If you’re reading this article, it means that you are seeing the Games.playmediacenter.com unknown web page and your browser began opening a huge count of pop up ads. All of these problems with your computer can be caused by an adware (sometimes named ‘ad-supported’ software), which is often installs on the PC system with the free programs. You probably want to know how to remove this ‘ad supported’ software as well as delete Games.playmediacenter.com popup ads. In the step by step guide below we will tell you about how to solve your problems.
Technically, the adware is not a virus, but it does bad things, it generates a huge count of advertisements. It may download and install on to your system other harmful and unwanted programs without your permission, force you to visit misleading or harmful pages. Moreover, the adware can install web-browser hijacker. Once installed, it’ll rewrite your browser setting such as newtab, home page and search provider by default with an unwanted site.
Most often, the adware affects the most common internet browsers like the Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Internet Explorer. But such the malicious software as well may infect another web-browsers by changing its shortcuts (adding an argument like ‘http://site.address’ into Target field of a web browser’s shortcut). So every time you run the browser, it will redirect to the intrusive Games.playmediacenter.com web-page. Even if you setup a new start page, an intrusive site will be the first thing you see when you run the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge.
We strongly recommend that you perform the steps below that will assist you to remove Games.playmediacenter.com pop-up ads using the standard features of Windows and some proven free programs.
Remove Games.playmediacenter.com pop-ups (removal instructions)
We can assist you remove Games.playmediacenter.com from your web-browsers, without the need to take your machine to a professional. Simply follow the removal tutorial below if you currently have the undesired adware on your personal computer and want to delete it. If you have any difficulty while trying to remove the adware that causes internet browsers to display annoying Games.playmediacenter.com ads, feel free to ask for our help in the comment section below. Some of the steps will require you to restart your system or exit this web page. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
To remove Games.playmediacenter.com pop-ups, use the following steps:
- How to get rid of Games.playmediacenter.com redirect without any software
- Removing the Games.playmediacenter.com, check the list of installed programs first
- Delete Games.playmediacenter.com pop-up advertisements from Firefox
- Remove Games.playmediacenter.com redirect from Chrome
- Remove Games.playmediacenter.com advertisements from Internet Explorer
- Clean up the browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by adware
- Get rid of unwanted Scheduled Tasks
- Remove Games.playmediacenter.com ads with freeware
- Block Games.playmediacenter.com popups and other unwanted pages
- Tips to prevent Games.playmediacenter.com popup ads and other unwanted applications
- Finish words
How to get rid of Games.playmediacenter.com redirect without any software
The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually remove Games.playmediacenter.com pop-up advertisements from the Google Chrome, Firefox, IE and Microsoft Edge.
Removing the Games.playmediacenter.com, check the list of installed programs first
First, go to Microsoft Windows Control Panel and uninstall suspicious applications, all applications you do not remember installing. It is important to pay the most attention to software you installed just before Games.playmediacenter.com redirect appeared on your web-browser. If you don’t know what a program does, look for the answer on the Web.
Press Windows button , then press 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 like below.
Further, click “Uninstall a program”
It will show a list of all applications installed on your PC. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any suspicious and unknown applications.
Delete Games.playmediacenter.com pop-up advertisements from Firefox
Resetting your Mozilla Firefox is first troubleshooting step for any issues with your internet browser program, including the redirect to Games.playmediacenter.com web-page.
Click the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as on the image below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, press “Refresh Firefox” button as shown in the following example.
Follow the onscreen procedure to return your Firefox browser settings to its original state.
Remove Games.playmediacenter.com redirect from Chrome
Use the Reset browser tool of the Google Chrome to reset all its settings like newtab page, start page and search provider by default to original defaults. This is a very useful tool to use, in the case of browser redirects to unwanted ad web sites such as Games.playmediacenter.com.
First launch the Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will open the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web browser adress bar and press Enter.
The web browser will display the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and press the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as shown in the figure below and press the “Reset settings” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation prompt. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The browser will start the task of cleaning. After it’s finished, the browser’s settings including start page, newtab and search provider by default back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your computer.
Remove Games.playmediacenter.com advertisements from Internet Explorer
By resetting Internet Explorer internet browser you return your internet browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by adware that designed to redirect your web browser to various ad sites such as Games.playmediacenter.com.
First, open the Internet Explorer, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as shown in the following example.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press Reset button. The Internet Explorer will display the Reset Internet Explorer settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.
You will now need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect. It will delete adware that reroutes your internet browser to unwanted Games.playmediacenter.com web-site, disable malicious and ad-supported browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings such as homepage, new tab page and default search engine to default state.
Clean up the browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by adware
After installed, this ad supported software may add an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target property of the desktop shortcut for the Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and MS Edge. Due to this, every time you open the web browser, it will open an undesired ad site.
Open the properties of the browser shortcut. Right click on the shortcut of infected web-browser and choose the “Properties” option and it’ll open the properties of the shortcut. Next, select the “Shortcut” tab and have a look at the Target field as shown in the figure below.
Normally, if the last word in the Target field is chrome.exe, iexplore.exe, firefox.exe. Be sure to pay attention to the extension, should be “exe”! All shortcuts which have been changed by ad-supported software such as Games.playmediacenter.com usually point to .bat, .cmd or .url files instead of .exe as shown below
Another variant, an address has been added at the end of the line. In this case the Target field looks such as …Application\chrome.exe” http://site.address like below.
In order to fix a shortcut, you need to insert right path to the Target field or remove an address (if it has been added at the end). You can use the following information to fix your shortcuts which have been modified by ad-supported software.
Chrome | C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe |
C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe | |
Firefox | C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe |
Internet Explorer | C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe |
C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe | |
Opera | C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\launcher.exe |
C:\Program Files\Opera\launcher.exe |
Once is finished, click OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all browsers that are redirected to the Games.playmediacenter.com unwanted page.
Get rid of unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If the undesired Games.playmediacenter.com web site 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 ‘ad-supported’ applications.
Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard together. This opens a dialog box that called 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 displayed on the screen below.
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please choose 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 remove this malicious task. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it’s a component of the adware, 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 on the image below.
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by ‘ad-supported’ program. Once is done, close the Task Scheduler window.
Remove Games.playmediacenter.com ads with freeware
Many antivirus companies have developed software that allow detect adware and thereby remove Games.playmediacenter.com from the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and IE browsers. Below is a a few of the free programs you may want to use. Your computer may have a huge count of potentially unwanted software, adware and hijackers installed at the same time, so we suggest, if any unwanted or malicious program returns after restarting the personal computer, then start your PC into Safe Mode and use the anti-malware utility again.
Get rid of Games.playmediacenter.com popup advertisements with Zemana Anti-malware
We recommend using the Zemana Anti-malware. You may download and install Zemana Anti-malware to find and delete Games.playmediacenter.com pop up advertisements from the Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Edge web browsers. When installed and updated, the malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats present on your machine.
Download Zemana on your Microsoft Windows Desktop from the following link.
164030 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
When the download is done, close all windows on your computer. Further, launch the install file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as shown below, click the “Yes” button.
It will show the “Setup wizard” that will assist you install Zemana AntiMalware on the PC. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is finished successfully, Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) will automatically start and you can see its main window as displayed in the following example.
Next, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the ‘ad supported’ software which cause unwanted Games.playmediacenter.com pop-up advertisements to appear. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the Zemana Free utility is checking, you can see how many objects it has identified as being affected by malware.
Once Zemana has completed scanning your PC, you can check all items found on your personal computer. You may move items to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply click “Next” button.
The Zemana Free will begin to delete adware that causes multiple annoying advertisements. When the process is finished, you can be prompted to restart your PC system.
Run Malwarebytes to remove Games.playmediacenter.com popups
We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to detect adware and thereby delete Games.playmediacenter.com redirect from your web browsers. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically check and detect all threats present on the system.
- Please download MalwareBytes AntiMalware from the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326382 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- 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.
- After downloading is done, please close all applications and open windows on your personal computer. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- This will run the “Setup wizard” of MalwareBytes Free onto your machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the MalwareBytes Free will open and open the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Free tool will begin scanning the whole computer to find out ‘ad supported’ software that causes annoying Games.playmediacenter.com popups. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
- After MalwareBytes Free has finished scanning, MalwareBytes will display a scan report.
- You may move items to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply click the “Quarantine Selected” button. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the computer.
- Close the Anti Malware and continue with the next step.
Video instruction, which reveals in detail the steps above.
If the problem with Games.playmediacenter.com advertisements is still remained
AdwCleaner is a free removal utility that can be downloaded and use to remove adware that causes multiple undesired pop-up ads, hijackers, malicious software, potentially unwanted software, toolbars and other threats from your system. You may run this utility to find threats even if you have an antivirus or any other security program.
Download AdwCleaner by clicking on the following link and save it to your Desktop.
225259 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
After the downloading process is finished, open the directory in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.
Double click the AdwCleaner desktop icon. Once the tool is started, you will see a screen like below.
Further, press “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the ad-supported software which created to redirect your web-browser to various ad web-sites such as Games.playmediacenter.com. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your system. Once AdwCleaner has completed scanning your machine, a list of all items detected is produced as shown on the image below.
Make sure all items have ‘checkmark’ and click “Clean” button. It will show a prompt like below.
You need to click “OK”. After finished, the AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your machine. When your PC system is started, you will see an AdwCleaner log.
These steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.
Block Games.playmediacenter.com popups and other unwanted pages
If you browse the World Wide Web, you cannot avoid malicious advertising. But you can protect your web-browser against it. Download and run an ad blocker application. AdGuard is an adblocker that can filter out tons of of the malvertising, blocking dynamic scripts from loading malicious content.
Download AdGuard application by clicking on the link below.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once the download is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen like below.
Follow the prompts. After the installation is finished, you will see a window as shown in the following example.
You can click “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which will help 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 launch your PC, AdGuard will launch automatically and block pop-ups, web pages such Games.playmediacenter.com, as well as other harmful or misleading web-pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, that is located on your desktop.
Tips to prevent Games.playmediacenter.com popup ads and other unwanted applications
The ad-supported software is usually spreads as a part of free programs and install themselves, with or without your knowledge, on your computer. This happens especially when you’re installing a freeware. The program install package tricks you into accepting the installation of optional programs, that you do not really want. Moreover, some paid programs may also install third-party software that you do not want! Therefore, always download free applications and paid applications from reputable download web-pages. Use ONLY custom or manual installation mode and never blindly click Next button.
Finish words
Now your machine should be clean of the ‘ad supported’ software that causes tons of undesired Games.playmediacenter.com advertisements. Uninstall AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popup ads and undesired malicious web sites) and Zemana (to periodically scan your system for new malware, browser hijackers and ad-supported software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new ad-supported softwares, malicious programs and ad-supported software are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to get rid of Games.playmediacenter.com redirect from your browser, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.