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I have been looking all over the internet, to remove this Google Chrome based malware. I have encountered such malwares in the past, and I was able to remove it by disabling the extensions, delete them from the chrome's folder and even removing them from registry. But this malware by "AdFreeApp" has no trace in my extension and have taken over my web pages, it shows up on my google search, pop ups, whenever I open a new link. Although I'm using the popular AdBlock extension (which is the only active extension on my chrome right now), disabling that doesn't work even.

Online somewhere it was recommended to download adwcleaner, but I'm scared as whether it is even safe and will resolve my issue.

Firstly, I was looking for a systematic way to first of all remove such Malware without possible using any such tools.

Secondly, if there's a way to prevent them completely. Can sandboxing of Google chrome work in windows 8 and help resolve this issue?

Sarthak Singhal
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    [How to remove AdFreeApp adware (Removal Guide)](http://malwaretips.com/blogs/adfreeapp-virus-removal/) – DavidPostill Jun 22 '15 at 21:52
  • @DavidPostill I have seen this. It asks me to download a bunch of tools, are they safe? Isn't there a way to remove or fix this without externally downloading such tools? – Sarthak Singhal Jun 22 '15 at 21:56
  • The tools are safe. I have them all installed on CD and have used them to clean up friends computers ... – DavidPostill Jun 22 '15 at 21:57
  • @DavidPostill, Can you turn it into an answer so we can upvote / accept? – R-D Jun 23 '15 at 14:43
  • @RoaldvanDoorn Not without copying the whole article. In any case it's pretty much a dup. – DavidPostill Jun 23 '15 at 15:09
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    possible duplicate of [How can I remove malicious spyware, malware, viruses or rootkits from my PC?](http://superuser.com/questions/100360/how-can-i-remove-malicious-spyware-malware-viruses-or-rootkits-from-my-pc) – DavidPostill Jun 23 '15 at 15:12
  • Try this: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/chrome/3pz41YT2qI0 – Mikhail Vladimirov Jul 17 '15 at 09:40

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Ads by AdFreeApp is an unpacked extension, so to see it under extensions menu you need to install a developer extension like "Chrome Apps & Extensions Developer Tool", launch it from the task bar and then you'd be able to see the annoying extension called "Ads by AdFreeApp" under Extensions -> Unpacked, uninstall it and you will never see it again.

kenorb
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marouane iga
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Using browsers in a sandbox might help, but won't help if the adware is proxy-based. The best way to avoid adware is to be careful while installing programs and to reject "offers" (Unchecky can do this automatically but isn't perfect), avoid downloading programs from advertisements (try disabling AdBlock and searching for Firefox, there's a lot of fake download links in the form of ads), close unfamiliar webpages and pop-ups that tell you that your programs need to be updated, if you're on a website like Download.com which bundles offers with its programs always choose things like "Direct Download Link" instead of clicking the big download button (especially buttons that say suspicious things like Smart/Sponsored uninstaller), things like that. You can buy premium antimalware programs like Malwarebytes Pro which have real time protection to block adware or just scan frequently if you have antimalware programs without real timeprotection. Note that an antivirus is not the same as an antimalware. Antiviruses are designed to detect most threats but can miss adware, and antimalware programs are designed to detect adware and maybe a little bit of what Antiviruses detect.

You
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Use Malware Bytes, this usually works for removing adware, as well as avg antivirus free, use both, then for 3rd times the charm get windows security essentials and or windows defender. Secondly I highly recommend install Comodo Firewall, it would have prevent this in the first place, it prevents anything being written to registry or critical files from being changed, or files that shouldn't be access the internet without your consent.

You should do this while in safe made without networking, uninstall chrome, use ccleaner to remove unused registry files. Then run malwarebytes, avg, windows essentials/defender. Run ccleaner again to clean up registry files. Do a fresh install of chrome and see how it goes. Definitely install a firewall like Comodo or one that you like. Do not download anything you do not know either.

arealhobo
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    Running multiple realtime antivirus software at once (AVG and MSE) is a terrible idea. – alexia Jun 23 '15 at 08:03
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    You don't run them all at once, you run one after another. This is not something that is meant to stay installed after the fact, it is just to scan, detect and remove. You uninstall everything after and use your choice of anti-virus afterwards. Not rocket science. – arealhobo Jun 23 '15 at 08:19