well.

One problem is that this changes your shortcuts used to start Firefox. You probably need to change them back manually.

1. You must first of all get rid of all the unwanted software you have, and that will require
   • Using multiple tools,
   • and checking from and using the Windows control panel.
2. Reset Firefox settings. There is a special addon that assists with that.
3. Take care with future downloads or you will inevitably run into problems again.

• see Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page

Read a thread I recently posted in about this problem. Post back with how you get on, or if you need further help with trying to do any of this. I know it must be rather daunting trying to remove this sort of stuff.

• see whenever i open the mozilla a search engine opens. i cant get rrid of it! /questions/985225#answer-529459 relating to awesomehp

I assume it is awesomehp, something I misspelled in the above post. Even if it is in fact awesomeph it may be a very similar problem.

I had this awesomehp on my computer as well. Found out that it can be simply uninstalled manually, and surely absolutely for free. Go to your Control Panel and uninstall these 4 programs related to it: 1. awesomehp Browser Protecter 2. IePluginService12.27.0.3326 3. SupTab 4. WPM17.8.0.3325 After I removed these four programs (uninstalled them) awesomehp virus as completely deleted, and it no longer appeared in my browser. I found about this free solution in this article (which is a totally manual solution that doesn't need any program to remove this browser hijacker)

Hey viandy!

I checked Control Panel and searched my system for the programs you recommended I delete:

1. awesomehp Browser Protecter 2. IePluginService12.27.0.3326 3. SupTab 4. WPM17.8.0.3325

I didn't find any of them. I remember deleting a file named Awesomeph a few minutes after I discovered it and deleted a SupTab folder just a couple of hours ago. I also deleted 19 files the Malware software found as a threat which I think included the other 2 files. But the problem is still there.

Thanks for the advise. I want to push my luck so do you have another solution?

Hi john99!

I checked the post you mentioned. I did most of it but as I mentioned to viandy, problem still there.

1. Remove any unwanted software - I did using the Windows Control Panel. I checked my addons and found nothing changed there.

2. I downloaded a free malware (Malwarebytes Anti-Malware) and did a scan 4 times. Deleted the threats found. Scanned again, no threats found anymore, restarted system but Awesomehp (sorry, I just realized I got it wrong by saying Awesomeph) is still there.

3. You recommeded doing a reset using SearchReset addon. I did this step. Made my homepage back to default BUT Awesomehp is still the first thing I see whenever I open Firefox.

You mentioned I may need to use multiple tools to get rid of this problem. Can I know what other recommendations you have for me?

Please Take Care

Comments from one of the forum Moderators ~J99

Please note this may not be recommended as a solution. Similar alternatives may be better.

• Use Firefox Reset
  • see Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings
  • That effectively creates a mostly new profile and removes Firefox extensions, whilst keeping the old profile as a copy on the Desktop in case it may be needed again.
    BUT it does retain passwords and bookmarks
• OR Create a new Firefox Profile
  • see Profile Manager - Create, remove or switch Firefox profiles_creating-a-profile
  • Note there is no need to actually delete the old profile. Some of the information and files contained in the Profile may be very important and probably can be used again.

Simply deleting the profile removes important things like passwords and all your bookmarks.

I find when Firefox behavior stubbornly will not revert to as it should be, simply deleting my Firefox profile does the trick. Before doing such a thing I would recommend backing up your bookmarks to be reinstated later.

Your Firefox profile is a folder that contains all of Firefox's settings, extensions, add-ons, bookmarks, and much more in it. It is created by Firefox when you first run the Firefox program. If you delete it then the next time you start Firefox, it will simply create a new one--likely without any of the garbage that was modified in the last one and that is causing problems. In a linux-based system this will be a folder called .mozilla in your home folder. To find the location of this folder in Windows, a quick google should answer where Windows stores the Firefox profile folder. Find it and delete it.

If you do delete your profile folder, you will need to reinstall any add-ons or extensions. The difficult bit is restoring your bookmarks if you did not back them up first--so do do that beforehand.

maybe the shortcut you're using to open firefox got manipulated. right-click the firefox icon on your desktop, go to properties & the tab labelled "shortcut" - in there inspect the target field and see if the unwanted page is appended at the end of the line after the path to firefox.exe (if so delete that section).

Hi philipp!

I did what you advised and found this:

"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" http://www.awesomehp.com/?type=sc&ts=1391356855&from=exp&uid=HitachiXHTS547550A9E384_J112005MFG98NAFG98NAX

So I deleted everything after the " " and just like what I do every time I changed something, I restarted my laptop. I excitedly clicked on Firefox but it still has Awesomehp as the start up page. I checked the settings again and it's just "C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe"

Any more ideas?

this seems to be a pretty persistent nuisance :-/

please run a scan with adwcleaner, which is a small and in my experience very effective tool specialised in removing browser hijackers...

Hi philipp!

So I downloaded AdwCleaner, did a scan, chose the Clean option, restarted my laptop, checked log and saw that AdwCleaner deleted some files/folders and registry.

I opened up Firefox and unfortunately, and definitely irritatingly, Awesomehp is STILL the start up page. I did a scan again and it showed a file which it cleaned after but the problem is still there.

Let's repeat the info from the other thread.

Now you will need to

1. Remove any unwanted software use
   • The Firefox Addons Manager
   • And the windows Control panel
2. Scan for malware with multiple and up to date tools (see listing under)
3. Reset using the SearchReset addon. That installs resets settings and uninstalls itself
   Read Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page
4. And I am not sure anything cleans up your shortcuts. Right click on the Firefox startup icon etc to check the properties. A site address for; in this case probably awesomhp awesomehp will have been added and will need removing.

Read the information and try it. If you have problems or need further information say so. Please post back with how you get on.

Run scans with multiple and up-to-date tools. Hopefully it will be easily detected and removed. I would not suggest you try any manual hacks or edits of the Windows registry. (Once rogue files are removed any residual registry entry will not normally do any harm.)

Your problem with Firefox is a result of malware installed on your computer, that you may not be aware of. You may have besides awseomehp related hijacking malware.

You can try these free programs to scan for malware, which work with your existing antivirus software:

• Microsoft Safety Scanner
• MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware
• TDSSKiller - AntiRootkit Utility
• Hitman Pro
• ESET Online Scanner
• AdwCleaner: (for adware)'
• Kaspersky Free security scan

You need to use multiple and up-to-date tools as they will not all pick up the same things.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a good FREE permanent antivirus for Windows 7/Vista/XP if you don't already have one.

Further information can be found in the Troubleshoot Firefox issues caused by malware article.

Sorry you are having problems. There is an awful lot of annoying stuff out on the internet.

You really need to be more careful and in future try to review both

1. The download sites itself
2. The software bundle being downloaded.

• Then read all the annoying small print because that will have told you what you were actually getting your self in to.
  (If sites do not do -tell you what will install - And you can prove that then maybe Mozilla would consider blocklisting the site.)

Ok, so let me update this question because up to this moment, the problem is still there.

These are the things I've done so far:

!. Deleted all files and folders from the unwanted eBook download.

2. Downloaded MalwareBytes Anti-Malware and AdwCleaner. Scanned using both and deleted all threats found. I scanned multiple times since I downloaded these software.

3. Re-check my Control Panel to see if there are unwanted files. Found none. (One of you recommended I check for these items but I believe I already have them deleted: 1. awesomehp Browser Protecter 2. IePluginService12.27.0.3326 3. SupTab 4. WPM17.8.0.3325)

4. Checked Firefox shortcut and deleted the unwanted page appended at the end of the Firefox link.

I just checked my other browsers (IE and Chrome) and they all have Awesomehp as start up page. I deleted Awesomehp link on settings, changed homepage and search engines, and reset to default both browsers. BUT Awesomehp is still there.

Now, all 3 browsers (IE, Chrome, Firefox) have Awesomehp as start up page.

Did I miss something? Any other suggestion on how I can completely delete this unwanted malware?

I guess something must have been missed.

• You did not mention and so you probably did not use the SearchReset Addon. That should have at least reset some of the Firefox settings.
  • The addon when used installs, resets settings, and then uninstalls itself.
  • Addon mentioned in Remove a toolbar that has taken over your Firefox search or home page
  • Download each time from https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/searchreset/
• Maybe you have not successfully cleaned up the commands used to start Fiefox
  • Try starting Firefox directly from the Windows 7 RUN option and typing in firefox.exe
    If that works ok it is a problem with a shortcut. If not we need to look for some other cause.
    • You can access the Run command by pressing the (Windows logo key) WinKey+R.
    • see http://windows.microsoft.com/is-is/windows/what-happened-run-command#1TC=windows-7
• Rather obvious but if you have set Firefox to restore tabs from last time and those pages were open they will reopen on restarting Firefox.
• Run AdwCleaner and Malwarebytes scans again. Are they still finding problems ?
  Or do they both show that everything is clean now. Paste reports or attach screenshots with your next reply please.
  • How to make screenshots
  • How do I create a screenshot of my problem?

OK, I'm sorry my solution didn't help you. It is quite strange though. I had this awesomehp malware on my PC, then found those 4 programs related to it, removed them. Then awesomehp was gone. You're saying that this didn't help you... Well, probably you need to check the Desktop icons of your browser infected with awesomehp and remove all things related to it. This video might be of help - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0jal3QG56k (note that this is also an absolutely free solution that doesn't require any program to be downloaded).

viandy,

Your link to a video relates specifically to problems on Internet Explorer (IE) not Firefox. Although some of the principles are similar for instance removing or repairing shortcuts or command line arguments.

Hi john99!

• I did use the SearchReset Addon but it didn't help at all.

• I tried starting Firefox using firefox.exe but Awesomehp is still the start up page.

• My settings doesn't restore tabs from last usage. It only do so if my browser crashed. I checked it multiple times since getting that malware.

• I scanned my laptop using both AdwCleaner and Malwarebytes multiple times a day and both showed no threats whatsoever.

========

Hi viandy!

thanks for the video. I'll use it on my IE and since I'm on the Mozilla forum, I won't elaborate more on the IE browser.

========

To hopchis!

I didn't resort to your suggestion at first because I want to do so as the last option, when all else failed. And all failed so I deleted Chrome, re-installed using Firefox, deleted Firefox and re-installed using Chrome. No more Awesomehp as start up.

I know the malware is still somewhere in my laptop because IE still has it as start up, Firefox doesn't have it anymore. Thanks guys for all the suggestions.

Hi again foolish_fire20

You said

I know the malware is still somewhere in my laptop because IE still has it as start up, Firefox doesn't have it anymore. Thanks guys for all the suggestions.

Did you see the video linked from the post by viandy above. That is dealing with correcting the IE problem.

I am not clear on your position with Firefox.

• The post about deleting the Firefox profile has been marked as the thread solution.

That is overkill.

• Did you take precautions and backup the profile and/or bookmarks before doing that ?
• If not you have lost passwords and bookmarks. There may still be some chance of recovering those if you need to.

Hey john99!

Yes, I did watch the video provided by viandy. The day I wrote my response prior to this, I wasn't able to do the steps but I just did now and it did resolve the Awesomehp start up issue on IE. Kudos to viandy!

I marked the post about deleting the Firefox profile because it did make the problem gone. I know it's an overkill that's why I made it the last option. I've done the suggestions you good guys provided but "persistent nuisance" proved to be too persistent.

Don't worry though. I made necessary precautions. I back up my old profile and saved my bookmarks. Thank you! I really appreciate the concern.

I'm still scanning my system multiple times a day using the 2 software recommended, along with my resident anti-virus. For added precaution. Again, thank you all!

Thanks for posting back.

Glad it is all working again and you did backup the old profile first before deleting it.

Try other scanners as well if the two that you tried didn't find anything.

Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
  http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
• AdwCleaner:
  http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/
  http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml
• SuperAntispyware:
  http://www.superantispyware.com/
• Microsoft Safety Scanner:
  http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx
• Windows Defender: Home Page:
  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx
• Spybot Search & Destroy:
  http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
• Kasperky Free Security Scan:
  http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan

You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.

• Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:
  http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446

See also:

• "Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked