Probably, every user has encountered the fact that his computer, at startup, automatically loads a browser in which obscure links open. Also, there are often cases when blocks of an obscene nature or containing spam appear on social networks or on the pages of decent content sites. What does this mean and how dangerous is this for your computer?
Internet advertising - what is it like?
Advertising on website pages can be different:
- Contextual advertising that appears in certain places on the site, designed specifically for the location of such advertising. It practically does not interfere and can be blocked by special extensions - anti-banners.
- Ads that appear where they shouldn't be. Ads are not blocked by extensions and when you try to close the block manually, a new tab with ads opens.
- Advertising that appears in new tabs when the browser is launched.
The second and third types of ads are very annoying to users, as they appear wherethey should not be and it is difficult to deal with them - by closing the tab, you cannot protect yourself from the fact that it does not appear again. Why is this happening and how can I prevent new tabs from opening with ads?
The cause is a virus
Undoubtedly, many users, when they constantly open tabs with ads, scan their computer for viruses and check autoload. Most often, in such cases, the antivirus program does not detect anything, and there is nothing suspicious or superfluous in autoloads. But the problem with the appearance of new tabs is and does not disappear anywhere. If the antivirus did not find problems, then there are no viruses, but what is it then?
In fact, this is the result of the presence of a kind of "pest". Antivirus programs do not see it due to the fact that it is registered directly in the browser.
He can appear in different ways. Sometimes tabs with ads open after installing software from a suspicious developer. Other elements may be included in the installation files of such software, so it is very important to pay attention to the whole process during the installation of such programs and note that in addition to the necessary programs, it is proposed to install and uncheck the corresponding items in time.
How to get rid of intrusive ads?
If ads started appearing after software from an unverified developer was installed, it wasit would be logical to simply remove the program and all the elements that were installed with it. But, as practice shows, this does not solve the problem, and tabs with ads still open. You can solve the issue in the following ways:
- change web browser shortcut properties;
- use appropriate utilities.
Browser shortcut settings and changing them
The information is relevant for various browsers: "Google Chrome", "Mazila", "Safari", "Opera". An advertisement tab opens due to the properties of the browser shortcut being changed. The antivirus will not be able to determine this, so you will have to check and fix everything manually.
Check if this is the reason for the appearance of new tabs, perhaps in the following way:
- Find a browser shortcut on your desktop.
- Right click on the shortcut to open the context menu and select "Properties".
- In the window that appears, pay attention to the line "Object" - the path to the browser should be written there. If after the browser name and extension (the extension must be.exe) there is an address of any site, then the problem is changing the shortcut parameters.
Simply deleting what is written after the location of the browser in the "Object" line will not work - the operating system blocks such editing. But there is a solution. To do this, do the following:
- Open file location. There is a button in the properties of the label"File Location", it will help you quickly navigate to the right place.
- Find the "Internet browser application" file in the list that opens.
- Select it and call the context menu with the right mouse button.
- In the context menu, find "Send to"=> "Desktop" (create a shortcut).
- Delete the old shortcut from the desktop.
- After the done actions, check the properties of the new label. The string object must end with the name of the browser with the application extension.
Note: if the old shortcut was pinned to the taskbar, remove it from there and pin the new shortcut.
After performing these actions, the browser opens its start page after launch.
Utilities to fight ads in new tabs
In order not to do all the work to detect and remove viruses manually, use special utilities. These programs are able to find what your antivirus missed and fix the problem that opens tabs with ads.
In order to check the computer, install the program and then start scanning. There are free versions of such utilities and paid ones with a trial period. One such free program is Malwarebytes Antimalware. It is easy to use and does not conflict with antivirus software.
No matter how good the utilities are, they are not always able to solve such problems, and therefore you have to manually do everything yourself. Sometimes evenyou need to demolish all browsers and install them again.
By the way, reinstalling the web browser does not always help. Why does a tab with ads open after reinstallation? Most likely, during uninstallation, hidden folders in which viruses were preserved were not deleted. You can find them at "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\", as well as "C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\".
How to protect yourself from such problems
Some preventive maintenance reduces the risk of difficulties resulting in tabs opening with ads. First of all, you need to pay attention to the antivirus that is installed on the computer. Ideally, this should be a licensed version with the latest updates. Secondly, you should not download and install software from unverified developers. If, nevertheless, there is no other way out, follow the installation process and prevent the installation of unnecessary objects.
Timely check and prevention is the best protection of your computer from malware.
