Remove Surf Secure ads (Simple Removal Guide)
“Ads by Surf Secure,” “Surf Secure deals,” “Surf Secure ads” shop up on my screen the whole time. These ads send me annoying shopping offers and similar unnecessary stuff. How can I get these ads off my screen? They really annoy me!
Why do Surf Secure ads show up on my screen?
If “ads by Surf Secure” started to appear on your computer screen, be careful – it indicates that your computer was hijacked by Surf Secure adware. Of course, this program can be installed by your wish as well. Its download link can also be found on the official website of it. However, in the most of the cases, people complain that this adware application somehow was installed on the computer without their consent. This can happen because this application is mostly spread as an addition to other free programs or shareware. Many computer users tend to trust Default or Standard installation settings – they usually believe that these settings are customized in order to install software safely. Wrong! These settings usually include suggestions to install ‘optional downloads,’ which will be automatically installed together with your preferred program. To refuse to install these additions, you have to opt for Advanced or Custom installation mode. Then, you should receive a list of software recommendations, and you have to deselect the agreements to install them. If you have already noticed the suspicious ads, proceed reading on page 2 to find Surf Secure removal guide.
What happens if Surf Secure hijacks the computer system?
Questions about Surf Secure ads
If this program succeeds to enter your computer seamlessly, it installs Surf Secure extension to your web browser or a few of them, depending on how many different Internet browsers you have installed on your machine. It can affect Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari and other Internet browsers. Once it installs its extension, it starts to track what websites do you go to, what search terms do you use, what links do you click on and similar data. All of this helps Surf Secure PUP (potentially unwanted program) understand your needs and interests. It simply finds out what topics attract you; based on the data collected, it selects advertisements from its server and starts to display them for you in a form of pop-ups or banners placed on the websites that you visit. We strongly recommend not to click on these ads as they can lead you to suspicious third-party websites.
In some cases, clicking on SurfSecure ads might even open pages that you were not expecting to visit; sadly, some of these websites can belong to untrustworthy third-party companies. Keep in mind that such websites sometimes offer to install free apps, updates, or other content for free – we suggest avoiding such proposals as you can never be sure whether the website provides a safe or a malicious file. To stay away from potential dangers to your computer, we do not recommend using Surf Secure software at all. You can remove it manually or with an anti-spyware software. We recommend using one of the following anti-spyware programs:
How to remove it?
For some computer users, software removal process can be an easy task to do. However, not all computer users are experienced, and that is completely normal. That is why we have provided the manual Surf Secure virus removal guide – you can find comprehensive instructions how to get this computer parasite out of the system below the article.
However, we strongly recommend checking your system with an automatic spyware removal tool. Keep in mind that it can detect computer threats that are hard to notice as they tend to function in the background processes silently.
You may remove virus damage with a help of ReimageIntego. 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.
To remove Surf Secure ads, follow these steps:
Erase Surf Secure from Windows systems
To remove Surf Secure ads from Windows 10/8 machines, please follow these steps:
- 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 entries related to Surf Secure ads (or any other recently installed 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 Surf Secure from Mac OS X system
Remove Surf Secure ads from Applications folder:
- From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
- In the Applications folder, look for Surf Secure ads-related entries.
- Click on the app and drag it to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash)
To fully remove Surf Secure ads, 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 related to Surf Secure ads and then delete them.
- Now enter /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders the same way and terminate all the Surf Secure ads-related entries.
Remove Surf Secure ads 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 Surf Secure ads-related 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 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.
Uninstall Surf Secure 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 plugins that are related to Surf Secure ads 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 Options.
- 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
In case Surf Secure ads did not get removed after following the instructions above, 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 – this should complete Surf Secure ads removal.
Get rid of Surf Secure 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 Surf Secure ads 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 like Surf Secure ads 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 Surf Secure ads-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 to complete Surf Secure ads removal.
Erase Surf Secure from Safari
Remove unwanted extensions from Safari:
- Click Safari > Preferences…
- In the new window, pick Extensions.
- Select the unwanted extension related to Surf Secure ads 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 Surf Secure 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: ReimageIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes.
Do not let government spy on you
The government has many issues in regards to tracking users' data and spying on citizens, so you should take this into consideration and learn more about shady information gathering practices. Avoid any unwanted government tracking or spying by going totally anonymous on the internet.
You can choose a different location when you go online and access any material you want without particular content restrictions. You can easily enjoy internet connection without any risks of being hacked by using Private Internet Access VPN.
Control the information that can be accessed by government any other unwanted party and surf online without being spied on. Even if you are not involved in illegal activities or trust your selection of services, platforms, be suspicious for your own security and take precautionary measures by using the VPN service.
Backup files for the later use, in case of the malware attack
Computer users can suffer from data losses due to cyber infections or their own faulty doings. Ransomware can encrypt and hold files hostage, while unforeseen power cuts might cause a loss of important documents. If you have proper up-to-date backups, you can easily recover after such an incident and get back to work. It is also equally important to update backups on a regular basis so that the newest information remains intact – you can set this process to be performed automatically.
When you have the previous version of every important document or project you can avoid frustration and breakdowns. It comes in handy when malware strikes out of nowhere. Use Data Recovery Pro for the data restoration process.
Your opinion regarding Surf Secure ads
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January 18th, 2016 at 9:09 am
These ads used to appear when I opened the Ebay website. I shop there a lot, but could not realize where do these ads come from. My cousin helped me to remove it. You should never install Surf Secure, it is a nerve-wracking program!
January 19th, 2016 at 9:22 am
Ive spotted these advertisements on Amazon
January 18th, 2016 at 9:10 am
SurfSecure installed itself without my permission!!!!
January 18th, 2016 at 9:11 am
So happy to finally get rid of this virus. It delivers an unbelievable number of ads – it is extremely interrupting activity! Is it even a legal program at all?
January 19th, 2016 at 9:25 am
Yup its legal, but that it cant be denied that it is just a crapware that is completely useless