How to remove PrimeUpd adware [Virus removal guide]

Maybe you have not heard of the PrimeUpd. But when you browse the Internet, tons of pop-up ads from PrimeUpd are shown. And these intrusive popups can appear again and again, even you close them. It means that you’re a victim of malicious software from the adware family. The PrimeUpd adware can replace PC setting in order to start automatically when the computer run. You will be annoyed about it. Similar to other unwanted software, the ad supported software can show ads without your’s permission, and these intrusive advertisements is difficult to close. Even worse, the PrimeUpd be able to gather lots of user info to get profit.

While your personal computer is affected by the PrimeUpd adware, the MS Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer may be re-directed to various annoying web pages. Of course, the adware may not cause damages to your files or Windows system, but it may open a large number of intrusive advertisements. These ads will be injected within the content of web-sites that are you opening in your web-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 sites, including web sites where previously you have never seen any advertising banners.

The adware often change all browser shortcuts which located on your Desktop to force you visit various unwanted ad web sites. As a result, your web-browser can still reroute you to an annoying ad web site despite your PC system is actually clean of adware and other malware.

We strongly advise that you perform the few simple steps below that will allow you to get rid of PrimeUpd adware using the standard features of Windows and some proven free software.

How to remove PrimeUpd adware (Virus removal guide)

In the step-by-step instructions below, we will try to cover the Microsoft Windows 10 (8, 7, XP) and provide general help to delete PrimeUpd adware. You may find some minor differences in your Windows install. No matter, you should be okay if you follow the steps outlined below: remove all suspicious and unknown software, reset browsers settings, fix internet browsers shortcuts, remove harmful scheduled tasks, run free malware removal utilities. Some of the steps will require you to reboot your system or close this web site. So, read this guide carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.

To remove PrimeUpd, follow the steps below:

1. How to get rid of PrimeUpd adware without any software
   • Remove PUPs through the Microsoft Windows Control Panel
   • Remove PrimeUpd ‘ad supported’ software from Internet Explorer
   • Get rid of PrimeUpd from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
   • Remove PrimeUpd ad-supported software from Google Chrome
   • Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
   • Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to get rid of PrimeUpd redirect
2. How to remove PrimeUpd adware with freeware
   • Run Zemana Anti-malware to get rid of PrimeUpd
   • Scan and free your personal computer of adware with HitmanPro
   • Use Malwarebytes to delete PrimeUpd
3. Block unwanted web-sites
4. How can you prevent the PrimeUpd adware
5. Finish words

How to get rid of PrimeUpd adware without any software

Most common ad supported software may be uninstalled without any antivirus apps. The manual ‘ad supported’ software removal is step-by-step guidance that will teach you how to get rid of the PrimeUpd adware.

Remove PUPs through the Microsoft Windows Control Panel

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

Carefully browse through the list of installed applications and get rid of all questionable and unknown apps. We suggest to click ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed software by date. When you’ve found anything dubious that may be the PrimeUpd that causes a huge number of unwanted ads or other PUP (potentially unwanted program), then select this application and click ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the dubious program blocked from removal, then use Revo Uninstaller Freeware to completely remove it from your PC system.

Remove PrimeUpd ‘ad supported’ software from Internet Explorer

In order to recover all web-browser new tab, home page and search engine you need to reset the Microsoft Internet Explorer to the state, which was when the Microsoft Windows was installed on your computer.

First, launch the Internet Explorer, then click ‘gear’ icon . It will show the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web-browser, then press the “Internet Options” as on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, press the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, press the “Reset” button as shown below.

Once the process is done, press “Close” button. Close the Internet Explorer and restart your computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your web browser’s default search provider, homepage and newtab to default state.

Get rid of PrimeUpd from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings

If your Firefox web-browser is affected by PrimeUpd adware, then it may be time to perform the browser reset. It will keep your personal information like browsing history, bookmarks, passwords and web form auto-fill data.

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

In the Help menu click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page click on “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the image below.

Confirm your action, press the “Refresh Firefox”.

Remove PrimeUpd ad-supported software from Google Chrome

Reset Chrome settings is a easy way to delete the adware, harmful and adware extensions, as well as to recover the web-browser’s start page, default search engine and newtab page that have been replaced by PrimeUpd adware.

First launch the Google Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().

It will show the Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the add-on signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following guidance: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.

Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option named “Settings”.

The web browser will display the settings screen. Another solution to open the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the browser adress bar and press Enter

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as displayed on the image below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

The Google Chrome will open the confirmation dialog box as displayed in the figure below.

You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will start the process of cleaning. After it is finished, the web-browser’s settings including search provider by default, newtab and homepage back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your personal computer.

Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks

If the intrusive PrimeUpd adware starts automatically on Windows boot up or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all tasks which have been created by malicious programs.

Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard at the same time. It will display 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, press “Task Scheduler Library”, as shown in the following example.

In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Necessary to look at the text which is written under Details. Found something suspicious, then you need remove this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it is a component of the malicious application, then this task also should be removed.

Further click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as on the image below.

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

Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to get rid of PrimeUpd redirect

The PrimeUpd adware that causes a ton of undesired advertisements, can hijack various Windows shortcuts on your desktop (most often, all internet browsers shortcut files), so in this step you need to check and clean them by removing the argument such as http://site.address/.

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 like “http://site.address” that has been added here. You need to delete it.

When the text is removed, click the OK button. You need to clean all shortcut files of all your web-browsers, as they may be affected too.

How to remove PrimeUpd adware with freeware

Manual removal guide may not be for an unskilled computer user. Each PrimeUpd removal step above, such as removing questionable programs, restoring affected shortcut files, removing the ad-supported software from system settings, must be performed very carefully. If you are in doubt during any of the steps listed in the manual removal above, then we recommend that you use the automatic PrimeUpd removal tutorial listed below.

Run Zemana Anti-malware to get rid of PrimeUpd

You can download and use the Zemana for free. This antimalware tool will scan all the MS Windows registry keys and files in your computer along with the system settings and browser extensions. If it finds any malicious software and adware then the Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will get rid of them from your PC completely.

1. Download Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) by clicking on the link below.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   164050 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. At the download page, click on the Download button. Your browser will open the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
3. When downloading is finished, please close all apps and open windows on your machine. Next, start a file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
4. This will launch the “Setup wizard” of Zemana onto your machine. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
5. When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana AntiMalware will launch and display the main window.
6. Further, press the “Scan” button for scanning your PC for the PrimeUpd adware which cause unwanted pop-ups to appear. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. During the scan Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will look for threats exist on your machine.
7. As the scanning ends, the results are displayed in the scan report.
8. All detected threats will be marked. You can remove them all by simply press the “Next” button. The tool will get rid of PrimeUpd adware that causes multiple intrusive advertisements and pop-ups. When disinfection is complete, you may be prompted to restart the personal computer.
9. Close the Zemana and continue with the next step.

Scan and free your personal computer of adware with HitmanPro

HitmanPro is a portable application which requires no hard installation to find and remove PrimeUpd ‘ad supported’ software. The program itself is small in size (only a few Mb). HitmanPro does not need any drivers and special dlls. It’s probably easier to use than any alternative malware removal tools you’ve ever tried. Hitman Pro works on 64 and 32-bit versions of Windows 10, 8, 7 and XP. It proves that removal utility can be just as effective as the widely known antivirus programs.

Installing the Hitman Pro is simple. First you will need to download Hitman Pro from the following link. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.

Download and use Hitman Pro on your computer. Once started, click “Next” button . Hitman Pro application will scan through the whole computer for the PrimeUpd ad-supported software and other unwanted programs. This process may take some time, so please be patient. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. .

Once Hitman Pro has completed scanning your machine, HitmanPro will show you the results.

In order to delete all threats, simply click Next button.

It will open a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button to start the free 30 days trial to remove all malicious software found.

Use Malwarebytes to delete PrimeUpd

We recommend using the Malwarebytes Free. You can download and install Malwarebytes to search for ad-supported software and thereby delete PrimeUpd from Windows OS. When installed and updated, the free malware remover will automatically check and detect all threats present on the computer.

Visit the following page to download MalwareBytes Free. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.

When the downloading process is finished, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the MalwareBytes Free will try to update itself and when this task is finished, click the “Scan Now” button to search for PrimeUpd adware. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your personal computer. While the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is scanning, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malicious software. When you’re ready, press “Quarantine Selected” button.

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

Block unwanted web-sites

To put it simply, you need to use an ad-blocking tool (AdGuard, for example). It’ll stop and protect you from all intrusive webpages, ads and popups. To be able to do that, the ad blocking program uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious webpage, an advertising content, a banner and others. The ad-blocker program automatically uses these filters, depending on the webpages you are visiting.

1. AdGuard can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
   
   

   Adguard download
   26633 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. Once the download is done, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. After the installation is complete, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
4. In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you start your system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop pop-up ads, as well as other malicious or misleading sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon called AdGuard, which can be found on your desktop.

How can you prevent the PrimeUpd adware

The adware most likely to occur during the install of free software due the fact that PUPs like this are mostly hidden in the installer. Thus, if you’ve installed some freeware using Quick(Standard) method, you may have let the PrimeUpd get inside the Windows OS. Keep in mind that the Quick mode is unreliable because it do not warn about bundled apps. Thus, third-party applications will be installed automatically unless you select Advanced/Custom method and disable its installation.

Finish words

After completing the step-by-step guidance shown above, your computer should be free from PrimeUpd adware and other malware. The Internet Explorer, Firefox, Edge and Google Chrome will no longer reroute you to various intrusive websites and unwanted ads Unfortunately, if the guidance 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.