RewardsArcade (Free Instructions)
RewardsArcade Removal Guide
What is RewardsArcade?
RewardsArcade is a browser extension that has been developed by 215 Apps (Awesome Apps / Red Online Marketing Group LP). It is compatible with IE, Google Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla Firefox. The app, in fact, is meant to be entertaining. According to the developer, it is supposed to allow “Play games agains your Facebook friends! Battle your friends over multiplayer games without having to leave Facebook.” Nevertheless, there are some specificities that you should known as they prompt security experts to classify RewardsArcade as ‘adware’ and ‘PUP’ (potentially unwanted program).
RewardsArcade is adware. Why?
Upon testing RewardsArcade add-on, malware specialists have found out that it’s supported by advertising and is inseparable from DropInSavings browser extension. Therefore, if you fall for installing this app on the official website, you will get DropInSavings as an extra component. These two apps are supposed to display advertisements in the websites that people view. This allows third parties to generate pay-per-click revenue and increase web traffic to the websites of affiliates too.
RewardsArcade ads are typically shown as in-text links. Nevertheless, it has been traced that it can also generate pop-up and banner ads. They can be differentiated from the other ads by textual marks like, for example, “Ads by RewardsArcade,” “Brought by RewardsArcade,” “DropInSavings Ads,” and so on. They may be very irritating and disrupt your web browsing activities significantly. However, they are beyond irritation.
It’s important to consider the destination websites that ads by RewardsArcade malware may be linked to. Naturally all ads have to redirect people somewhere. In most of the cases, adware-type programs are set to promote online shops or sites that promote third-party services. Unfortunately, but RewardsArcade redirects can also expose people to domains that may cause online scam or infiltration of other cyber threats. To prevent this from happening, you should never click on the pop-up ads saying that you have to update software (Java, Flash Payer, Download Manager, etc.) or call for remote technical support to fix your PC’s issues.
Also, Rewards Arcade virus is accused of unauthorized injection of tracking cookies and web beacons. The presence of these files allow third parties to collect user’s search queries, pages viewed, data entered while viewing them, PC’s IP address, approximate geo location, email address, and similar non-personal data.
All in all, having all these facts in mind, bypass Rewards Arcade suite 2015 app. In case it has been installed on your web browser by force, don’t let it stay. We would recommend using FortectIntego as it will ensure a full removal of whole package.
How does this PUP travel around the web?
RewardsArcade PUP can be installed manually after downloading it from the official website. By doing this, you will also agree to install DropInSavings ‘shopping assistant’ as these two apps are ALWAYS traveling aside.
In addition to that, you may notice rewardsarcade.exe file running on your PC as if out of nowhere. This scenario is highly probably because these days Rewards Arcade is promoted via software packages. Ate the moment of writing, it spreads around with FLV Player 3.0. Nevertheless, it can be found attached to other freewares too. Thus, to prevent its installation, check free programs by selecting Advanced/Custom installation mode and untick check marks saying that “By clicking “Accept,” I agree to End User License Agreement and Privacy Policy and consent to install RewardsArcade and DropInSavings.”
Easy RewardsArcade removal:
The easiest way to abolish Rewards Arcade malware is to run a full system check with anti-malware. Nevertheless, be wise and select the tool that is trusted and already tested. You can find our recommended apps down below.
If you have determined to get rid of RewardsArcade by yourself, our team has submitted a step-by-step guide that will explain all manual removal peculiarities in a comprehensive manner. Most importantly, make sure that you perform each step in the right order.
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 RewardsArcade. Follow these steps
Uninstall from Windows
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 RewardsArcade 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
Choose a proper web browser and improve your safety with a VPN tool
Online spying has got momentum in recent years and people are getting more and more interested in how to protect their privacy online. One of the basic means to add a layer of security – choose the most private and secure web browser. Although web browsers can't grant full privacy protection and security, some of them are much better at sandboxing, HTTPS upgrading, active content blocking, tracking blocking, phishing protection, and similar privacy-oriented features. However, if you want true anonymity, we suggest you employ a powerful Private Internet Access VPN – it can encrypt all the traffic that comes and goes out of your computer, preventing tracking completely.
Lost your files? Use data recovery software
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To ensure that all the files remain intact, you should prepare regular data backups. You can choose cloud-based or physical copies you could restore from later in case of a disaster. If your backups were lost as well or you never bothered to prepare any, Data Recovery Pro can be your only hope to retrieve your invaluable files.