Remove Utatity virus (Virus Removal Guide)

Utatity – an adware-type application that generates intrusive ads and actively promotes PUPs

Utatity adware

Utatity (alternative name Utatity not Utility) is the name of an adware-type application developed by Software Informer in 2016. Since it's release, many people expressed concern on various forums about the legitimacy of the tool and its actual purpose. Although the program has a direct download website, it's not introduced in a proper way, except a download link provided and a bunch of recommended installers, including UltimateZip 2007, CompanyLogoDesigner, Magic-i, Sleepy Sound, Convertdoconline, and others.

According to experts, this application belongs to the group of Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) and adware. The grounds of the classification are the following:

The application is distributed bundled with freeware;
Typically, it's a pre-selected additional option disguised under Express installation option;
Upon infiltration, it rewrites default settings of the browser and injects extensions powered by Utatity Software Informer;
It generates intrusive ads and triggers the browser's redirects to irrelevant websites;
It may take advantage of cookies and web beacons to harvest browsing histories.

In fact, the Utatity virus is the most common reference to this application because typically it settles down on machines without asking for the user's permission explicitly and starts running a suspicious utatity.exe file in Task Manager. Besides, people claim that the emergence of this tool among Apps and Programs folder triggered a massive flow of popups marked as “Utatity ads.” In most of the cases, these ads promote unknown applications, software downloads, or commercial content that is prepared on the bases of people's web browsing history.

PUP name	Utatity
Classification	PUP or adware, which may have traits of a browser hijacker^[1]
Also known as	UTATITY NOT UTILITY
Related processes	UTATITY.EXE
Developer	Software Informer
Goals	To promote suspicious third-party software (PUPs and malware mainly)
Symptoms	The presence of this adware may manifest with “Ads by Utatity” or similar intrusive browser-based content. It may also enable an extension that replaces the start page and search provider to Safe Finder.
Removal	We strongly recommend using an automated software utility to get rid of this malware. Eliminating it manually may be difficult due to multiplicity of related files and processes
To fix the damage that PUPs, malware, or viruses initiate on the targeted machine, take advantage of the powerful Fortect Intego repair tool.

Utatity virus is an invasive software that computer users often find on their computers without even downloading it. After a silent infiltration of the system via freeware bundles, the virus modifies Windows Registry^[2] and may possibly add several browser extensions to web browsers to change your homepage (most likely to search.safefinder.com, which produces a lot of sponsored search results) and become able to display intrusive advertisements using your web browsers.

The performance of this application may be highly disruptive as it may send pop-up ads, banners (injected into websites that you visit), interstitial ads, and similar content massively. Some of the ads may be marked as Utatity ads or have no label at all. Nevertheless, they can easily be distinguished from the others as they tend to be more aggressive, i.e. cover the page completely or do not contain a close button. Moreover, most of them promote potentially unwanted programs, such as SearchYA.

Those who have the Utatity app installed on the machine should understand that none of the displayed ads originate from the websites accessed intentionally. These ads are generated by third-party advertising servers that are used for increasing pay-per-click revenue.

Utatity virus removal

In general, Utatity adware is a potentially unwanted program (PUP)^[3], which aims to make a profit by flooding your computer with third-party ads. It's affiliate put much effort to make the adds appealing, thus increasing the chances that the visitor will click in them. Unfortunately, pay-per-click type revenue^[4] is not the sole purpose of this tool.

Utatity virus is also used for promoting other unwanted applications, most of which fall for the category of potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) and adware. It may regularly reroute web browser to the utatity.software.informer.com or other misleading download sites to make you install other intrusive programs. Therefore, it's advisable to get rid of this application ASAP.

On top of the pile of problems it causes, we can add another intolerable feature. It appears that Utatity redirect virus collects various information regarding your browsing habits and stores it on its servers. Later on, it uses such data for market research and also looks at this information to select targeted ads for you. Although this annoying program cannot collect personally-identifiable data, it can harvest IP address, your geolocation details, search queries, browsing history data, information about browser type and OS version you use.

Thus, to recover your PC and protect privacy, we strongly recommend you to remove Utatity virus from your machine. You can use a professional anti-malware application for that or follow the step-by-step tutorial that will explain how to get rid of it manually.

Upon Utatity removal, use Fortect Intego or similar repair utility to revert the changes within Windows Registry and other locations. Recovery of the system is not a must, though it's highly advisable because unwanted programs insert multiple files and eventually cache the machine.

PUPs do not require users' permission for the installation explicitly

If you haven't installed a particular application, it means that your PC lacks protection and you are not well-informed about spyware/malware distribution methods. PUPs (adware, browser hijacker, and similar) are usually circulating on the Internet as freeware components.

Useful-looking download managers, converters, or players spread on third-party download sites tend to contain at least two or three additional installers. Each of them can be seen and deselected; however, most people are not determined to spend more time on freeware installation and opt for Express installation option, which does not disclose pre-selected components. The installation of unwanted tools is granted by default just by clicking the Next button.

If you wish to go around shady software marketing techniques, rely on Custom/Advanced settings^[5], which will let you choose to install or not to install suggested additional third-party software. In other words, you need to decompose software bundles via Advanced or Custom settings if you do not want to install junkware into your computer system without realizing it.

Utatity ads

Take advantage of the professional anti-malware to remove Utatity adware

As we have previously mentioned, it can be hard to remove Utatity virus manually – you will need to configure some settings in Windows Registry and get rid of the whole PUP bundle simultaneusly.

If you are not experienced enough, we recommend choosing automatic Utatity removal option. It lets you delete all critical programs at once, whereas removing PUPs and viruses manually may take a lot more time.

Uninstall from Windows

Uninstall from Windows 10/8:

Type Control Panel into the Windows search box and open the result.
Under Programs, select Uninstall a program.

Uninstall from Windows 7/XP:

Click on Windows Start > Control Panel (Windows XP users should click on Add/Remove Programs).
In Control Panel, select Programs > Uninstall a program.

Remove the unwanted program:

In the Programs and Features window, look for any recently installed suspicious entries, select them, and click Uninstall.
If User Account Control appears, click Yes to confirm, then complete the removal.

Delete from macOS

Remove the unwanted application:

From the menu bar, select Go > Applications.
In the Applications folder, look for any suspicious entries, then drag them to Trash (or right-click and pick Move to Trash).

Delete leftover files and folders:

Select Go > Go to Folder.
Enter /Library/Application Support and remove any suspicious folders related to the unwanted program.
Repeat the same check in the /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons folders, deleting any suspicious entries.
Finally, empty the Trash to permanently remove the leftovers.

Reset Internet Explorer

Remove dangerous add-ons:

Open Internet Explorer, click on the Gear icon (IE menu) on the top-right corner of the browser
Pick Manage Add-ons.
You will see a Manage Add-ons window. Here, look for suspicious plugins. Click on these entries and select Disable.

Change your homepage if it was altered:

Open IE and click on the Gear icon.
Select Internet Options.
In the General tab, delete the Home page address and replace it by your preferred one (for example, Google.com).
Click Apply and then select OK.

Delete temporary files:

Press on the Gear icon and select Internet Options.
Under Browsing history, click Delete...
Select relevant fields and press Delete.

Reset Internet Explorer:

Click on Gear icon > Internet options and select Advanced tab.
Select Reset.
In the new window, check Delete personal settings and select Reset.

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 Remove.

Clear cookies and other browser data:

Click on the Menu (three horizontal dots at the top-right of the browser window) and select Settings > Privacy, search, and services..
Under Clear browsing data, pick Choose what to clear.
Select Cookies and other site data and Cached images and files. (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 Remove next to any suspicious startup page.

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.

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.
This will disable extensions and reset startup pages but will not delete bookmarks, saved passwords, or browsing history.

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 the unwanted extension and click Remove.

Reset the homepage:

Click three horizontal lines at the top right corner to open the menu.
Choose Settings.
Under Home, set your preferred homepage and new tab settings.

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 and Temporary cached files and pages, then click 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 suspicious extensions 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 dangerous extensions:

Open Safari, click Safari in the menu at the top-left of the screen, and select Preferences.
Go to the Extensions tab, look for any suspicious entries, and click Uninstall to remove them.

Clear history and website data:

Click Safari in the menu and pick Clear History.
Set Clear to all history and confirm with Clear History.

Reset Safari:

Click Safari in the menu and select Preferences > Advanced.
Enable Show Develop menu in menu bar.
From the menu bar, click Develop and select Empty Caches.

How to remove Utatity virus

Utatity – an adware-type application that generates intrusive ads and actively promotes PUPs

PUPs do not require users' permission for the installation explicitly