PUM.Hijack.StartMenu

PUM.Hijack.StartMenu refers to a PUM, that is, a potentially unwanted modification. PUM.Hijack.StartMenu in particular refers to a change made to your start menu settings. Various common anti-malware programs detect these changes to your start menu settings as PUM.Hijack.StartMenu. While changes associated with PUM.Hijack.StartMenu may have been made on purpose by the computer user, most of the time PUM.Hijack.StartMenu will be the result of a malware infection. Several browser hijackers in particular are often responsible for PUM.Hijack.StartMenu potentially unwanted modification. This change to the Start Menu can typically affect the way buttons on the menu are displayed or in an altering of Start Menu's typical layout. If your anti-malware application is displaying a PUM.Hijack.StartMenu warning, this may be a sign of a potentially dangerous malware infection on your computer system. However, the mere presence of the PUM.Hijack.StartMenu detection is not necessarily related to malware on your computer and may simply be the result of your own tweaks to your computer's interface or to changes that a legitimately useful application may have made.

How to Tell Whether PUM.Hijack.StartMenu is Caused by Malware

Most malware does not attack alone. If your security software is displaying a PUM.Hijack.StartMenu detection as the only symptom of a malware attack, then it is more likely that the cause of this problem is another thing. Most malicious PUM.Hijack.StartMenu episodes will be associated with other problems on the victim's computer, such as any of the following:

• Problems connecting to the Internet, such as frequent browser redirects, pop-up windows or unauthorized changes to your Internet browser's settings.
• A noticeable slowing down of your computer system or frequent crashes. If the PUM.Hijack.StartMenu detection is accompanied with sudden system instability, this may be a sign of a malware infection.
• If your computer system is displaying error messages, security alerts or pop-up notifications and your anti-malware program is detecting PUM.Hijack.StartMenu potentially unwanted modification, this may also be a sign of a malware infection.

To be capable of distinguishing between a friendly case of PUM.Hijack.StartMenu and a PUM.Hijack.StartMenu caused by a malware infection, you should look at other behaviors that your computer system may display. One symptom that should immediately set off the victim's alarms is being constantly routed to a seemingly authentic search engine website while browsing the Internet. This may be the sign of a browser hijacker on your computer, which will often have components that prevent your security software from detecting them. In these cases, the PUM.Hijack.StartMenu detection may be the only sign of a problem.