There are many types of malware and one of them is adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software). The NetAdapter is an adware, which causes the appearance of unwanted pop-up ads or redirect to various annoying ad web-pages. It modifies PC system settings, generates lots of various ads, slows down the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Edge and IE and the speed of your internet connection. Moreover, NetAdapter may lead to the fact that pages are slow to load and the browser interface can even freeze. The main function of the adware is showing ads, so it may redirect your web-browser to an unwanted ad web site, instead of the one that you want to visit. Even if you try to type an address into the browser’s address bar, then your web browser is anyway will show an unwanted ad web-page.
The malicious software from the ‘ad supported’ software family that alters the settings of web browsers usually affects only the Firefox, Chrome, IE and Microsoft Edge. However, possible situations, when any other web-browsers will be affected too. The ‘ad supported’ software may change the Target property of a internet browser’s shortcut, so every time you open the web-browser, instead of your start page, you will see the annoying NetAdapter advertisements.
The ‘ad supported’ software may insert a huge number of ads directly to the web-sites that you visit, creating a sense that the ads has been added by the creators of the web-page. Moreover, a legal advertising banners may be replaced on the fake ads, that will offer to download and install various unnecessary and harmful programs. Moreover, the ad supported software has the ability to collect a huge number of personal information about you (your ip address, what is a web page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Net, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties.
We recommend to remove the NetAdapter adware, which redirects your internet browser on various unwanted ad pages, as soon as you found this problem, as it can direct you to web-resources which may load other harmful software on your PC.
How can you prevent the NetAdapter pop-up ads
The ad-supported software spreads along with various free software, as a supplement, which is installed automatically. This is certainly not an honest way to get installed onto your computer. To avoid infecting of your computer with NetAdapter and side effects in the form of lots of unwanted ads, you should always carefully read the ‘Terms of Use’ and the ‘Software license’. Additionally, always select Manual, Custom or Advanced installation mode. This allows you to disable the installation of unnecessary and often harmful programs.
How to manually remove NetAdapter adware
The simple answer is right here on this page. We have put together simplicity and efficiency. It’ll help you easily to clean your PC of adware. Moreover, you can choose manual or automatic removal method. If you are familiar with the PC then use manual removal, otherwise use the free anti-malware tool designed specifically to delete NetAdapter adware that causes unwanted advertisements within your internet browser. Of course, you can combine both methods. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to close your web-browser or reboot your computer.
- Delete suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts
- Remove NetAdapter pop-up ads from Google Chrome
- Get rid of NetAdapter from Firefox
- Delete NetAdapter redirect from IE
- Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Delete suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel
Press Windows key , then click Search . Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then click “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will display the Windows Control Panel as shown below.
Next, press “Uninstall a program”
It will show a list of all applications. Scroll through the all list and remove any suspicious and unknown programs.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts
When the ad supported software is started, it can also alter the internet browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument such as “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you start the internet browser, it will be rerouted to an unwanted ads.
To clear the internet 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://” that 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 web browsers, as they may be infected too.
Remove NetAdapter pop-up ads from Google Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a easy way to remove the malware and ‘ad supported’ software, as well as to restore the internet browser’s settings that have been modified by adware.
- Now start the Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three horizontal stripes).
- It will open the Google Chrome main menu. Select “Settings” option.
- You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and click “Show advanced settings” link.
- Scroll down again and click the “Reset settings” button.
- The Google Chrome will open the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
- Next, press the “Reset” button.
- When this process is complete, your web-browser’s settings will be restored to their original defaults. This will reset your homepage, new tab and default search engine.
- To learn more, read the post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Get rid of NetAdapter from Firefox
If the Firefox settings have been changed by the ad supported software, then resetting it to the default state can help you to remove the redirect onto NetAdapter site.
First, start the Firefox and click button. It will display the drop-down menu on the right-part of the internet browser. Next, click the Help button () as on the image below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web-browser address bar and press Enter. It will show the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, press the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will open the confirmation dialog box, press the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Mozilla Firefox will start a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the ad supported software. Once it is finished, press the “Finish” button
Delete NetAdapter redirect from IE
First, start the IE, then click button. Next, press “Internet Options” as shown below.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click the “Reset” button. The Internet Explorer will open the “Reset Internet Explorer” settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.
You will now need to reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will restore the Internet Explorer’s settings like homepage, new tab page and search engine by default to default state, disable ad-supported internet browser’s extensions and thereby get rid of the reroute to unwanted sites.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Once installed, the ad supported software can add a task in to the Windows Task Scheduler Library. Due to this, every time when you launch your PC, it will display an unwanted web-page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and remove all tasks that have been created by ‘ad-supported’ applications.
Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard together. It will open 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, press “Task Scheduler Library”, as shown below.
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be display just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Necessary to look at the text which is written under Details. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address” or “firefox.exe http://site.address”, then you need remove this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it’s a component of the malicious programs, then this task also should be removed.
Further press on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as shown in the figure below.
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by ‘ad-supported’ application. Once is done, close the Task Scheduler window.
Delete NetAdapter adware with Malwarebytes
Delete NetAdapter adware manually is difficult and often the adware is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your personal computer. The Malwarebytes is a reputable malware removal program. It can automatically detect and get rid of the adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) of the your machine. Moreover, this free program will help you to delete web-browser hijackers, malware and toolbars that your PC system may be infected too. You can follow the step-by-step guide below to remove the NetAdapter annoying pop-up ads completely.
Download Malwarebytes Free by clicking on the link below.
326386 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
Once downloaded, close all programs and windows on your personal computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup like below.
When the installation starts, you will see the “Setup wizard” which will help you install Malwarebytes on your system.
When installation is done, you will see window as shown below.
Now press on the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan for the NetAdapter adware that causes a redirect to ad pages. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient.
When it has finished scanning your personal computer, make sure all entries have “checkmark” and click “Quarantine Selected” button. The Malwarebytes will start removing the ad-supported software related files, folders, registry keys. Once the disinfection is complete, you may be prompted to reboot the machine.
The following video explains the few simple steps above on how to remove ‘ad supported’ software with Malwarebytes Anti-malware.
How to block NetAdapter ads and other unwanted sites
To increase your security and protect your PC against new unwanted ads and malicious sites, you need to use an application that stops access to dangerous advertisements and web pages. Moreover, the program can block the show of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
- Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link.
Adguard download
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- Once downloading is finished, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the install is finished, click “Skip” to close it and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see a quick tutorial which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you start your machine, AdGuard will run automatically and block pop-up ads, NetAdapter redirects, as well as other harmful or misleading web pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that is located on your Windows desktop.
Get rid of NetAdapter ads and malicious extensions with AdwCleaner
If MalwareBytes cannot get rid of the annoying NetAdapter pop-up ads from the Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox and Microsoft Edge, then we suggests to use the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal tool for ‘ad supported’ software, browser hijackers, PUPs and toolbars.
Download AdwCleaner from the link below.
225263 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
Once the download is done, open the directory in which you saved it. Double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this tool is started, you will see a screen like below.
Now, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the malicious extensions and NetAdapter adware that opens a lot of annoying advertisements. Once the system scan is complete, it will show a scan report as shown below.
Review the report and then press “Clean” button. It will show a prompt. Click “OK”. When the cleaning process is complete, AdwCleaner may ask you to restart your machine.
Look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the AdwCleaner to remove adware, browser hijackers and other malicious software.
Finish words
Now your system should be clean of the NetAdapter advertisements. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop-ups and annoying harmful web-sites) and Malwarebytes (to periodically scan your machine for new malware and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new dangerous applications and adware are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to remove NetAdapter adware from your computer, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.