Mio.exe “Virus” Removal

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Welcome to our Mio.exe “Virus” removal guide. The following instructions will aid you in removing the unwanted software from your PC.

Many people find it very annoying when their browser starts to flood their screen with different intrusive ads, pop-ups, banners and different promotional messages. If you also find this as disturbing, then here we will help you get rid of this annoying activity. The source of the constant flow of ads is not your Chrome, Firefox or the default browser you are using, but an adware piece of software which integrates with it. One of the latest programs of this adware category is called Mio.exe “Virus” and is famous for a number of promotional messages it can generate. Most of the ads, delivered with it come with a small text somewhere in the corner stating something like “Ads delivered by Mio.exe” or “Ads generated by Mio.exe”.  On this page, we will be focusing on this adware program and its activity, as well the side effects it may cause and the exact steps which you can take to fully remove it from your system.

Mio.exe can become part of your browser and flood your screen with ads!

Adware is a common term for all the software which is related to the aggressive generation of different advertising messages. Different pop-ups, banners, ads of products and services may keep coming up in series on your screen thanks to an adware script, which gets incorporated into your browser. This can be a real source of disturbance and browsing related interruptions for a lot of users since the intrusive advertising materials can often interfere with their normal web activity and prevent them use their browser properly. Therefore, it is not surprising that many people seek for ways to remove the ads, but this can only happen if they fully uninstall their source – the adware.

Is such ad-generating software dangerous to your system?

Some users tend to get panicked when they face the intrusive series of ads, especially when they are not really sure if this is some harmless activity or some nasty virus. Fortunately, adware programs like Mio.exe are not capable of doing much harm to your PC. These pieces of software are generally used by different marketers, vendors, and advertisers to promote certain products, services, and offers. Some advertisers may also involve Mio.exe and similar programs in Pay-Per-Click campaigns where they can earn money from the clicks of sponsored advertisements. However, this is not a malicious activity and has no aim to corrupt your system or your data. To make it more clear, let us take a look at the real viruses and compare them to the activity of an adware.

Real malware, like a Trojan horse, Ransomware or some other type of nasty threat, would surely do no good to your machine. If you are unlucky to meet one of these, you most probably won’t be able to use your system or access your files. A Trojan can compromise your entire computer and perform a bunch of criminal deeds, while Ransomware would place a ransom note on your screen, blackmailing you for the access to your encrypted data. Most adware, however, is nothing more than annoying software, which can easily be removed, in case it causes too much of an inconvenience.

What kind of inconvenience may Mio.exe cause?

Adware like Mio.exe may not be a program with a great value for the users. In most of the cases, its activity causes more irritation and disturbance rather than actual functionality, that’s why many people refer to it as potentially unwanted and often choose to uninstall it from their system. Moreover, this software uses a bit of a confusing method to trick you to install it on your computer by bundling itself in a setup with some other program, mostly distributed for free. Apart from the aggressive ads invasion, there are a few more reasons for the adware to be removed. Usually, this software is programmed to collect “traffic data” from the users. This means that more often than not, Mio.exe may monitor your web searches, keep a track on the pages you visit, see through your browsing history and bookmarks and try to use this data for its own advertising purposes. This ensures, the next time you open your browser, you would be exposed to more ads, matching your latest search queries, which will eventually increase the chance of you clicking on some of the pop-ups. Unfortunately, you cannot disable this activity manually and the only way to stop Mio.exe from tracking your online activity is to get rid of the program itself.

Mio.exe “Virus” Removal

I – Safe mode and revealing hidden files

1. Boot your PC into Safe Mode /link/
2. Reveal hidden files and folders /link/

II – Uninstallation

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1. Use the Winkey+R keyboard combination, write Control Panel in the search field and hit enter.
   
2. Go to Uninstall a program under Programs.
   
3. Seek the unwanted software, select it and then click on Uninstall

If you are unable to spot Mio.exe, search for any unrecognized programs that you do not remember installing on your PC – the unwanted software might disguise itself by going under a different name.

III – Cleaning all your browsers

1. Go to your browser’s icon, right-click on it and select Properties.
   
2. Go to the Shortcut tab and in the Target make sure to delete anything written after “.exe”.
   
3. Now, open your browser and follow the instructions below depending on whether you are using Chrome, Mozilla or IE.

• Chrome users:

1. Go to your browser’s main menu located in the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings.
   
2. Scroll down, click on Show Advanced Settings and then select Clear browsing data. Just to be sure, tick everything and clear the data.
   
3. Now, in the left pane, go to Extensions and look through all extensions that are integrated within your browser. If you notice any suspicious add-on, disable it and then remove it.
   

• Firefox users:

1. Similarly to Chrome, go to the main menu and select Add-ons and then Extensions.
2. Remove any suspicious browser extensions that you may have even if they do not have the name Mio.exe on them.

• IE users:

1. Go to Tools and select Manage add-ons.
   
2. Click on all add-on types from the left pane and check if there is anything suspicious in the right panel. In case you find anything shade, make sure to remove it.

IV – Removing Shady processes

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1. Go to your start menu, type Task Manager in the search field and from the results open View running processes with Task Manager.
   
2. Thoroughly look through all processes. The name Mio.exe might not be there, but if you notice any shady looking process that consumes high amounts of memory it might be ran by the unwanted program.
3. If you spot the process ran by Mio.exe, right-click on it, open its file location and delete everything in there. Then go back to the Task Manager and end the process.
   

V – DNS check

1. In the start menu search box write View Network Connections and open the first result.
   
2. Right-click on the network connection you are using and go to Properties.
   
3. Select Internet Protocol Version (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.
   
4. If Obtain DNS server addresses automatically is not checked, check it.
   
5. Go to Advanced and select the DNS If there is anything in the DNS server addresses field, remove it and click OK.
   
6. Click OK on the rest of the opened windows.