App Square “Virus” Pop-ups Removal

Can’t Remove App Square ads? This page includes detailed ads by App Square Removal instructions!

App Square is yet another adware. This parasite follows programming to open your web browsers to surveillance and targeted ads. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera. There is no immune program. The adware corrupts your favorite apps and throws you into a whirlwind of issues. This sneaky invader studies your online habits and uses the collected data for customized advertising. In theory, if you enter “sneakers” into a search engine, the adware should display ads for sports shoes. In practice, though, the parasite floods you with countless ads for sports gear. As well as sells the collected information to third parties. App Square is a complete and utter menace. It uses every opportunity to generate revenue. It bombards you with ads and sells your personal information. Do you think that ends well? Anyone willing to pay can use this aggressive menace and its resources. Numerous crooks take advantage. Do not test your luck. This sneaky adware has no place on your system. Its advertising strategies are unethical at best. At worst, they promote criminal activities. Spare yourself many future headaches. Remove this invader before it gets a chance to get you in trouble. Find where App Square lurks and delete it upon detection. The sooner you clean your system, the better!

How did I get infected with?

App Square doesn’t target individual users. No, this parasite has other plans. The adware employs mass distribution methods to reach a broad spectrum of potential victims. It uses torrents, fake updates, corrupted links, spam messages, and malicious bundles. These methods, however, install the parasite only when you (the user) give into naivety. Do not make that mistake. No anti-virus app can protect you if you toss caution to the wind. Only your actions can keep your system infection-free. Always keep your guard up! Don’t visit questionable websites. Download software from reliable sources only. And don’t skip installation steps. Forget about the “Next-Next-Finish” strategy. More often than not, the apps we download off the Web come bundled with unwanted bonus apps. If you rush, if you don’t pay attention to the installation process, you are very likely to install dangerous extras. Do not test your luck. When available, use the advanced/custom setup option. Under it, you would be able to deselect all unwanted extras. Make sure you know what you install. Read the terms and conditions before you agree to them. If you cannot spare enough time to go through the whole document, scan it with an online EULA analyzer. Even a little extra caution can spare you an avalanche of problems. Opt out of the installation if you notice anything suspicious!

Why is this dangerous?

Whether you type a search query or browse your favorite website, App Square always finds a way to annoy you. This parasite follows you around the Web and throws ads at you. It injects in-text and banner ads on every website you visit. Even web pages that used to be ad-free get heavy on coupons and discounts. New tabs open every time you so much as type a search query. Pop-ups and notifications cover your screen when you open your browser. That’s the nature of the adware. It uses every opportunity to interrupt you with adverts. Click nothing, though. Everything “Powered by App Square” is unreliable and potentially dangerous. The adware is not a safe application. It has no filters nor security mechanisms. As long as it gets its fees, anyone can use it to promote. Thus, it’s no surprise that numerous crooks take advantage. They use the adware to spread deceptive content. The crooks flood your browser with irresistible ads. They show you what you want to see, but when you click, bad things happen. These criminals redirect web traffic to deceptive, phishing, and corrupted websites. They use the adware to target you. Do not risk ending up in their online traps. Remove App Square the first chance you get!

How to Remove App Square virus

The App Square infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the App Square infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down App Square in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate App Square startup location

STEP 3: Delete App Square traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down App Square in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate App Square startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean App Square virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

STEP 3 : Clean App Square traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the App Square by clicking on the little recycle bin
• Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

• Open Mozilla Firefox

• Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
• Disable the unwanted Extension
• Go to Help
• Then Troubleshoot information
• Click on Reset Firefox

• Open Internet Explorer

• On the Upper Right Corner Click on the Gear Icon
• Click on Internet options
• go to Toolbars and Extensions and disable the unknown extensions
• Select the Advanced tab and click on Reset

• Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by App Square

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for App Square, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

You must clean all your browser shortcuts as well. To do that you need to

• Right click on the shortcut of your favorite browser and then select properties.

• in the target field remove App Square argument and then apply the changes.
• Repeat that with the shortcuts of your other browsers.
• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove App Square Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your system and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible registry leftovers or temporary files.