Geunfy “Virus” Removal

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

Geunfy is one of the latest adware variants to be released and it has been plaguing users with it endless ad campaigns ever since it came to be. If you’ve fallen victim to this software’s numerous popup ads and omnipresent banners, regardless whether you’re using Chrome, Firefox or another of the popular browsers – we’ve got just the thing for you. Our removal guide has been designed specifically for the purpose of dealing with Geunfy and its annoying ads and you will find it on this page, just below the following article. However, before you skip to the removal instructions we do recommend reading through the article itself, as it contains important information not only about Geunfy specifically, but about this type of software in general – it may come in handy.

What is Geunfy “Virus”?

This is the most important point to be made and the misunderstanding of it often leads to various misconceptions regarding adware. If this isn’t the first page you’ve consulted in regards of the software that has been disrupting your browsing lately, it’s likely that you’ve stumbled on different allegations that are hurled at this software type, labeling it as a virus, spyware and other such inaccurate terms. We would like to be very clear on this one: Geunfy is not a virus. You don’t have to fear that it will somehow harm your files, modify your system, steal valuable information from your or perform any other malware-related activities. But that’s not to say that it’s completely harmless either. Experts like to refer to programs of the adware category as potentially unwanted programs or PUPs mainly because despite them being legal pieces of software, they have rather shady ways of getting distributed and the activities they are capable of performing are somewhat controversial.

What people mainly tend to be concerned about is adware’s habit of gathering information regarding the separate user’s browsing patterns. Programs like Geunfy have the capacity of looking into one’s browsing history and taking into special consideration things like search queries, as these are likely to tell the developers what products and services that specific person will be interested in. And this information is important to them because they earn money based on the amount of ads they can get you to click on, so they will do everything in their power to make sure that number is as high as possible. Naturally, such activity is seen by many as a violation of their privacy and hence all the spyware allegations. Also, adware developers have been known to sell the collected data to third parties for the additional buck, which, too, doesn’t help the software’s image much.

Hidden risks

Ever heard of the term malvertisements? Malvertisements are basically ads that have ‘gone bad’. They may have once been regular online ads that were injected by hackers with a virus, or they may have been created that way from the start. This is a very serious cyber threat as the world’s most feared malware type, ransomware, is actually mainly distributed with the help of these fake ads. Now, when there’s a program that specializes in generating tons of advertisements, it’s easy to see how there can be a risk of running into one of those bad apples. Just clicking on one of them is enough to unleash the malware, so with this in mind it’s best to avoid any and all interaction with the colorful popups and box messages.

How to avoid getting infected again

Whether or not you can recall the exact instance of getting infected with Geunfy, there are only about a handful of possibilities, which we will mention here. Once you’re aware of all of them, it will be easy to trace back your steps and maneuver past the adware traps from now on.

• Spam emails, especially those inviting you to test new software
• Other adware or a browser hijacker that may have been installed on your PC
• Program bundles. Arguably the most effective means of distribution, mainly found on various files sharing platforms. When installing new software, always opt for the custom/advanced settings in the wizard. These will allow you to see the contents of the bundle and also prevent any of them from being installed alongside the main program.

Geunfy “Virus” Removal

I – Uninstallation

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
   1. If you are unable to spot Geunfy, 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

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

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 Geunfy 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

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 Geunfy 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 Geunfy, 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.