“Positive Ad” pop-up ads. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
Computer users like to browse the Internet without interruptions. However, if they accidentally install an adware program to their computers, the browsing experience can be significantly worsened. Today, we are going to describe the “Positive Ad” adware, which is also a potentially unwanted program (PUP). Read the article to find out how this program works, how does it hijack computers and how to remove it.
How does Positive Ad PUP work?
If “Positive Ad” manages to slither into your computer, it starts its suspicious activities immediately. The first thing that this program does is that it installs dubious browser add-on to every Internet browser that you have on your computer. Once it does that, it gains access to see what websites do you visit, what do you look for on the Internet, what is on your ‘Bookmarks’ list, what is your IP address and gathers other similar information about your browsing habits. However, that is not the last unusual thing that this software does.
Based on this information, this adware parasite starts to send endless pop-up ads and banners for you. These ads can randomly show up in separate browser windows or new tabs or be injected into the websites that you visit. Of course, these ads are extremely annoying. What is more, they are worthless! We have investigated this program and revealed the truth about it – it functions only to generate web traffic to predetermined web domains. These web domains belong to companies that sponsor Positive Ad adware. This is how the developers of this rogue app generate pay-per-click or pay-per-install revenue – they get payment for each user that installs the suggested software or clicks on Positive Ad ads and visits sponsors’ sites by force.
Questions about “Positive Ad” pop-up ads
Usually, this program sends offers to install media players, Java updates, and other applications, but you might also receive shopping related content – coupons, discount codes, price comparisons and so on. Be careful and bypass ‘ads by Positive Ad’ proposals, because these ads can convince you to install questionable software that might be dangerous; moreover, other ads can cause redirects to doubtfully reliable third-party websites, and such web sources can be hazardous. Computer experts do not recommend surfing on them. You might click an infectious link accidentally, and that can result in an execution of an infectious program. If you do not want to expose your computer to such risks, we recommend removing the adware program, which sends you these ads. You can remove Positive Ad adware with an anti-spyware software, for example, Reimage.
How did Positive Ad hijack my computer?
Potentially unwanted software is mostly spread via bundling. This distribution method is frequently used by the developers of various adware, browser hijackers, and other suspicious freeware. All you need to know is that such questionable apps can be attached to other, legitimate and popular free programs as ‘recommended downloads.’ In most of the cases, such suggestions to install them are hidden behind Standard or Default installation option. To refuse to install such apps, you should opt for Advanced or Custom mode instead, and then opt out the agreements to install the ‘recommended downloads.’ This way, you will install only the free program that you wanted to get, without any suspicious additions.
If Positive Ad has stepped into your computer system already, and if you want to get rid of it and its annoying ads, continue reading the article on page 2.
How to remove this annoying adware program?
Positive Ad virus is extremely intrusive. It does not only deliver ads and collect information about your browsing habits, but it also slows down the computer performance as it uses system resources to run its processes in the background. There are no reasons to keep this parasite installed on your system; that is why we recommend removing it. You can uninstall it by yourself if you prefer to apply a manual removal technique. If you wish to delete this program automatically, use one of the anti-spyware software that we recommend:
You can remove virus damage automatically with a help of one of these programs: Reimage, Malwarebytes MalwarebytesCombo Cleaner, Plumbytes Anti-MalwareMalwarebytes Malwarebytes. We recommend these applications because they detect potentially unwanted programs and viruses with all their files and registry entries that are related to them.
To remove “Positive Ad” pop-up ads, follow these steps:
Get rid of “Positive Ad” pop-up from Windows systems
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Click Start → Control Panel → Programs and Features (if you are Windows XP user, click on Add/Remove Programs).
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If you are Windows 10 / Windows 8 user, then right-click in the lower left corner of the screen. Once Quick Access Menu shows up, select Control Panel and Uninstall a Program.
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Uninstall “Positive Ad” pop-up and related programs
Here, look for “Positive Ad” pop-up or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
Eliminate “Positive Ad” pop-up from Mac OS X system
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If you are using OS X, click Go button at the top left of the screen and select Applications.
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Wait until you see Applications folder and look for “Positive Ad” pop-up or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Uninstall “Positive Ad” pop-up from Internet Explorer (IE)
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Remove dangerous add-ons
Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top right corner of the browser and choose Manage Add-ons. -
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for “Positive Ad” pop-up and other suspicious plugins. Disable these entries by clicking Disable:
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Change your homepage if it was altered by virus:
Click on the gear icon (menu) on the top right corner of the browser and select Internet Options. Stay in General tab. -
Here, remove malicious URL and enter preferable domain name. Click Apply to save changes.
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Reset Internet Explorer
Click on the gear icon (menu) again and select Internet options. Go to Advanced tab. - Here, select Reset.
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When in the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset again to complete “Positive Ad” pop-up removal.
Remove “Positive Ad” pop-up ads from Microsoft Edge
Reset Microsoft Edge settings (Method 1):
- Launch Microsoft Edge app and click More (three dots at the top right corner of the screen).
- Click Settings to open more options.
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Once Settings window shows up, click Choose what to clear button under Clear browsing data option.
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Here, select all what you want to remove and click Clear.
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Now you should right-click on the Start button (Windows logo). Here, select Task Manager.
- When in Processes tab, search for Microsoft Edge.
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Right-click on it and choose Go to details option. If can’t see Go to details option, click More details and repeat previous steps.
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When Details tab shows up, find every entry with Microsoft Edge name in it. Right click on each of them and select End Task to end these entries.
Resetting Microsoft Edge browser (Method 2):
If Method 1 failed to help you, you need to use an advanced Edge reset method.
- Note: you need to backup your data before using this method.
- Find this folder on your computer:
C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe.
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Select every entry which is saved on it and right click with your mouse. Then Delete option.
- Click the Start button (Windows logo) and type in window power in Search my stuff line.
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Right-click the Windows PowerShell entry and choose Run as administrator.
- Once Administrator: Windows PowerShell window shows up, paste this command line after PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> and press Enter:
Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers -Name Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register $($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml -Verbose}
Once these steps are finished, “Positive Ad” pop-up should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariErase “Positive Ad” pop-up from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
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Remove dangerous extensions
Open Mozilla Firefox, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Add-ons → Extensions. -
Here, select “Positive Ad” pop-up and other questionable plugins. Click Remove to delete these entries.
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Reset Mozilla Firefox
Click on the Firefox menu on the top left and click on the question mark. Here, choose Troubleshooting Information. -
Now you will see Reset Firefox to its default state message with Reset Firefox button. Click this button for several times and complete “Positive Ad” pop-up removal.
Delete “Positive Ad” pop-up from Google Chrome
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Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions. -
Here, select “Positive Ad” pop-up and other malicious plugins and select trash icon to delete these entries.
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Click on menu icon again and choose Settings → Manage Search engines under the Search section.
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When in Search Engines..., remove malicious search sites. You should leave only Google or your preferred domain name.
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Reset Google Chrome
Click on menu icon on the top right of your Google Chrome and select Settings. -
Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Reset browser settings.
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Click Reset to confirm this action and complete “Positive Ad” pop-up removal.
Get rid of “Positive Ad” pop-up from Safari
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Remove dangerous extensions
Open Safari web browser and click on Safari in menu at the top left of the screen. Once you do this, select Preferences. -
Here, select Extensions and look for “Positive Ad” pop-up or other suspicious entries. Click on the Uninstall button to get rid each of them.
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Reset Safari
Open Safari browser and click on Safari in menu section at the top left of the screen. Here, select Reset Safari.... -
Now you will see a detailed dialog window filled with reset options. All of those options are usually checked, but you can specify which of them you want to reset. Click the Reset button to complete “Positive Ad” pop-up removal process.