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  • Active
  • Severity: Medium
  • Adware
  • Windows, Mac
  • Verified · Feb 2016

How to remove Ads by PlayGEM

A step-by-step removal guide for affected devices. Follow the verified procedure below — most readers complete it in under 10 minutes.

Ugnius Kiguolis · The mastermind

Why should I remove PlayGEM from my computer?

No matter that PlayGEM virus is promoted as a “physics-based puzzle game”, there is a handful of arguments that should prompt you to remove it form your computer. Please, keep in mind that security experts decided to categorize it as an ‘adware’ and a potentially unwanted program (PUP). If you are not aware of why browser add-ons, plug-ins, toolbars, and extensions deserve to be included in the categories mentioned above, then the following are the main reasons: distribution technique, usage of cookies, the affection of browser’s settings, and displaying of unwanted ads.

PlayGEM is distributed via the official website but apparently the number of users did not satisfy the developers, so that they have decided to bundle it with such popular free software as download managers, media players, PDF creators, etc. As pointed out, it has been developed with a sole purpose – to promote affiliate parties and earn easy money from advertising. Thus, to meet the expectations of its developers, PlayGem virus may modify Windows Registry, run several processes, and hijack web browsers on a target computer. Consequently, this program gets the ability to flood users with commercial advertisements and collect clicks. As you’ve probably already noticed, people are not very keen on clicking ads while browsing. Thus, in order to improve the situation and earn more money adware’s developers are using two strategies. First of all, various pop-up ads that are marked as “Ads by PlayGEM”, “PlayGEM ads”,”Powered by PlayGEM”, etc. are displayed in such forms as pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, in-text links, full-page ads, new tab windows, etc. so that users would click on them accidentally. Second of all, this doubtful adware is trying to attract users by displaying customized ads. Nevertheless, don’t fall for this trick because it’s a catch. PlayGEM installs cookies and monitors your search terms; websites visited, data that you entered in certain websites, clicks, and so on. Of course, customized ads may look appealing, but keep in mind that their genuine content may not be reliable. Thus, to prevent these unwanted activities, make sure that you remove PlayGem without a delay. In this particular case, we recommend using FortectIntego.

the picture showing PlayGEM virus

How can PlayGEM hijack my computer?

If you wonder how PlayGEM has infiltrated your computer, we can provide you with a simple explanation – it has tricked you. The official website is no longer active for some reason, so it’s obvious that you could not have installed it by yourself. Actually, like most of the adware, it has probably slithered onto your PC via another freeware that you’ve recently installed. This is so called ‘bundling’ distribution method which allows combining several programs and spreading them in one pack. If you want to prevent bundled installers in the future, you should check Advanced or Custom settings during freeware’s installation and uncheck all components that are spreading alongside it by default. However, if you need PlayGem removal tips, check the next page.

PlayGEM removal options:

If you mind our recommendation to check freeware more carefully in the future, then you will never have to deal with PlayGEM removal again. Since you are suffering from the inconveniences caused by this adware right now, then our suggestion is to remove it. For that, you can either use manual removal option or install a reliable anti-malware and run a full system scan. This procedure will help you to find each of adware’s components, and will also eliminate them for you. To remove PlayGem from the system, we recommend two anti-spyware programs that both showed great results when helping people to fix their computers and eliminate this PUP from their systems.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

  1. Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
  2. Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 10/8

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

  1. Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
  2. In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.Uninstall from Windows 7/XP

Remove the unwanted program:

  1. In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
  2. If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.Uninstall the unwanted program from Windows

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

  1. From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
  2. In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).Uninstall from Mac

Delete leftover files and folders:

  1. Select Go > Go to Folder.
  2. Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
  3. Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.Delete leftover files from Mac
  4. Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Remove from Microsoft Edge

Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:

  1. Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
  2. From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
  3. Click Remove.Remove extensions from Edge

Clear cookies and other browser data:

  1. Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
  2. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  3. Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.Clear Edge browsing data

Restore new tab and homepage settings:

  1. Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
  2. Then find On startup section.
  3. Click Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:

  1. Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
  3. Select Details tab.
  4. Now scroll down and locate every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right-click on each of them and select End Task to stop MS Edge from running.Reset MS Edge

Instructions for Chromium-based Edge

Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):

  1. Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
  2. Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chromium Edge

Clear cache and site data:

  1. Click on Menu and go to Settings.
  2. Select Privacy, search and services.
  3. Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
  4. Under Time range, pick All time.
  5. Select Clear now.Clear browser data from Chroum Edge

Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. On the left side, pick Reset settings.
  3. Select Restore settings to their default values.
  4. Confirm with Reset.
  5. This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.Reset Chromium Edge

Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
  2. Select Add-ons.
  3. In here, select the unwanted extension and click Remove.Remove extensions from Firefox

Reset the homepage:

  1. Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
  2. Choose Settings.
  3. Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

Clear cookies and site data:

  1. Click Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Go to Privacy & Security section.
  3. Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
  4. Click on Clear Data...
  5. Select Cookies and Site Data and Temporary cached files and pages, then click Clear.Clear cookies and site data from Firefox

Reset Mozilla Firefox

If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
  2. Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.Reset Firefox 1
  3. Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox...
  4. Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.Reset Firefox 2

Remove from Google Chrome

Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

  1. Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
  2. In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all suspicious extensions related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.Remove extensions from Chrome

Clear cache and web data from Chrome:

  1. Click on Menu and pick Settings.
  2. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
  3. Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
  4. Click Clear data.Clear cache and web data from Chrome

Change your homepage:

  1. Click menu and choose Settings.
  2. Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
  3. Click on Open a specific or set of pages and click on three dots to find the Remove option.

Reset Google Chrome:

If the previous methods did not help you, reset Google Chrome to eliminate all the unwanted components:

  1. Click on Menu and select Settings.
  2. In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
  3. Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
  4. Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
  5. Confirm with Reset settings.Reset Chrome 2

Delete from Safari

Remove dangerous extensions:

  1. Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
  2. Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.Remove extensions from Safari

Clear history and website data:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
  2. Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.Clear history from Safari

Reset Safari:

  1. Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
  3. From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.Reset Safari

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