Block PopAds.net “Virus”

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In this article we are going to try and help you remove PopAds.net. Our instructions cover all Windows versions as well as most browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer etc.

It is very difficult and frustrating to get anything done online if your browser is not working properly. However, there is a type of programs that is very widely spread and tends to heavily decrease the quality of a user’s browsing experience. Those programs are called Browser Hijackers and they seek to get into your Chrome, IE or Firefox browser and change its homepage, default search engine and even sometimes redirect you to pages you did not want to open. 

What you are about to learn

If you are reading this, then you’ve probably had PopAds.net installed on your PC. This is one of the latest of this kind of unwanted applications and in the following article you will be taught how it works, what its purpose is and how you can keep such software away from your machine from now on. In addition, you can find a detailed instruction manual beneath the article, which will guide you through the different stages of eliminating the obstructive program from your PC’s system. Just make sure to read everything else before you get to the guide because knowing how to remove PopAds.net may not be enough in order to successfully handle this sort of bothersome applications.

Online marketing tools

Basically the main purpose of a Browser Hijacker is to generate income for its creator via employing a variety of different techniques that are linked to the internet marketing industry. When it comes to whether programs like PopAds.net have any actual value for the regular user, the answer is normally no. Some of them may seem to contain certain seemingly beneficial functions, but for the most part there is nothing about Browser Hijackers that would make them worth keeping on your PC. After all, their prime objective is to benefit their developers and anything beyond that is a rarity. Even if there is some sort of usefulness to a program of this kind, it’s there simply to make it a bit less undesirable, thus increasing its chances of staying on the user’s PC for a longer period of time.

Can a Hijacker be potentially harmful?

Most Browser Hijackers are legal applications that usually do not have any harmful or hazardous traits. As bothersome as PopAds.net might be, it is not some sort of Ransomware or a Trojan horse virus. Therefore, there is no need to be overly concerned if this irritating piece of software is currently on your system. Still, there are more than a few reasons why it’s probably best if you remove the Hijacker as soon as possible. Although PopAds.net is not a malicious Ransomware virus, it is certainly not something you’d want to keep on your computer and here are some more reasons for that:

• Browser Hijackers could attempt to monitor and examine your browsing activities and online history. This is a cunning promoting technique – after the info has been gathered from your browser it is later used either by the same developer or by third parties in order to spam your browser with adverts. These ads are likely to appear appealing to you since they’ve been modified according to the data acquired from your browsing history.
• PopAds.net might sometimes spam your browser with fake error notifications. This is almost always another devious trick that has the sole purpose of promoting some obscure PC optimization tool that is marketed as being able to resolve your (probably) non-existent system errors.
• Lastly, Browser Hijackers might cause a PC slow-down because of their high system resource demand. Due to high RAM and CPU consumption your browser might start to crash, your PC might get sluggish and there might even be occasional freezes as long as the Hijacker remains installed and active.

How to spot incoming unwanted software

It is often difficult to identify a potential Browser Hijacker until it has already made its way inside your system. However, once you learn what the most common methods for their distribution are, you will realize that it does not take that much effort to keep your machine safe and clean. Some of the most frequently used strategies for spreading programs like PopAds.net are the infamous spam e-mails and different ads or deceptive/hidden hyperlinks. Therefore, do not open any suspicious e-mail letters and do not click on any obscure ads and links. Also, stay away from websites that are not reputable or reliable and use only download sources that you are sure you can trust. Apart from what we’ve mentioned so far, there is one more notable method that also seems to be the most effective. This method is called program bundling. With it the adware is incorporated inside the installer of some other program and as soon as this program gets installed via the Quick setup option, the Hijacker gets in the PC system as well. That is why we recommend that from now on you use the Custom setup settings that allow the user to see what added content there is when installing a new program and leave out anything shady and potentially unwanted by unchecking it.

PopAds.net Removal

Many types of malware will restrict your access to their core files. It is highly recommended that you reboot your PC in safe mode before attempting to use this guide.

• To enable Safe Mode reboot you PC, then hit F8 repeatedly. When the corresponding menu opens please select Safe Mode with Networking.

WARNING! If you are using Windows 8,0 or later and/or your operating system is installed on a fast SSD drive this may fail to work. In this case click here to see how to start your PC in Safe Mode.

#1: Uninstall the malicious program from your control panel

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Enter control panel to look for any suspicious programs, which may have installed on your PC. To do that:

1. Navigate to your Desktop
2. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
3. In the Run window that just opened type appwiz.cpl

4. Go through the list of programs and find PopAds.net or anything else that may seem suspicious. Right-click on it and choose the uninstallation option

WARNING! Carefully read any confirmation messages that may be created in the process. Sometimes you may get offers to download more Adware applications and this can be linked to either the Yes or the No answer depending on the wording!

• Optional:

Go through the list of programs again and check online for any potentially unwanted programs. We have an article that covers this awesome free software that makes sure that your computer is free from bloatware and programs that you don’t need.

#2: Remove PopAds.net From Chrome

Now we’ll remove the extensions that the malware has attached to your browser.

1. Open your Google Chrome browser.
2. Type chrome://extensions/  in the URL address bar and press Enter.
3. Click on “Developer Mode” on the top right and look for the extension installed by PopAds.net and anything that might be related to it. Copy their IDs (the string of letters), then remove them by clicking on the trash bin icon.

1. Type Regedit in the Windows Start Menu and press Enter. Go in : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Extensions and delete the entries corresponding to the suspicious IDs you recorded.

#3: Remove PopAds.net From Firefox

1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Type “about:support” in the URL address bar and press Enter.
3. Click on the “Refresh Firefox” button on the right and confirm.

#4 Remove PopAds.net From Internet Explorer

1. Open your Internet Explorer internet browser.
2. Click on the Gear icon on the up right, then on manage add-ons.
3. Go through the list disable any suspicious extensions.

#5 Remove any leftover parasitic processes

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From the task manager:

1. Use Ctrl + Shift + Esc and open the Task manager, then click on the Processes
2. Go through the list of processes and look for unknown or otherwise suspicious entries.
3. If you see anything suspicious right click on the process and shoes Open File Location, then terminate the process and delete any files you find in the directory.

WARNING! If the directory you open from this menu has no files inside of it it’s probably because the malware has hidden them. You need to reveal hidden files and folders in order to be able to see them. Click here if you don’t know how to do that.

From the start menu:

1. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
2. In the Run window that just opened type msconfig
3. Click on the Startup tab.

This menu controls which programs are loaded when windows starts after a reboot. Disable anything that seems suspicious. Optionally you can also disable any program that you don’t need and also has a high impact on your startup time.

Feel free to write to us in the comment section with any questions that you may have. Also if we have been helpful to you please share this article to help us reach more people like you.