How To Remove Smart New Tab “Virus”

What you should know about  Smart New Tab “Virus” 

 Smart New Tab “Virus”  characteristics and how did I get it

All adware programs are an annoyance for the users and  Smart New Tab “Virus”  is no exception. With its obstructive ads all over your browser and potential harm it can bring to your system, it is easy to see why you’d want it gone from your PC. Keep in mind that this type of software is probably specifically designed to stick to your system without your knowledge and remain there for as long as possible in order to display its ads. What those ads usually do is to generate revenue for its developers through the pay-per-click model. Knowing this, it should now be clear that  Smart New Tab “Virus”  would probably attempt to hide itself from you in order to avoid being uninstalled. But its stealthy behavior goes even further – the chances are, that if you are currently reading this article, you are dealing with the unwanted software. The reason for it getting installed on your PC is probably because this adware’s developers have used clever methods to keep their software under your radar. You did install this yourself, but probably don’t recall any part of it. How did this happen? In fact, there are several ways for an adware program to get on your computer. Luckily, most of them are somewhat ineffective, but some can be very devious indeed. The most successful method by which  Smart New Tab “Virus”  gets installed without the user’s knowledge is through other free software that you can download from the Internet (and probably have done so). The adware is bundled with that other free program and since most users go for the regular installation (which installs all content added to the installer)  Smart New Tab “Virus”  gets installed along the free software and you don’t even know about it. Therefore, it is of great importance to always opt for the advanced/custom settings installation menu, where you can see the additional installs and un check everything that you might not want on your PC.

How does the adware work?

As previously mentioned, adware programs generate ads (hence the name). This is their main purpose and it should be said that the app itself does hardly any real harm to your system. The main reason you’d want it removed is because it obstructs your browser experience and is generally annoying. In fact, the majority of adware is legal and doesn’t try to redirect you to any malicious sites or trick you into infecting your PC with viruses. However, there are some that can actually attempt to do that. It is possible that, by clicking on any of the ads or interacting with any the pages you’ve been redirected to, you can land with a more harmful software installed on your computer. Also, it should be noted that some of the more aggressive adware programs might attempt to track your browser history and even manipulate your browser settings. Still, these are generally considered an exception. In most cases, such a piece of software won’t do much apart from generating tons of ads, which can be quite an annoyance when you are trying to get something done, but they keep popping up everywhere. Some people mistakenly think that adware programs are viruses – while they might be intrusive, most of them are pretty much harmless and therefore should not be referred to as viruses.

Do’s and Don’ts

First of all, from now on, you should always keep in mind these several simple tips on how to avoid getting adware on your machine. Explore the advanced installation menus and download content from trusted sites and developers. Downloading free software might seem like a good idea, but sometimes you might get more than you’ve bargained for, if you are not careful.

Secondly, after you’ve found out that you have  Smart New Tab “Virus”  on your computer, do not interact with any of the displayed ads, pop-ups, banners or page redirects, since you probably won’t gain anything useful from them and also stand the chance that some of those might expose your system to danger. It doesn’t really matter if you are using Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer – symptoms that you’ve got  Smart New Tab “Virus”  will probably still be pretty much the same for all of these browsers.

The third most important thing you should know is how to remove the unwanted program. There is a thorough manual on the matter below, which will guide you through the main steps you should take in order to remove  Smart New Tab “Virus”  from your PC.

STEP ONE – remove Smart New Tab “Virus”  from your list of installed programs

In order to do it you need to navigate to your control panel.

For Windows 10 -> right click on your Win button (bottom left corner) and select Control Panel. In the Menu that opens select Uninstall a program

For Windows 7-> left click on your Win button (bottom left corner) and select Control Panel->Programs_>Programs and Features->

For Windows 8-> Swipe from the right edge of the screen and hit Search. If you are using a mouse rather point to the upper-right corner, then move the pointer downwards. Select Search. In the Search field type Control panel.

Find Smart New Tab “Virus”  in the list or programs, right click on it and select uninstall.

• IMPROTANT It is possible that the Adware will try to install another program in its place. Carefully read the wording of any confirmation pop-up that may appear and select the option that will not result in anything else getting installed on your computer.
• OPTIONAL Sort your programs by installation date starting from the most recent ones. Uninstall any other application that the Adware may have added to your PC. They are likely nothing but trouble.

STEP 2 – remove any shortcut modifications added to your browser

This step is rather simple:

1. Right-click on the shortcut you usually use to start your browser.
2. Select Properties
3. Look at the field labeled Target. Delete anything that comes after .exe

STEP 3 – remove any extensions added to your browser

From Chrome

1. Start your Chrome browser and click on the toolbox menu located in the upper-right corner, in the browser’s toolbar field.
2. Click Tools -> Extensions
3. Find the extension installed by Smart New Tab “Virus”  and remove it by clicking on the trash bin icon.
4. Now go through the list of extension again and remove anything that you don’t know or don’t use.

• What if you cannot click on the Delete/Trash icon – it is grayed out or similar?

You need to click on the box called Developer Mode located in the upper-right corner. This will enable you to see the ID of the extension. Mark the whole string of numbers and copy them.

Now close your Chrome browser and hit Win+R simultaneously. In the button that opens type regedit.

Hit Control+F and paste the ID you copied from the browser. Delete any entries that pop-up from the result.

Now you can start your Chrome browser again and finish the removal of the Extension.

From Internet Explorer

1. Open your Internet Explorer browser
2. Click on the gear Tools button located in the upper-right corner  , and then select Manage add-ons.
3. Under the Show menu select “show all add-ons”, now find and delete the add-on installed by Smart New Tab “Virus” .
4. Go through the list of add-ons again and delete anything you are not familiar with/don’t use.

• What if you cannot remove or disable the extension?

This means that there is an active program installed on your computer that prevents you from doing so. You need to do back to Step 1 and carefully look through the list of installed programs. Uninstall anything that looks suspicious to you.

From Mozilla Firefox

1. Open your Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Click on the three horizontal stripes button located in the upper-right corner . Select Add-ons.
3. Now go through the Appearance, Extensions and Plug-ins tabs and remove anything connected to Smart New Tab “Virus”  from there. Use the Remove option whenever possible.
4. Go through these tabs again and remove any extensions that are unfamiliar to you or that you don’t use at all.

Didn’t work? Smart New Tab “Virus”  not listed as an add-on or extension? Try resetting your browser to its default settings to clean away any malware additions.

 

Step 4 – resetting your internet browser

 How to reset Google Chrome

 What is about to happen? When you use the reset option for Chrome, your search engines and home pages will be set to the default one. Default startup tabs will be cleared as well, unless you are on Chromebook. Likewise, new tab page will be empty. Pinned tabs will be unpinned and lost. Content settings are cleared out and set to default, cookie and site data removed. Extensions and themes are disabled.

Click on the Chrome menu button, the three horizontal stripes in the top-right corner, then select

1. Scroll to the bottom and click on Show advanced settings.
2. Look for the section “Reset settings,” click on Reset settings.
3. A dialog window will appear, confirm the reset:

• NOTE: You’ll see the following check box“Help make Google Chrome better by reporting the current settings”. If you select it you are agreeing to anonymously send Google your current settings. They’ll use this information to analyze how the Adware hooked in and improve the defense of the browser. It’s up to you whether to help or not.

How to reset Mozilla Firefox to default settings

What is about to happen? When you use the reset button for Mozilla Firefox, your browsing history and bookmarks, as well as windows, open tabs, passwords and cookies and web-form information are preserved. Extensions, themes and other add-ons and plug-ins are removed.

1. Start your Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Type about:support in the address bar, then hit
3. Now click on the Reset Firefox… button located in the upper-right part of the screen.
4. Confirm the reset, Firefox will now close and be reset.

How to reset Internet Explorer to default settings

What is about to happen? When you use the reset option for Internet explorer you have the option to control whether your browsing history, search providers, accellerators, tracking protection, home pages and Active filtering data are removed. All this can be done from the Delete Personal Settings checkbox. Check the guide below.

1. Start opening your Internet Explorer.
2. Click on the gear in the rop-right corner, that is the Tools Select Internet options. In case you don’t actually see the Tools menu, press Alt.
3. Now click on the Advanced tab, then find and click Reset.
4. Select the Delete personal settings check box. Please note that this will also delete your browsing history, home pages and more. Unfortunately it is needed to clean the Adware.
5. Confirm and wait for the process to finish.

Hopefully this will be enough to remove Smart New Tab “Virus”  from your machine. If you are still having trouble feel free to contact us, we’ll try to help you to the best of our ability!