Remove Smartscreen.exe Virus Threat

Can’t Remove Smartscreen.exe hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Smartscreen.exe Removal instructions!

Smartscreen.exe is a legitimate Windows process. It doesn’t consume a lot of resources and doesn’t affect your computer’s performance. If that’s not the case with your PC, though, you are in for trouble. A new parasite uses this same process name to camouflage its presence. Once the Smartscreen.exe virus sneaks in, it hijacks your web browser and takes over your user experience. This sneaky parasite falls under the browser hijacker category. It is a menace that throws its victims into a whirlwind of reshuffles and advertisements. Brace yourself! You are stuck with a parasite that knows no boundaries nor limits. The hijacker injects banners on every website you visit. It also opens pop-ups, plays commercials, turns random text into hyperlinks. And it doesn’t stop here! The hijacker also dares load third-party websites in new tabs and windows. And to top all that off, it is quite likely to change your homepage and default search engine. Do not put up with this intruder. The hijacker not only ruins your user experience but also threatens to lure you into online traps. Do not underestimate the situation. The hijacker is not a mere annoyance. This parasite has no filters nor security mechanisms. Its ads often redirect web traffic to scam, phishing, and corrupted websites. They arise unwarranted expectations at best. At worst, they trick people into sharing sensitive information, downloading malware, and subscribing to unneeded services. Do not test your luck! Remove the hijacker. Take action as soon as you notice that there’s something wrong with the Smartscreen.exe process.

How did I get infected with?

Fake updates, corrupted links, malicious bundles, pirated software – there are myriads of ways for the fake Smartscreen.exe process to sneak into your computer. The hijacker has numerous tricks up its sleeve. If you, however, choose caution over carelessness, you can prevent its plans from succeeding. The thing about this parasite is that it needs you (the user) to approve its access. No permission, no admission! The hijacker is bound to seek your consent. It, of course, does so in the sneakiest, most deceitful way possible. The trickster hides in the shadows and waits for you to throw caution to the wind. Don’t make its job easier! Be vigilant and doubting instead. Your actions can prevent infections. Don’t visit questionable websites. Download software and updates from reliable sources only. And, of course, don’t skip installation steps. Forget about the “Next-Next-Finish” strategy. When available, use the advanced/custom setup wizard. Deselect the unwanted extras and go through the terms and conditions. Don’t hesitate to abort an installation process if you notice anything suspicious!

Why is this dangerous?

A hijacker lurks behind the fake Smartscreen.exe process. This parasite sneaks into your computer and ruins your user experience. It turns text into hyperlinks, bombards you with pop-ups, pauses your videos. You can’t so much as touch your browser without getting your screen flooded with its advertisements. The banners, pop-ups, and hyperlinks are annoying and irritating. They, however, are also your warning. If you just take a close look at them, you’ll realize that you are in serious trouble. You are under surveillance! The ads are not random but targeted at you. They are based on the websites you visit, the links you follow, the videos you watch. Even your activities under the Incognito mode trigger offers. That’s how the hijacker operates. It studies your habits and uses your preferences against you. The parasite turns you into an easy target! Any crook out there can use the parasite and its services to target you. And what do you think the hijacker does with collected data? Do you believe that it uses it for ad targeting only? Don’t be naive. This menace sells everything on the black market. It threatens to leak personal information. Don’t take unnecessary risks! Protect yourself and your privacy. Take action against the fake Smartscreen.exe processes. Remove the sneaky hijacker ASAP!

How to Remove Smartscreen.exe virus

The Smartscreen.exe 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 Smartscreen.exe 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 Smartscreen.exe related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Smartscreen.exe startup location

STEP 3: Delete Smartscreen.exe traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Smartscreen.exe related processes 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 Smartscreen.exe 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 Smartscreen.exe 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 Smartscreen.exe traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Smartscreen.exe 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 Smartscreen.exe

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 Smartscreen.exe, 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 Smartscreen.exe 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 Smartscreen.exe Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network 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.