IE AntiVirus: what it is and how to remove it

IE AntiVirus is a program that was installed on the PC, most likely together with something else you downloaded. Free software sites and many installers add extra programs on setup pages with pre-ticked boxes, so the extra install looks like your choice even though nobody read the page.

Check the install date in Settings, Apps, Installed apps: the program you installed that day is the probable carrier. If you do not need IE AntiVirus, uninstall it. If it belongs to your hardware or to a program you use, search its exact name and publisher first, because drivers and their tools can have unfamiliar names.

Most unwanted programs arrive through installers, so the fix is in how you install software. Download programs from their official sites or the Microsoft Store, not from download portals or ads above search results. During setup, choose Custom or Advanced installation and untick every extra offer, including browsers, toolbars and optimizers.

Decline update prompts that appear inside other programs unless you know them. In Windows Security, turn on reputation-based protection and potentially unwanted app blocking. These steps would most likely have stopped IE AntiVirus before it reached the app list.

Almost certainly not. Refund calls are a well-known second stage of scareware and tech support scams. The caller says you are owed money, asks you to install a remote access program to "process" it, then opens your online banking, makes it look as if too much was refunded and asks you to send the difference back.

Hang up. Real refunds go back to the card or PayPal account you paid with, through your bank or the payment provider, and never need remote access or a gift card.

Usually not. A thorough clean-up is enough when the offline scan finds nothing afterwards and you do not see IE AntiVirus in the list of installed apps again. A reset is the safer choice if an attacker had remote control, if security tools were switched off, or if detections come back after every clean-up.

Windows 11 can reset itself without a USB stick under Settings > System > Recovery > Reset this PC. Copy documents and photos out first and scan the copies. A reset does not change passwords or undo stolen data, so the account steps still apply.

Because copying the design costs nothing and makes people trust it. The program behind IE AntiVirus in the list of installed apps borrows Windows colours, icons and wording, sometimes even the name of a well-known security brand. None of that gives it access to real security information.

A real alert can be checked in seconds: open Windows Security from the Start menu and look at Protection history. If nothing is listed there, the official-looking window is fake, and the program that draws it is what needs to be removed.

For most home users, yes, especially with Potentially unwanted app blocking turned on in Windows Security > App & browser control > Reputation-based protection settings. That setting blocks many scareware installers before they run.

No security tool stops every scam, though, because programs like IE AntiVirus are usually installed by the user after a frightening message. The habit that helps most is simple: ignore any website or pop-up that claims to have scanned your PC, and never call a number shown in a warning.

Close it in Task Manager first, then uninstall it from Settings > Apps > Installed apps (in Windows 10, Apps & features). If it blocks this or restarts itself, start Windows in Safe Mode, where third-party programs do not start automatically, and uninstall from there.

Afterwards run a Microsoft Defender offline scan and delete any leftover folder named after IE AntiVirus in C:\Program Files or %AppData%. If nothing works, Windows can be reset while keeping your personal files, which removes the program together with any settings it changed.

No. It looks like one, with a shield, a scan and a list of threats, but IE AntiVirus is a rogue antivirus: its scans are designed to find something every time, and every fix leads to a payment page.

A real antivirus detects the same threats consistently, removes them without asking for money first and does not block other security tools. Windows 11 and Windows 10 already include Microsoft Defender in Windows Security, which is enough for most home users. Remove IE AntiVirus and keep Defender on.

Treat it as exposed. The order page belongs to the seller of IE AntiVirus, and you cannot know how the number is stored or shared. Ask your bank for a replacement card, which is usually free, and dispute the original charge as a misrepresented product.

Until the new card arrives, check your account daily for small or foreign transactions. If the bank offers alerts for every card payment, turn them on. Keep the receipt and screenshots, because they support the dispute.

Fortect scans Windows for malware and unwanted programs and repairs the system files and settings they change, and its free scan shows what it finds on your PC before you decide anything.

For IE AntiVirus, follow the plan above as well: the browser steps take back permissions and settings that no scanner treats as a threat, and uninstalling the program that brought it removes the source.

Run Microsoft Defender's full scan and, if anything was found, its offline scan as a second opinion. If the symptoms are gone after the plan and both scans are clean, there is nothing more to do.