“Windows PC Repair” virus. How to remove? (Uninstall guide)
Fake “Windows PC Repair” pop-ups are triggered by an adware
”Windows PC Repair” is a fake security warning informing about unknown malware infection. However, this alert is just a scareware[1] used as a shady marketing tool to promote the PC Repair tool. These notifications are typically triggered by an adware[2] program.
“Windows PC Repair” virus mostly affects Windows 7 OS users in teh U.S. However, we have received several reports about the same issue on Windows 10 in European countries, including Intaly, Spain, the Netherlands[3] and others.
This potentially unwanted program (PUP) usually spreads with freeware and shareware.[4] Thus, it can infiltrate the system silently. Once it’s done, it starts display intrusive ads, pop-ups and causes other browsing-related problems.
A few Internet ads here and there do not raise too much concern, but Windows PC Repair ads bring online marketing to another level. And we do not mean that in a positive sense. Thus, allowing it run on your computer can have some serious consequences. Don’t fret; you probably will not lose your files or have your whole operating system rigged.
Nevertheless, this virus may sure embitter your browsing experience. Users complain that windows 7 pc repair keeps popping up and they cannot escape this extensive advertising. Indeed, ads will pop up on random sites, disrupting your usual browsing, overlaying the original content of the websites you are visiting and offering you to obtain various products or services.
Some of these offered goods may be purely legitimate, but practice shows that adware developers often include some questionable parties in the list of their affiliates as well. There is always a risk that these parties offer malicious services which can damage your computer, but the Windows PC Repair removal can help to reduce it. Scan your device with Reimage and stop the adware from taking control.
The majority of redirects and ads are designed to trick people into downloading this questionable windows computer repair tool. However, if you would read one or another windows pc repair tool review online, you would find out that this program is useless. It goes without saying that you should not be tricked by this scam and just get rid of the annoying adware. We can assure that you don’t need a help from questionable windows 7 pc repair tool.
Ads by Windows PC Repair can be injected on every browser that is installed your computer at the time of infection. Edge, Firefox, Google Chrome and Internet Explorer can also start working really slow and often crash due to the extra load from the multiple ads they have to display. Also, system malfunction[5] can occur due to the poor programming of the virus.
But the most dangerous aspect of this adware infection is the Windows PC Repair redirect issue. As we have already pointed out, various software, products or sites can be promoted in the ads this adware generates. But the problem is that instead of transferring directly to a product-related site, the virus often redirects users through completely different domains which can even be infectious.
So, you can never know if you will not be offered to obtain some corrupt version of a completely legitimate product. Having all these risks in mind, we suggest the users who are seeing these pop-ups to remove Windows PC Repair from their computers without hesitation.
Click 'Start -> Control Panel -> Programs and Features' (if you are 'Windows XP' user, click on 'Add/Remove Programs').
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'.
Right click on each of suspicious entries and select 'Uninstall'
Cick 'Go' and select 'Applications'
Click on every malicious entry and select 'Move to Trash'
Click on menu icon and select 'Manage add-ons'
Right click on each of malicious entries and select 'Disable'
Delete malicious URL, enter your desired domain name and click 'Apply' to save changes
Go to 'Advanced' tab and click on 'Reset' button. Now select 'Delete personal settings' and click on 'Reset' button again
Go to Settings and select 'Choose what to clear'
Select 'Clear' button
Open the start menu and select 'Task Manager'
Right-click 'Microsoft Edge' and select 'Go to details'
Select 'More details' if 'Go to details' option fails to show up
Find Microsoft Edge entries and select 'End Task'
Go to Microsoft Edge folder on your computer, right-click every entry and click 'Delete'
Find Windows PowerShell, right-click it and select 'Run as administrator'
Copy and paste a required command and press 'Enter'
Click on menu icon and select 'Add-ons'
Select 'Extensions' and look for malicious entries. Click 'Remove' to get rid of each of them
Click on menu icon and then on '?'. Select 'Troubleshooting Information'
Click on 'Reset Firefox' button for a couple of times
Click on menu icon. Select 'Tools' and 'Extensions'
Look for malicious entries and delete each of them by clicking on the Trash bin icon
When in 'Settings', select 'Manage search engines...'
Click 'X' to remove malicious URLs
When in 'Settings', scroll down to 'Reset browser settings' button and click on it
Click on 'Reset' button to complete your removal
Click on 'Safari' and select 'Preferences'
Go to 'Extensions' and uninstall malicious add-ons
Click on 'Safari' and select 'Reset Safari...'
Select all options and click on 'Reset' button
Infiltration methods of the adware
If you are wondering how this PUP entered your PC, think about your browsing habits. Downloading freeware and shareware applications or watching some ripped movies once in a while might be the source of your problems. Free applications and peer-to-peer downloads are often bundled with potentially unwanted programs because it is probably the easiest way of spreading them around.
The malware developers are good at hiding these programs in software installers, so the users do not even have to know they agree to install a potentially dangerous program on their computers. But you do not necessarily have to let Windows PC Repair or any other malware take over your computer.
You can stop it on the threshold by opting out its installation via the advanced installation settings. When you run the program, choose “Advanced” or “Custom” modes and install your desired programs safely.
“Windows PC Repair” virus removal from Windows
If you cannot escape annoying pop-ups and redirects promoting this questionable tool, you came to the right place. Our team of experts have already taken a good look at this program and have created a tutorial featuring several methods which can be applied for the Windows PC Repair removal.
These methods are described step-by-step at the end of this article. It doesn’t matter if you got infected with windows 10 pc repair virus or you are dealing with adware in Windows 7, 8 or even XP. This PUP can be eliminated using the same methods.
However, if you do not wish to waste your time with this clingy infection which often tends to bounce back to the browser if not deleted properly, have your anti-malware utility to remove it. Select a full system scan option and remove Windows PC Repair once and for all.
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 “Windows PC Repair” virus, follow these steps:
Erase “Windows PC Repair” from Windows systems
In order to get rid of the adware from Windows OS manually, you have to follow these steps:
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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 “Windows PC Repair” and related programs
Here, look for “Windows PC Repair” or any other recently installed suspicious programs. -
Uninstall them and click OK to save these changes.
Uninstall “Windows PC Repair” 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 “Windows PC Repair” or any other suspicious programs on it. Now right click on every of such entries and select Move to Trash.
Eliminate “Windows PC Repair” from Internet Explorer (IE)
Check Internet Explorer for virus-related entries.
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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 “Windows PC Repair” 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 “Windows PC Repair” removal.
Remove “Windows PC Repair” virus from Microsoft Edge
If you suffer from “Windows PC Repair” pop-ups, follow these steps to fix 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. -
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, “Windows PC Repair” should be removed from your Microsoft Edge browser.
WindowsMac OS XInternet ExplorerMicrosoft EdgeFirefoxGoogle ChromeSafariGet rid of “Windows PC Repair” from Mozilla Firefox (FF)
Remove all suspicious extensions from the Mozilla Firefox and reset the browser as shown below.
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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 “Windows PC Repair” 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 “Windows PC Repair” removal.
Delete “Windows PC Repair” from Google Chrome
Follow the steps below to uninstall all suspicious components that might be related to Windows PC Repair malware:
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Delete malicious plugins
Open Google Chrome, click on the menu icon (top right corner) and select Tools → Extensions. -
Here, select “Windows PC Repair” 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 “Windows PC Repair” removal.
Erase “Windows PC Repair” 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 “Windows PC Repair” 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 “Windows PC Repair” removal process.
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References
- ^ Margaret Rouse. Scareware. TechTarget. Tech terms dictionary and technology-related blogs network.
- ^ Adware. Wikipedia. The free encyclopedia.
- ^ ZonderVirus. ZonderVirus. Recent cyber security news for Danish computer users.
- ^ Shareware & Freeware. Russ Harvey. Russ Harvey Consulting Computer & Internet Services.
- ^ System malfunction. IBM. The official IBM website.