How to remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop-ups [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

If you’re reading this post, it means that you are seeing the Microsoft Membership Rewards misleading web-page and your internet browser began to display a lot of intrusive pop up advertisements. All of these problems with your PC caused by adware (sometimes named ‘ad-supported’ software), which is often installs on the PC with the free software. You probably want to know how to delete this ad-supported software as well as get rid of “Microsoft Membership Rewards” popups. In the few simple steps below we will tell you about how to solve your problems.

The full text of the “Microsoft membership rewards” misleading advertising is:

Windows
Congratulations ...!

You have been selected today to receive a FREE iPhone 7, PlayStation 4 or Samsung Galaxy S6!

Please click ok to claim your prize before we giveaway to anyone else! 

While your computer is affected with the ‘ad supported’ software, the Edge, FF, IE and Google Chrome may be re-directed to “Microsoft Membership Rewards” undesired web page. Of course, the adware may not cause damages to your files or Windows system, but it may display a large amount of undesired advertisements. These advertisements will be injected within the content of sites that are you opening in your browser and can be varied: pop-up ads, in-text ads, different sized banners, offers to install an questionable software. The advertisements will appear on all web pages, including web sites where previously you have never seen any advertising banners.

The malicious programs from the ad supported software family that alters the settings of web browsers usually affects only the Edge, Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer and FF. However, possible situations, when any other browsers will be affected too. The ‘ad supported’ software may alter the Target property of a browser’s shortcut file, so every time you open the web browser, instead of your start page, you’ll see the unwanted “Microsoft Membership Rewards” site.

To find out how to remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” popups, we suggest to read the step-by-step guidance added to this article below. The tutorial was made by experienced security professionals who discovered a solution to remove the annoying ad-supported software out of the personal computer.

Remove Microsoft Membership Rewards

There exist several free adware removal tools. Also it is possible to remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up advertisements manually. But we recommend to combine all these solutions below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the tutorial. Some of the steps below will require you to exit this site. So, please read the step by step guide carefully, after that bookmark or print it for later reference.

To remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards”, perform the following steps:

1. Manual “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop ups removal
   • Uninstall potentially unwanted apps through the Windows Control Panel
   • Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
   • Fix hijacked web-browsers shortcuts to get rid of “Microsoft Membership Rewards” redirect
   • Delete “Microsoft Membership Rewards” popup advertisements from Firefox
   • Delete “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up ads from Internet Explorer
   • Remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” advertisements from Chrome
2. How to automatically remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up ads
   • Run Zemana Anti-malware to get rid of “Microsoft Membership Rewards”
   • Run Malwarebytes to remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up advertisements
   • Scan and clean your PC of adware with AdwCleaner
3. Block “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop-ups and other unwanted pages
4. Where the “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop-ups comes from
5. Finish words

Manual “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop ups removal

Most common adware may be uninstalled without any antivirus software. The manual ad supported software removal is guide that will teach you how to get rid of the “Microsoft Membership Rewards” ads.

Uninstall potentially unwanted apps through the Windows Control Panel

It is of primary importance to first identify and delete all potentially unwanted software, adware applications and hijackers through ‘Add/Remove Programs’ (Windows XP) or ‘Uninstall a program’ (Windows 10, 8, 7) section of your MS Windows Control Panel.

It will show the Windows Control Panel as on the image below.

Next, press “Uninstall a program”
It will open a list of all programs installed on your PC system. Scroll through the all list, and delete any dubious and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed applications, we recommend sort apps by date in the Control panel.

Remove 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 start your personal computer, it will open “Microsoft Membership Rewards” undesired web-page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all malicious tasks which have been created by malicious apps.

Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard together. This displays 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 below.

In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please choose the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your system. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address”, then get rid of this harmful 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 remove, then click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as displayed in the figure below.

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

Fix hijacked web-browsers shortcuts to get rid of “Microsoft Membership Rewards” redirect

When installed, this adware that causes multiple intrusive advertisements, may add an argument such as “http://site.address” into the Target property of the desktop shortcut file for the Edge, Google Chrome, FF and Internet Explorer. Due to this, every time you launch the internet browser, it will display an unwanted ad web-page.

Right click on the shortcut of hijacked web-browser as displayed below.

Select the “Properties” option and it’ll display the shortcut file’s properties. Next, press the “Shortcut” tab and then delete the “http://site.address” string from Target field as on the image below.

Then press OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all web-browsers which are re-directed to the “Microsoft Membership Rewards” undesired page.

Delete “Microsoft Membership Rewards” popup advertisements from Firefox

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

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

Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are 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 on the image below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The FF will start a process to fix your problems that caused by the adware that causes unwanted “Microsoft Membership Rewards” popups. Once, it is complete, click the “Finish” button.

Delete “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up ads from Internet Explorer

The Internet Explorer reset is great if your web-browser is hijacked or you have unwanted addo-ons or toolbars on your web-browser, that installed by an malware.

First, open the Internet Explorer, press ) button. Next, press “Internet Options” as shown in the figure below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click 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 reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will delete adware responsible for redirecting your web-browser to “Microsoft Membership Rewards” web site, disable malicious and ad-supported browser’s extensions and restore the IE’s settings such as default search engine, start page and new tab page to default state.

Remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” advertisements from Chrome

Use the Reset web-browser utility of the Google Chrome to reset all its settings like search engine, new tab page and startpage to original defaults. This is a very useful utility to use, in the case of browser redirects to undesired ad pages like “Microsoft Membership Rewards”.

1. First, start the Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
2. It will display the Google Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
3. You will see the list of installed plugins. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guide: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
4. Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, press the “Settings” menu.
5. Next, press “Advanced” link, which located at the bottom of the Settings page.
6. On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
7. The Chrome will show the reset settings prompt as shown on the screen above.
8. Confirm the web-browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
9. To learn more, read the article How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.

How to automatically remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up ads

If you’re unsure how to remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” redirect easily, consider using automatic adware removal applications that listed below. It will identify the adware that responsible for browser reroute to the intrusive “Microsoft Membership Rewards” web site and delete it from your computer for free.

Run Zemana Anti-malware to get rid of “Microsoft Membership Rewards”

You can remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” advertisements automatically with a help of Zemana Anti-malware. We advise this malware removal utility because it can easily remove browser hijackers, PUPs, ‘ad supported’ software that redirects your internet browser to “Microsoft Membership Rewards” web site with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.

1. Download Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) by clicking on the link below. Save it to your 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 display the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. When the downloading process is done, please close all programs and open windows on your machine. Next, start a file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
4. This will open the “Setup wizard” of Zemana Anti-Malware onto your system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana will run and display the main window.
6. Further, press the “Scan” button to scan for ad-supported software that responsible for web-browser redirect to the unwanted “Microsoft Membership Rewards” web-site. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. When a malicious software, ad-supported software or PUPs are found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is finished.
7. After that process is done, Zemana will create a list of undesired and ad-supported software software.
8. Review the report and then click the “Next” button. The utility will delete adware which reroutes your internet browser to intrusive “Microsoft Membership Rewards” web page. After the cleaning procedure is finished, you may be prompted to restart the PC.
9. Close the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) and continue with the next step.

Run Malwarebytes to remove “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up advertisements

We suggest using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to search for adware and thereby delete “Microsoft Membership Rewards” redirect from your browsers. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats exist on the personal computer.

Click the link below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes for Windows. Save it on your Desktop.

Once the downloading process is complete, close all windows on your system. Further, run the file called mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up like below, click the “Yes” button.

It will display the “Setup wizard” which will allow you install MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) on the PC system. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once setup is finished successfully, press Finish button. Then MalwareBytes Free will automatically start and you may see its main window as shown below.

Next, press the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes Anti-Malware application will scan through the whole computer for the adware that cause intrusive “Microsoft Membership Rewards” popup ads to appear. A scan may take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your PC and the speed of your computer. When a malicious software, ad-supported software or potentially unwanted software are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.

As the scanning ends, MalwareBytes will open a scan report. Next, you need to press “Quarantine Selected” button.

The MalwareBytes Free will start to remove ‘ad supported’ software that responsible for the appearance of “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop up ads. After the process is done, you can be prompted to reboot your personal computer. We advise you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the MalwareBytes AntiMalware to get rid of hijackers, ad-supported software and other malware.

Scan and clean your PC of adware with AdwCleaner

AdwCleaner is a free removal tool. It removes PUPs, ad supported software, browser hijackers and unwanted web-browser extensions. Video guide available here. It’ll identify and remove adware that responsible for the appearance of “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop ups. AdwCleaner uses very small computer resources and is a portable application.

Download AdwCleaner from the link below. Save it on your Desktop.

After the download is complete, open the folder in which you saved it. You will see an icon like below.

Double click the AdwCleaner desktop icon. When the tool is launched, you will see a screen as displayed in the figure below.

Further, press “Scan” button to look for ad supported software that causes multiple undesired pop up ads. As the scanning ends, AdwCleaner will open a scan report as displayed on the screen below.

Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click “Clean” button. It will open a dialog box as displayed below.

You need to click “OK”. After disinfection is finished, the AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your PC. When your system is started, you will see an AdwCleaner log.

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

Block “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop-ups and other unwanted pages

The AdGuard is a very good ad-blocker application for the Internet Explorer, MS Edge, Chrome and Firefox, with active user support. It does a great job by removing certain types of undesired ads, popunders, pop-ups, unwanted new tabs, and even full page ads and page overlay layers. Of course, the AdGuard can block the “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop-up ads automatically or by using a custom filter rule.

Download AdGuard program from the following link.

Once downloading is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen like below.

Follow the prompts. After the installation is complete, you will see a window as on the image below.

You can press “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will assist 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 computer, AdGuard will start automatically and block advertisements, pages like “Microsoft Membership Rewards”, as well as other malicious or misleading 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, which is located on your desktop.

Where the “Microsoft Membership Rewards” pop-ups comes from

In many cases the adware come along with free software. So, think back, have you ever download and run any free software? Because most users, in the Setup Wizard, simply press the Next button and don’t read any information such as ‘Terms of use’ and ‘Software license’. This leads to the fact that the machine is infected and all your browsers configured to display a lot of annoying “Microsoft Membership Rewards” popups. Even removing the freeware that contains this adware, the undesired advertisements does not disappear. Therefore, you must follow the steps above to free your PC from the ad-supported software and thereby delete “Microsoft Membership Rewards” advertisements.

Finish words

After completing the instructions shown above, your personal computer should be clean from adware responsible for redirecting your browser to “Microsoft Membership Rewards” web-site and other malware. The Firefox, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge will no longer redirect you to various unwanted web pages such as “Microsoft Membership Rewards”. Unfortunately, if the tutorial does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.