Error! You must install the extension! – How to remove (Scam ads)

If the Chrome, Firefox or other web-browser displays the Error! You must install the extension! pop-up offering install an questionable browser extension then most probably that your PC is infected with an adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software). This ‘ad supported’ software modifies the Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and MS Edge settings to display a large number of unwanted pop-up ads on all web-pages, including pages where previously you advertisements have never seen. These ads can be varied: pop-up windows, boxes, in-text ads, different sized banners and so on. What is more, the adware, that opens the Error! You must install the extension! advertisements, can cause your Internet connection to be slow or freeze your web-browser so that the interface is not updated anymore.

The full text of “Error! You must install the extension!” popup is:

Error! You must install the extension!
Press the “Add”!

The malicious applications from the adware family that alters the settings of web browsers usually affects only the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge. However, possible situations, when any other web-browsers will be affected too. The adware may change the Target property of a internet browser’s shortcut, so every time you launch the internet browser, instead of your homepage, you will see the annoying Error! You must install the extension! scam ads.

The ‘ad supported’ software is not a virus, but the virus behaves similarly. As a rootkit hides in the system, alters internet browser settings and blocks them from changing. Also the ad-supported software can install additional internet browser extensions, addons and modules that will inject advertising banners within the Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge’s screen. Moreover, the ad-supported software may install browser hijacker that once started, will alter the web-browser’s startpage and search engine. And finally, the ad supported software can collect a wide variety of personal information such as what web-pages you are opening, what you are looking for the Net and so on. This information, in the future, may be transferred to third parties.

Therefore it is very important to follow the few simple steps below ASAP. The step-by-step guide will assist you to remove adware as well as clean your machine from the Error! You must install the extension! advertisements. What is more, the steps below will help you get rid of other malicious software like unwanted toolbars and browser hijackers, which could penetrate the computer along with the adware.

Tips to prevent Error! You must install the extension! ads

The ad supported software usually gets onto PC by being attached to another program in the same install package. The risk of this is especially high for the various free applications downloaded from the World Wide Web. The creators of the programs are hoping that users will use the quick installation mode, that is simply to click the Next button, without paying attention to the information on the screen and don’t carefully considering every step of the installation procedure. Thus, the adware can infiltrate your machine without your knowledge. Therefore, it’s very important to read all the information that tells the program during installation, including the ‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Software license’. Use only the Manual, Custom or Advanced install mode. This mode will help you to disable all optional and unwanted software and components.

How to manually remove Error! You must install the extension! pop-ups

The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, that will assist you manually get rid of Error! You must install the extension! pop-up ads from the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, FF and MS Edge.

1. Delete suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel
2. Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to delete Error! You must install the extension! redirect
3. Get rid of Error! You must install the extension! redirect from FF
4. Remove Error! You must install the extension! pop-up ads from Chrome
5. Get rid of Error! You must install the extension! ads from Microsoft Internet Explorer
6. Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks

Delete suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel

We recommend that you begin the PC system cleaning process by checking the list of installed applications and delete all unknown or suspicious programs. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious applications such as ad-supported software and browser hijackers may be bundled with free applications. Uninstall the unwanted software may delete the annoying ads or internet browser redirect to unknown or unwanted web-pages.

It’ll show the Windows Control Panel as shown on the image below.

Next, click “Uninstall a program”
It’ll show a list of all software. Scroll through the all list, and delete any suspicious and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort software by date of installation in the Control panel.

Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to delete Error! You must install the extension! redirect

Once the adware is started, it can also alter the browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you launch the browser, it will be rerouted to an unwanted advertisements.

To clear the web-browser shortcut, right-click to it and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text which begins with “http://” which has been added here. You need to remove it.

When the argument is removed, click the OK button. You need to clean all shortcuts of all your internet browsers, as they may be infected too.

Get rid of Error! You must install the extension! redirect from FF

First, start the Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will display the drop-down menu. Next, press the “Help” button ().

In the Help menu, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page, press “Refresh Firefox” button.

Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.

Remove Error! You must install the extension! pop-up ads from Chrome

Reset Chrome settings is a easy way to remove the malware and adware, as well as to restore the web-browser’s settings that have been modified by ad-supported software.

1. Now launch the Google Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three horizontal stripes).
2. It will open the Chrome main menu. Select “Settings” option.
3. You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Show advanced settings” link.
4. Scroll down again and click the “Reset settings” button.
5. The Google Chrome will display the reset profile settings page as shown on the screen above.
6. Next, click the “Reset” button.
7. When this procedure is complete, your web browser’s settings will be restored to their original defaults. This will reset your homepage and search engine by default.
8. To learn more, read the article How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Get rid of Error! You must install the extension! ads from Microsoft Internet Explorer

First, launch the Internet Explorer, then press button. Next, click “Internet Options” as shown on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click the “Reset” button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will open the “Reset Internet Explorer” settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.

You will now need to reboot your computer for the changes to take effect. It will restore the Microsoft Internet Explorer’s settings like start page and search provider by default to default state, disable ad-supported browser’s extensions and thereby remove the redirect to Error! You must install the extension! scam ads.

Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks

If the annoying Error! You must install the extension! ads opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all the tasks that have been created by malicious software.

Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard simultaneously. This shows a dialog box that titled as Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “Task Scheduler Library”, as shown on the image below.

In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be show just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your personal computer. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address”, then you need delete it. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it is a component of the ‘ad-supported’ application, then this task also should be removed.

Having defined the task that you want to get rid of, then click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as shown below.

Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by adware. Once is complete, close the Task Scheduler window.

How to get rid of Error! You must install the extension! with free malware remover

Delete Error! You must install the extension! scam advertisements manually is difficult and often the ad supported software is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your PC system. Moreover, the free program will help you to get rid of malware, browser hijacker and toolbars that your machine may be infected too.

1. Download Malwarebytes from the link below.
   
   

   Malwarebytes Anti-malware
   326410 downloads
   Author: Malwarebytes
   Category: Security tools
   Update: April 15, 2020
   
2. Close all applications and windows on your PC system. Open the directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
3. This will start the install of Malwarebytes. Next, click Next button and follow the prompts.
4. Once install is done, click on the “Scan Now” button . This will begin scanning the whole personal computer to find out adware that redirects your internet browser to the Error! You must install the extension! scam web page. This process can take some time, so please be patient.
5. Once the scan is complete, make sure all entries have “checkmark” and click “Quarantine Selected”. Once the disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart your computer.

These steps above are shown in detail in the following video guide.

How to block Error! You must install the extension!

To increase your security and protect your PC against new annoying ads and malicious sites, you need to use an application that stops access to dangerous ads and pages. Moreover, the program can stop the open of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

1. Download AdGuard program from the following link.
   

   Adguard download
   26634 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. After the download is complete, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” window. Follow the prompts.
3. Once the install is finished, click “Skip” to close it and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see a quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your personal computer, AdGuard will start automatically and stop ads, Error! You must install the extension! popups, as well as other harmful or misleading web sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which is located on your Windows desktop.

Scan your computer and remove Error! You must install the extension! ads with AdwCleaner.

This removal program is free and easy to use. It can scan and get rid of adware, browser hijackers, malware and unwanted toolbars in Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and MS Edge web browsers and thereby restore back their default settings (start page and search provider by default). AdwCleaner is powerful enough to find and get rid of malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the system.

Download AdwCleaner utility by clicking on the link below. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Once the download is finished, open the file location and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will start the AdwCleaner utility and you will see a screen as shown on the screen below. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to open the program, click Yes button to continue.

Now, press the “Scan” . This will begin scanning the whole computer to find out adware which cause a redirect to Error! You must install the extension! scam ads.

When it has finished scanning your computer, it will open a list of all items detected by this tool as shown below.

You need to click “Clean” button. It will display a dialog box, click “OK” to start the cleaning process. When the cleaning process is complete, the AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your computer. After restart, the AdwCleaner will open the log file.

All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.

Finish words

Now your PC system should be clean of the Error! You must install the extension! scam advertisements. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popup ads and unwanted dangerous web sites) and Malwarebytes (to periodically scan your PC system for new malware and adware). Probably you are running an older version of Java or Adobe Flash Player. This can be a security risk, so download and install the latest version right now.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove Error! You must install the extension! pop-up ads from your PC, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.