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How to block ads, pop-ups, and invasive windows on your PC
Obviously, in the following guide we talk about the legitimate advertisements that appear on the sites (and that guarantee their survival), but about ads and windows that sometimes also prevent you from opening Google, Facebook, and How2do or adware that shows advertisements even where they shouldn’t be.
AdwCleaner
One of the best free tools we can use to scan our PC for the origin of advertisements, extensions, and sponsored programs is AdwCleaner, free.
This program is very simple to use, just install it on the PC invaded by advertisements and unwanted windows and start the scan by clicking on the button Scan Now. The program will immediately search every corner of the PC, reporting additional programs, toolbars, unwanted extensions, browser changes, and any active processes in memory capable of recalling unwanted advertising windows.
At the end of the scan, the automatic cleaning of all the threats found will take place, so as to free the PC and return to use it as before, without any hassle.
Malwarebytes
If the windows keep appearing even after cleaning with AdwCleaner, most likely spyware or malware has infiltrated your PC processes, favoring the installation of crap and new unwanted programs and tools. To immediately remove this type of threat related to advertising windows we can download Malwarebytes, available from the official website.
This program acts as a support to the antivirus already present on the PC and allows you to scan all the portions of memory and disk where malware and adware can lurk, so as to permanently remove them. To use it, click on the button Scan now or Scan, we wait for the end of the process and, at the end of the scan, we select all the elements eventually revealed and click on the button Remove.
The program is free for occasional scans, but is also available in a Premium version to carry out scheduled and automatic scans, thus remaining in a watchful memory of any possible new threats we may encounter.
SUPERAntiSpyware
If the advertising windows appear even when we are not using the internet (so while we are doing something else), perhaps we have been spied on with spyware, which tries to collect all personal information while also stealing sensitive data.
If you fear that you are under attack from spyware and your advertising windows require access to websites or credit card details, we download the free program SUPERAntiSpyware, available from the official website.
Once installed, simply scan by clicking on the button Scan and wait patiently for the results. If threats are found, select and eliminate them to rid our PC of spyware and adware.
Also in this case we will have a scanner that can be started only when needed, without disturbing the action of the antivirus already installed in the system. To increase security, just scan with the program once a month or when we see the windows or pop-up advertisements appear on the PC desktop.
Advanced cleaning tools
If the tools we have reported so far have not been enough to eliminate the threats on your PC, it is time to download some very powerful tools, to try as a last resort. We didn’t immediately advise him why given their power it is better to keep them as “last resort”.
The tools to be used to permanently clean up the PC from advertising windows, spyware and any viruses present are ComboFix is Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, available for free download from the ComboFix site and from the Kaspersky site.
We launch ComboFix first, so as to display a window similar to the command prompt where you just need to press a button to start the scan; this antimalware scan can be very long and it will remove many common threats present on your PC. At the end of the scan, we restart and check if the PC is working again without windows.
If you still see or see some strange behavior of the programs or the antivirus, it is advisable to immediately scan with Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool, a powerful free tool that can detect and remove most of the dangerous viruses such as trojans, ransomware, and other crap that can lurk on our PC. To use it, just install it, click Start Scan and wait for the end of the scan on the PC; in the end, the program will report all the viruses found, just click on Remove to clean your computer.
Final checks on the PC
In addition to checking if there are any hidden threats on the PC, we will have to check that they have not changed the DNS and proxy on Windows, so as to always show windows and spy on our connection.
- To check the DNS connection: we open the Control panel, we enter Network and Internet, let’s open Network Connection Center, click on the right on “Change adapter settings” and we identify the LAN or Wifi connection used to surf the internet.
- Now click on it with the right button, enter the Property, we scroll the list of elements until we find and select Internet protocol version 4 and click on Property; then we verify that the item “Obtain DNS Server address automatically” and delete, if necessary, any number written below. Click OK and restart the computer
- To verify that a Proxy is not set, open the Start menu and type Internet options.
Let’s go to the tab Connections, we press the button LAN settings and we check that where it is written Proxy Server that there is no selection; if we find any proxy we delete and remove the flag on the item.
By doing so we will prevent some DNS changes or the presence of a malicious Proxy from diverting web pages and thus showing advertising windows and invasive pop-ups.
Conclusions
Suddenly finding yourself with pop-up windows and advertisements active on your Windows 10 desktop doesn’t have to be a pleasant experience; Fortunately, the tools for cleaning are not lacking and will allow us to quickly restore the correct functioning of the system without having to restore or worse format.
If we want to keep your Windows 10 PC safe and efficient, we suggest you read our guides Clean your PC of viruses (and prevent other infections in the future) is the Best Free Antivirus for PC.