Welcome, reader, to our Ads by Counterflix removal guide. The following virus removal instructions will aid you in removing the unwanted software from your PC.
Having your browser covered by a wall of irritating and nagging online ads is certainly something nobody wants. We have been forced to learn to tolerate the mandatory advertising materials that pop up every now and then on websites that are supported mainly by ads. However, those at least allow us to use the said website for free and the developers of the site itself also get to earn money through them. However, there is another type of online ads that have nothing to do with what sites you visit, because they tend to spam your Chrome, IE or Firefox browser with various banners, pop-ups and box messages all the time, no matter what page you’re on. Also, they are more invasive and obstructive and will not go away, no matter how many of them you manage to close.
Ads by Counterflix
If you are faced with this sort of ads, then there’s probably a program called Ads by Counterflix that has been installed on your computer without your knowledge and is currently the reason behind the ceaseless barrage of rage-inducing adverts that you’re experiencing. Here, in this article, we will give you all the essential information that you need to know about the Ads by Counterflix “Virus” and other similar programs and we will help you keep them away from your PC in the future. Additionally, there is a guide below that will help you remove the nagging software, so that it won’t bother you anymore. Still, it is important that you read everything before you get to the guide – being well-informed is key to effectively dealing with these sort of unwanted programs.
Adware
The Ads by Counterflix “Virus” is only one example of the Adware family of programs. In fact, every day more and more such applications are developed and all of them have the single purpose of gaining revenue for their creators through the infamous Pay-Per-Click scheme. Every ad that gets clicked generates a small income that gets transferred to the creator of the Adware. When put into perspective, the amount of money gained is often huge. This is one of the reasons why this type of unwanted software is so widely spread and common. As for regular users, applications like the Ads by Counterflix “Virus” usually do not have anything to offer. Some of them might be marketed as having some sort of useful function, but for the most part even if they do have some seemingly helpful feature, it would hardly be worth the irritation from the constant spam of adverts coming from the software.
Is Ads by Counterflix a virus?
Obviously, Ads by Counterflix is not a program that you would like to have installed and active on your PC. However, as to whether it is a dangerous piece of software, the answer is predominantly negative. As a matter of fact, most Adware programs are actually legal. Certainly, Adware applications of this type aren’t some sort of malicious and harmful viruses like Ransomware or Trojans. Still even though Ads by Counterflix is not some noxious Ransomware, there are a few things apart from the ads that might serve as an additional incentive for you to remove the unwanted software from your PC ASAP.
- Adware might spy on your browser. Even though Ads by Counterflix is not some sort of spyware, it could potentially gain information by looking through your browsing history. The acquired data is later used for marketing purposes or sold to third-party companies for additional profit.
- Some of the ads you see could redirect you to potentially illegal and harmful webpages if you click on them. This is quite rare, but it is still worth keeping in mind, once you start seeing the irritating adverts and get the urge to click on them just so that they will go away.
- Due to the constant generation of more and more ads, your machine might get slowed down, your browser might start to crash and there might even be occasional freezes. This is because the Adware often requires significant amounts of system resources to keep spamming with adverts.
Tips for protecting your PC
Once you uninstall and remove the Adware using our guide, you will need to ensure that no more similar programs get installed on your machine. In order to do that, make a mental note of the following tips and pieces of advice and utilize them from now on.
- Stay away from sites that are not trustworthy or seem shady or illegal. When you want to download something, make sure you only use reputable sources that you know you can trust.
- Avoid opening any suspicious e-mails and do not download their attachments. Also, be careful with any shady-looking links that get sent to you on social media websites, even if they have been sent by a friend. Sometimes your friend might not even know that their machine has been turned into a spambot.
- Always use the custom setup option when about to install a new program. Oftentimes program installers are in fact file-bundles that have added software to them, apart from the main program. If there is Adware hidden inside the installer and you use the Quick setting, it will certainly get installed among the main piece of software. In contrast, using the custom setting allows you to see and leave out of the installation anything that has been added that you consider potentially unwanted, such as Adware.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Ads by Counterflix |
| Type | Adware |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Symptoms | Overwhelming amounts of intrusive and obstructive online ads in all your browsers and each of their tabs regardless of the site you are currently on. |
| Distribution Method | Most frequently employed methods are the mandatory junk mail messages, deceitful hyperlinks, torrent files and software bundles. |
Ads by Counterflix Removal
I – Uninstallation
- Use the Winkey+R keyboard combination, write Control Panel in the search field and hit enter.
- Go to Uninstall a program under Programs.
- Seek the unwanted software, select it and then click on Uninstall
- If you are unable to spot Ads by Counterflix, 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.
II – Safe mode and revealing hidden files
III – Cleaning all your browsers
- Go to your browser’s icon, right-click on it and select Properties.
- Go to the Shortcut tab and in the Target make sure to delete anything written after “.exe”.
- Now, open your browser and follow the instructions below depending on whether you are using Chrome, Mozilla or IE.
- Chrome users:
- Go to your browser’s main menu located in the top-right corner of the screen and select Settings.
- Scroll down, click on Show Advanced Settings and then select Clear browsing data. Just to be sure, tick everything and clear the data.
- 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:
- Similarly to Chrome, go to the main menu and select Add-ons and then Extensions.
- Remove any suspicious browser extensions that you may have even if they do not have the name Ads by Counterflix on them.
- IE users:
- Go to Tools and select Manage add-ons.
- 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
- Go to your start menu, type Task Manager in the search field and from the results open View running processes with Task Manager.
- Thoroughly look through all processes. The name Ads by Counterflix 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.
- If you spot the process ran by Ads by Counterflix, 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
- In the start menu search box write View Network Connections and open the first result.
- Right-click on the network connection you are using and go to Properties.
- Select Internet Protocol Version (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.
- If Obtain DNS server addresses automatically is not checked, check it.
- Go to Advanced and select the DNS If there is anything in the DNS server addresses field, remove it and click OK.
- Click OK on the rest of the opened windows.
