Remove Ads by Free “Virus” (Firefox/Chrome/IE)

Can’t Remove Ads by Free ads? This page includes detailed ads by Ads by Free Removal instructions!

Ads by Free is a nasty parasite. It sneaks into your computer and wreaks havoc. Do not panic! This intruder falls under the adware category. It’s an aggressive ad-generating tool. The adware is so intrusive and aggressive that it’s often referred to as a “virus.” Luckily, it’s not. The Ads by Free adware cannot corrupt your entire system. It limits its influence to your web browsers only. Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, Edge, there is no immune program. The adware infects your installed browsers and takes control of your browsing experience. This intruder uses a pay-per-click scheme to generate revenue. Basically, it gets paid when you click on its ads. And so, it drowns you in a sea of advertisements. The Ads by Free parasite injects various coupons and discounts on every web page you load. It is also capable of redirecting your web traffic to sponsored platforms. The intruder goes as far as to pause your online videos for commercial breaks! The Ads by Free adware knows no boundaries. This parasite tends to get more and more aggressive with each passing day. Given enough time, it gets out of control. Do not let this scenario unfold. Your best course of action is its immediate removal. The sooner it’s gone, the better!

How did I get infected with?

The Ads by Free adware did not hack your computer. It is not that advanced. The parasite is a simple application. And, just like any other app, it must follow certain rules. No app can get installed without your, the user’s, approval. No permission, no admission. As you can imagine, the crooks have found a way around the rule. They use trickery to steal your approval. The Ads by Free adware, just like many other parasites, travels hidden in software bundles, torrents, and fake updates. All it needs to succeed is one second of carelessness. Don’t make its job easy. Even a little extra caution is enough to prevent such infections. Download your software from reputable sources only. Pay close attention to all installation processes. When available, select the Advanced setup option. If additional apps are about to be installed, deselect them. These third-party tools, more often than not, are parasites like the Ads by Free adware. Deselect them. You don’t need them anyway. If you truly wanted these apps, you would have downloaded them by yourself. This is your computer. You decide what to be installed on it. Don’t let others make this decision for you. Always make sure you know what you are approving on your computer. Read the terms and conditions/EULA. If you cannot spare enough time to read the whole document, use an online EULA analyzer to scan it. If you detect anything out of the ordinary, abort the installation immediately!

Why is this dangerous?

The Ads by Free adware is hard to be tolerated. It bombards you with adverts and interferes with your every online action. Yet, if you have nerves of steel, you might manage to ignore it. Don’t do it! The adware is not safe. This parasite jeopardizes both your security and privacy. To present you with relevant ads, it actually spies on you. The parasite monitors your browsing-related data. It knows your every online step. Which websites you visit, what search inquiries you make, what links you follow, it records everything. Even the Incognito mode of your browser cannot hide you. Your every online step is analyzed. The collected data may not strike as too sensitive. However, a cable advertiser needs very little to successfully target you. What if this advertiser has bad intentions? Numerous crooks use the Ads by Free adware to target potential victims. They prepare irresistible adverts. They show you what you want to see. Yet, when you click, bad things happen. You risk ending up on scam and infected websites. The adware has no security mechanism. It cannot protect you against online frauds. Quite the contrary – it turns you into an easy target! Do not risk it! The Ads by Free adware has no place on your computer. Remove it for good!

How to Remove Ads by Free virus

The Ads by Free 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 Ads by Free 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 Ads by Free in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Ads by Free startup location

STEP 3: Delete Ads by Free traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Ads by Free 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 Ads by Free 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 Ads by Free 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 Ads by Free traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Ads by Free 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 Ads by Free

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 Ads by Free, 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 Ads by Free 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 Ads by Free 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.