Defending your computer against Adware

What is it?

There are many computer viruses that do bad things to your computer, Adware is different, instead of destroying your files or operating system, adware programs are designed to display ads throughout your systems, usually by added extra adds to webpages in your browser or by opening pop ups.

How to prevent getting it in the first place:

Adware is often bundled with other software - usually within the installer. Remember to always read everything when installing software before clicking next, as often, after you click OK or Next or Agree, etc, the setup wizard will display another page with an OK, Next, Agree or other button, and, if you read the page carefully, you might find that that button adds in another program, often things with names similar to these: Driver Updater!, Registry Repairer, Registry Cleaner, Discount Dragon, Browser add-on, Discount Helper, Money Saver, etc. Alsoavoid buttons that say things like Change default search engine, Change default browser, Install browser toolbar, etc.

To conclude, always read what's displayed before clicking the OK, Next, Agree or other continue button.

Getting rid of Adware:

Getting rid of Adware can be a pain, however, the first thing to try is opening your browser's settings and removing it there, however some won't let you remove them here as they, install themselves deep into the system, we've even seen users with Adware that's taken advantage of Google Chrome's administrative features, and, when trying to remoce them, a message comes up saying it was installed by your enterprise or administrator, etc. In this situation, you will probably require an expert to manually hunt down and remove the files but before that, read on and try the next few methods.

Uninstalling Adware:

If you've recently noticed the Adware, you might be able to use System Restore to go back to before it was installed. Open File Explorer, right click This PC/COmputer/My Computer and click Properties then click System Protection on the left and then click System Restore. For more info, watch this video:

To try to uninstall Adware programs Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features to see a list of all the programs you have installed and options to Uninstall, Repair or Change them. Although you can try removing Adware programs here, we recommend trying an advanced uninstaller program that can remove leftover files that the uninstaller failed to remove. We recommend Revo Uninstaller there is a free and a paid version, however, the free version will work just fine. Once you've installed Revo Uninstaller, open it and you'll see a list of all your programs and an option to uninstall them.

Remember to select Advanced when uninstalling the program with Revo Uninstaller to fully get rid of it. Also, remember to fully read the messages that appear in the uninstaller as some seem to mislead you, like for example the message title might say "Uninstall Program" making the user think to click "Yes", however the message might say, "Click yes to cancel and No to uninstall".

Antivirus:

You should also use an antivirus program to scan your computer. In Windows 8 and above, an anti virus called Windows Defender is pre-installed, go to Start > All Apps > Windows System > Windows Defender to open it. If you're on WIndows XP - 7, although Windows Defender is pre-installed, it does not provide virus protection like it does in Windows 8 and 10. Microsoft provides free antivirus called Microsoft Security Essentials, which is essentially the same as Windows Defender in WIndows 8 and 10. There are also many other free and paid antivirus software, although be careful before downloading any to ensure you're not accidentally download a virus or fake antivirus software. Microsoft has a list of many antivirus software available here.

Stopping Adware from running automatically:

Check out this tutorial to stop programs you don't want from running automatically.

Conclusion:

Hopefully you've removed any Adware you have on your computer, or, if you don't have any, hopefully you've learnt how to protect yourself against them.

#Tips #Troubleshooting #Malware #Scam #Security