not-a-virus: Remove adware - how it works

If your virus scanner finds a threat called "not-a-virus: adware", you have caught a browser hijacker. We'll show you how to get rid of the adware.

How does the adware get on my computer

not-a-virus: adware is a browser hijacker that nests in your browser, changes its settings and displays annoying advertisements.
You probably installed the browser hijacker together with a program downloaded from the Internet.
When installing such programs, make sure that you deactivate any additional software offered.
Read with us what a browser hijacker is.

Download the free tool "AdwCleaner" and start it.
Close all browser windows and then click "Search".
After completing the search, delete all finds. The PC is then restarted.
For security, you can also scan your system with the "Malwarebytes Anti-Malware" tool.

The browser hijacker has probably changed your browser settings. After removing the adware, you should therefore reset your browser.

If you are confident in making changes to the Windows registry, you can also remove the adware manually:

Open the Control Panel and click "Programs and Features" or "Uninstall a program".
Sort the list by date by clicking the appropriate table column above.
Look for the adware. It was probably installed with another program.
Uninstall any questionable programs.
In addition, remove all registry entries associated with not-a-virus: adware in the keys "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \", "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Not-a-virus: Adware.win32.Bromngr.i" and "HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareCurrentVersionRunows ".

In the next article we will show you how the best-known virus protection programs perform in the extreme test by Stiftung Warentest.