Flash Player Pro virus (Free Instructions) - Aug 2017 update
Flash Player Pro virus Removal Guide
What is Flash Player Pro virus?
Flash Player Pro malware finds new ways to target netizens
Flash Player Pro virus pretends to be a fake application of the original Adobe Flash Player. According to security experts, it is spread via fake notifications: “Flash Player Update!,” “Download Flash Player Pro”, “Your Flash Player may be out of date. Please update to continue,” “A Flash Player Update is Required to View this Content”, etc.
Typically, the pop-ups appear when a user tries to play the video on the Internet or download some kind of program to the system. Sometimes such notifications can be simply turned off by exiting the tab. Otherwise, if you switch to another site and it still prompts you to install Flash Player Pro, it suggests that the browser has been plagued with adware.
Note that the title highly resembles the original title of the application. If you are wondering what is Flash Player Pro, it is the adware program created for the purposes of deceiving users and directing them to specific domains. Originally, adware programs:
- display pop-up alerts
- direct users to specific sponsored web pages
- offer to install questionable or even malicious add-ons
One of the main hints suggesting the suspicious origin of the tool is the URL domain name. Note that Adobe Flash Player can be downloaded or update via www.adobe.com. You should not download anything which is promoted by apis.googlesupport(…) or other domain with a random and long page name.
Additionally, you may notice that the name of the extension slightly differs as well. Is Flash Player safe? The original application is not related to these adware variations in any way.
Though the very software is safe, indeed, its vulnerabilities have encouraged malware developers to target it constantly. If you notice the commercial offers of this PUP, initiate Flash Player Pro malware removal. FortectIntego or Malwarebytes will assist you in the process.
Adobe Flash Player – inspiration for cyber criminals
It is no news that the latter browser plug-in has been targeted by cyber crooks multiple times already.[1] Due to its widespread use, even authors of more menacing virtual threats have been exploiting it.[2] Furthermore, since it is constantly updated[3], racketeers make advantage of it as well. Thus, you may notice such adware variations as Flash Player Pro v5.4, etc.
If you install such adware extension, you may soon witness a series of the bothersome phenomenon. Besides already mentioned Flash Player Pro redirect issue and pop-up issues, you may notice that the toolbar is gradually filled up with questionable add-ons.
Furthermore, you may dislike the fact that your online activity is constantly surveyed by the web scripts of this PUP. depending on what sort of Adobe Flash Player Pro adware resides on the system, not only your non-personal information may be transferred to third parties, but your personal details might be leaked as well. Thus, make a rush to remove Flash Player Pro. Flash Player Pro update ads might pop up in any movie streaming or torrent sharing site as well.
Ways how to prevent the infiltration of PUPs
The PUP might be distributed via adware-type applications, especially the ones promoted on the websites, such as treyeats.com, update91.com, updateplayers.com/flash/, overcrowded with fake download buttons. Alternatively, you may encounter “Flash Player Pro hijack” when you visit one of the mentioned sites and click on the link provided there. If you get directed to the site which advertises questionable virus scanners, you are also likely to encounter the PUP.
If you get directed to the site which advertises questionable virus scanners, you are also likely to encounter the PUP. In lower the risk of encountering such PUPs, anti-malware tools will come in handy. When you download any applications, make sure you choose “Advanced” method. It will disclose optional programs and you will be able to cease the irrelevant add-ons before they enter the system.
Eliminate Flash Player Pro elements
You can successfully get rid of the adware scripts by clearing the browser cache files., cookies and web scripts. You can do so by following manual Flash Player Pro removal guidelines or you can opt for a faster solution – run the scan with malware elimination tool. It will also come in handy dealing with more elaborate threats.
Note that original Adobe Flash Player update notifications pop-up right after Windows or Mac OS logs in. You should treat all such Flash Player Pro ads and similar alerts as fake if they emerge only after you visit a respective site. This adware does not have preferences on its targets, so either you are a Chinese netizen[4] or Portuguese, you should be vigilant for the similar adware lurking on the Web.
You may remove virus damage with a help of FortectIntego. SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner and Malwarebytes are recommended to detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
Getting rid of Flash Player Pro virus. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
If you notice that similar Flash Player Pro popups only plague one browser, clean it with the assistance of malware elimination utility or reset the browser settings. More information on how to perform it on each browser is displayed in the instructions provided below the browser headlines.
Instructions for Windows 10/8 machines:
- Enter Control Panel into Windows search box and hit Enter or click on the search result.
- Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.
- From the list, find the entry of the suspicious program.
- Right-click on the application and select Uninstall.
- If User Account Control shows up, click Yes.
- Wait till uninstallation process is complete and click OK.
If you are Windows 7/XP user, proceed with the following instructions:
- Click on Windows Start > Control Panel located on the right pane (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
- In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.
- Pick the unwanted application by clicking on it once.
- At the top, click Uninstall/Change.
- In the confirmation prompt, pick Yes.
- Click OK once the removal process is finished.
Delete from macOS
Remove items from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for all related entries.
- Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)
To fully remove an unwanted app, you need to access Application Support, LaunchAgents, and LaunchDaemons folders and delete relevant files:
- Select Go > Go to Folder.
- Enter /Library/Application Support and click Go or press Enter.
- In the Application Support folder, look for any dubious entries and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the related .plist files.
Remove from Microsoft Edge
Delete unwanted extensions from MS Edge:
- Select Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and pick Extensions.
- From the list, pick the extension and click on the Gear icon.
- Click on Uninstall at the bottom.
Clear cookies and other browser data:
- Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Privacy & security.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Select everything (apart from passwords, although you might want to include Media licenses as well, if applicable) and click on Clear.
Restore new tab and homepage settings:
- Click the menu icon and choose Settings.
- Then find On startup section.
- Click Disable if you found any suspicious domain.
Reset MS Edge if the above steps did not work:
- Press on Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
- Click on More details arrow at the bottom of the window.
- Select Details tab.
- 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.
If this solution failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method. Note that you need to backup your data before proceeding.
- Find the following folder on your computer: C:\\Users\\%username%\\AppData\\Local\\Packages\\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
- Press Ctrl + A on your keyboard to select all folders.
- Right-click on them and pick Delete
- Now right-click on the Start button and pick Windows PowerShell (Admin).
- When the new window opens, copy and paste the following command, and then press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register “$($_.InstallLocation)\\AppXManifest.xml” -Verbose
Instructions for Chromium-based Edge
Delete extensions from MS Edge (Chromium):
- Open Edge and click select Settings > Extensions.
- Delete unwanted extensions by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and site data:
- Click on Menu and go to Settings.
- Select Privacy, search and services.
- Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
- Under Time range, pick All time.
- Select Clear now.
Reset Chromium-based MS Edge:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- On the left side, pick Reset settings.
- Select Restore settings to their default values.
- Confirm with Reset.
Remove from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove dangerous extensions:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click on the Menu (three horizontal lines at the top-right of the window).
- Select Add-ons.
- In here, select unwanted plugin and click Remove.
Reset the homepage:
- Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
- Choose Options.
- Under Home options, enter your preferred site that will open every time you newly open the Mozilla Firefox.
Clear cookies and site data:
- Click Menu and pick Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security section.
- Scroll down to locate Cookies and Site Data.
- Click on Clear Data…
- Select Cookies and Site Data, as well as Cached Web Content and press Clear.
Reset Mozilla Firefox
If clearing the browser as explained above did not help, reset Mozilla Firefox:
- Open Mozilla Firefox browser and click the Menu.
- Go to Help and then choose Troubleshooting Information.
- Under Give Firefox a tune up section, click on Refresh Firefox…
- Once the pop-up shows up, confirm the action by pressing on Refresh Firefox.
Remove from Google Chrome
Delete malicious extensions from Google Chrome:
- Open Google Chrome, click on the Menu (three vertical dots at the top-right corner) and select More tools > Extensions.
- In the newly opened window, you will see all the installed extensions. Uninstall all the suspicious plugins that might be related to the unwanted program by clicking Remove.
Clear cache and web data from Chrome:
- Click on Menu and pick Settings.
- Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.
- Select Browsing history, Cookies and other site data, as well as Cached images and files.
- Click Clear data.
Change your homepage:
- Click menu and choose Settings.
- Look for a suspicious site in the On startup section.
- 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:
- Click on Menu and select Settings.
- In the Settings, scroll down and click Advanced.
- Scroll down and locate Reset and clean up section.
- Now click Restore settings to their original defaults.
- Confirm with Reset settings.
Delete from Safari
Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension and select Uninstall.
Clear cookies and other website data from Safari:
- Click Safari > Clear History…
- From the drop-down menu under Clear, pick all history.
- Confirm with Clear History.
Reset Safari if the above-mentioned steps did not help you:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- Go to Advanced tab.
- Tick the Show Develop menu in menu bar.
- From the menu bar, click Develop, and then select Empty Caches.
After uninstalling this potentially unwanted program (PUP) and fixing each of your web browsers, we recommend you to scan your PC system with a reputable anti-spyware. This will help you to get rid of Flash Player Pro registry traces and will also identify related parasites or possible malware infections on your computer. For that you can use our top-rated malware remover: FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
How to prevent from getting adware
Access your website securely from any location
When you work on the domain, site, blog, or different project that requires constant management, content creation, or coding, you may need to connect to the server and content management service more often. The best solution for creating a tighter network could be a dedicated/fixed IP address.
If you make your IP address static and set to your device, you can connect to the CMS from any location and do not create any additional issues for the server or network manager that needs to monitor connections and activities. VPN software providers like Private Internet Access can help you with such settings and offer the option to control the online reputation and manage projects easily from any part of the world.
Recover files after data-affecting malware attacks
While much of the data can be accidentally deleted due to various reasons, malware is one of the main culprits that can cause loss of pictures, documents, videos, and other important files. More serious malware infections lead to significant data loss when your documents, system files, and images get encrypted. In particular, ransomware is is a type of malware that focuses on such functions, so your files become useless without an ability to access them.
Even though there is little to no possibility to recover after file-locking threats, some applications have features for data recovery in the system. In some cases, Data Recovery Pro can also help to recover at least some portion of your data after data-locking virus infection or general cyber infection.
- ^ Rene Millman. Recently patched Flash Player sandbox leaks Windows credentials. SCMedia. The cyber security source.
- ^ Jeremy Kirk. The latest Flash zero-day was used to spread Cerber ransomware. PCWorld. News tips, reviews from the experts on PCs, Windows and more .
- ^ Brian Krebs. Flash Player is Dead, Long Live Flash Player!. KrebsOnSecurity. In-depth security news and investigation.
- ^ Eliminate computer viruses. Wubingdu. Security and spyware news in Chinese.