How to remove Privacy Enhancement popup [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

Technically, the adware is not a virus, but it does bad things, it generates tons of ads. It may download and install on to your personal computer other malicious and unwanted programs without your permission, force you to visit misleading or harmful web sites. Moreover, the adware can install web-browser hijacker. Once installed, it’ll rewrite your browser setting such as home page, new tab and search provider by default with an unwanted web site.

Most often, the adware affects the most common browsers such as the Chrome, Firefox, IE and Microsoft Edge. But such the malicious software as well may infect another internet browsers by changing its shortcuts (adding an argument like ‘http://site.address’ into Target field of a internet browser’s shortcut). So every time you start the internet browser, it will redirect to the unwanted Privacy Enhancement web-page. Even if you setup a new startpage, an undesired web page will be the first thing you see when you launch the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and IE.

Thus, it is clear that the presence of adware on your system is not desirable, and you need to clean up your personal computer ASAP. Follow the step-by-step guidance below in order to remove Privacy Enhancement pop-ups.

Remove Privacy Enhancement advertisements

The following step-by-step guide will help you to remove Privacy Enhancement ads from the Chrome, FF, Internet Explorer and Edge. Moreover, the steps below will help you to get rid of malware, browser hijacker infections, PUPs and toolbars that your PC may be infected. Please do the instructions step by step. If you need help or have any questions, then ask for our assistance or type a comment below. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to exit your internet browser or reboot your PC.

Manual Privacy Enhancement pop-ups removal

Read this “How to remove” section to know how to manually get rid of ad supported software which redirects your internet browser to unwanted Privacy Enhancement page. Even if the step-by-step guide does not work for you, there are several free malicious software removers below that can easily handle such adware that causes web browsers to open unwanted Privacy Enhancement pop-up ads.

Uninstall potentially unwanted applications using MS Windows Control Panel

First method for manual ‘ad supported’ software removal is to go into the Windows “Control Panel”, then “Uninstall a program” console. Take a look at the list of applications on your personal computer and see if there are any suspicious and unknown programs. If you see any, you need to remove them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an World Wide Web search to find details on the application. If it is a potentially unwanted program, ad-supported software or malware, you will likely find information that says so.

Carefully browse through the list of installed software and remove all applications that has the name like “Privacy Enhancement”. We suggest to click ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed software by date. After you have found anything suspicious that may be the ‘ad supported’ software, adware or PUPs, then choose this application and press ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the suspicious program blocked from removal, then use Revo Uninstaller Freeware to fully delete it from your machine.

Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks

If the undesired Privacy Enhancement web page 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 which have been created by adware.

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

In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please select the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your machine. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address”, then remove this malicious task. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it is a component of the unwanted programs, then this task also should be removed.

Having defined the task that you want to delete, then press on it with the right mouse button and choose Delete as on the image below.

Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks which have been created by ‘ad-supported’ program. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.

Clean up the web-browsers shortcuts that have been hijacked by adware

The adware may hijack various Windows shortcuts on your desktop (most often, all internet browsers shortcuts), so in this step you need to check and clean them by removing the argument such as http://site.address/.

Right click to a desktop shortcut for your internet browser. Choose the “Properties” option. It will open the Properties window. Select the “Shortcut” tab here, after that, look at the “Target” field. The ad-supported software can rewrite it. If you are seeing something similar to “…exe http://site.address” then you need to remove “http…” and leave only, depending on the web-browser you are using:

• Google Chrome: chrome.exe
• Opera: opera.exe
• Firefox: firefox.exe
• Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe

Look at the example as shown below.

Once is finished, click the “OK” button to save the changes. Please repeat this step for web-browser shortcuts which redirects to an undesired sites. When you have completed, go to next step.

Delete Privacy Enhancement redirect from IE

In order to recover all web-browser start page, newtab page and default search engine you need to reset the IE to the state, which was when the MS Windows was installed on your system.

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

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

You will now need to reboot your system for the changes to take effect. It will remove adware that causes multiple undesired pop-ups, disable malicious and ad-supported web-browser’s extensions and restore the IE’s settings like start page, newtab page and search provider by default to default state.

Remove Privacy Enhancement pop ups from Chrome

Use the Reset web-browser tool of the Chrome to reset all its settings like startpage, new tab and default search engine to original defaults. This is a very useful utility to use, in the case of web browser redirects to unwanted ad web sites such as Privacy Enhancement.

First open the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will show the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to open the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter.

The browser will display the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as shown below and click the “Reset settings” button.

The Google Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will run the procedure of cleaning. After it is done, the web-browser’s settings including home page, newtab and default search engine back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your PC.

Remove Privacy Enhancement from Firefox by resetting web browser settings

If the Firefox web browser program is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of FF. A reset can fix many issues by restoring FF settings such as home page, new tab and search engine by default to its default state. It will save your personal information like saved passwords, bookmarks, and open tabs.

Run the Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the browser screen. Next, press the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will display the slide-out menu.

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you’re unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed on the image below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation prompt. The Mozilla Firefox will start a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the adware that reroutes your web browser to undesired Privacy Enhancement page. When, it is done, press the “Finish” button.

Privacy Enhancement pop-up ads automatic removal

Manual removal instructions does not always allow to completely remove the ad-supported software, as it’s not easy to identify and remove components of adware and all malicious files from hard disk. Therefore, it’s recommended that you run malicious software removal utility to completely remove Privacy Enhancement off your internet browser. Several free malware removal tools are currently available that can be used against the adware. The optimum method would be to use Zemana Anti-malware, Malwarebytes Free and AdwCleaner.

How to remove Privacy Enhancement pop up ads with Zemana Anti-malware

Zemana Anti-malware is a tool that can delete ad supported software, potentially unwanted applications, hijacker infections and other malicious software from your computer easily and for free. Zemana Anti-malware is compatible with most antivirus software. It works under Windows (10 – XP, 32 and 64 bit) and uses minimum of PC system resources.

1. Please download Zemana by clicking on the following link. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164032 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web-browser will show the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. When downloading is finished, please close all software and open windows on your PC system. Next, run a file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
4. This will run the “Setup wizard” of Zemana onto your system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana Anti-Malware will launch and display the main window.
6. Further, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the ‘ad supported’ software that redirects your web browser to annoying Privacy Enhancement web site. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the Zemana Free tool is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as being infected by malicious software.
7. Once Zemana Free has completed scanning your system, the results are displayed in the scan report.
8. Review the report and then click the “Next” button. The utility will delete ‘ad supported’ software that causes a ton of unwanted Privacy Enhancement popup ads and move threats to the program’s quarantine. When the cleaning procedure is finished, you may be prompted to restart the computer.
9. Close the Zemana Free and continue with the next step.

Remove Privacy Enhancement redirect with Malwarebytes

Get rid of Privacy Enhancement pop up advertisements manually is difficult and often the adware is not completely removed. Therefore, we suggest you to use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your machine. Moreover, the free program will allow you to get rid of malicious software, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars and hijackers that your PC system can be infected too.

Download MalwareBytes by clicking on the following link and save it to your Desktop.

Once the download is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the MalwareBytes Free will try to update itself and when this task is complete, click the “Scan Now” button for scanning your personal computer for the adware which cause undesired Privacy Enhancement pop-up advertisements to appear. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the MalwareBytes Free is scanning, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malware. When you’re ready, click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The MalwareBytes AntiMalware is a free program that you can use to remove all detected folders, files, services, registry entries and so on. To learn more about this malware removal utility, we recommend you to read and follow the steps or the video guide below.

Delete Privacy Enhancement pop ups from internet browsers with AdwCleaner

AdwCleaner is a free portable application that scans your computer for ad-supported software which made to reroute your browser to various ad sites like Privacy Enhancement, PUPs and hijackers and helps remove them easily. Moreover, it will also help you remove any malicious browser extensions and add-ons.

Download AdwCleaner tool from the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Once downloading is complete, open the folder in which you saved it and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will start the AdwCleaner tool and you will see a screen as displayed on the image below. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to run the program, press Yes button to continue.

Next, click “Scan” .AdwCleaner application will scan through the whole computer for the ad-supported software that causes a large count of annoying Privacy Enhancement pop up ads. This task may take quite a while, so please be patient. While the AdwCleaner program is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.

When finished, a list of all threats detected is produced as on the image below.

All detected items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click “Clean” button. It will show a prompt. Click “OK” button. The AdwCleaner will start to delete adware which causes intrusive Privacy Enhancement popup ads. After the clean up is done, the tool may ask you to reboot your system. After restart, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.

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

How to block Privacy Enhancement pop-up advertisements

In order to increase your security and protect your system against new annoying ads and malicious web-sites, you need to use ad blocker program that stops an access to harmful advertisements and web pages. Moreover, the application may block the display of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Download AdGuard application from the following link. Save it on your MS Windows desktop.

Once downloading is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed in the following example.

Follow the prompts. After the install is finished, you will see a window as shown on the image below.

You can press “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.

In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you run your PC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop ads, web pages such Privacy Enhancement, as well as other malicious 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 can be found on your desktop.

How did Privacy Enhancement popup ads get on your PC system

Usually, adware gets into your PC system as part of a bundle with free programs, sharing files and other unsafe programs which you downloaded from the Web. The developers of this adware pays software creators for distributing adware within their applications. So, additional applications is often included as part of the installation package. In order to avoid the installation of any adware that designed to redirect your internet browser to various ad pages like Privacy Enhancement: select only Manual, Custom or Advanced installation mode and uncheck all third-party programs in which you are unsure.

To sum up

Now your computer should be free of the adware that causes multiple unwanted popup ads. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop up advertisements and undesired malicious sites) and Zemana Anti Malware (to periodically scan your system for new malware, browser hijackers 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 adwares, harmful applications and adware are released.

If you are still having problems while trying to delete Privacy Enhancement pop-up ads from your web browser, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.