Q. Free-install-plug.com advertising popups. Now my computer has popups every few minutes. It keeps coming up automatically. I did some searching on the Net and cannot seem to find the information needed to get rid of it manually. How to get this off my personal computer. Thanks for any help you might be able to provide me.
A. If those pop ups or advertisements keep appearing and greatly affect you, then it means that your computer is affected with PUP (potentially unwanted program) or adware (also known as ‘adware software’). You can search whether there is adware in your control panel or undesired extension on your internet browser. If any, you should first remove it from your computer.
What is Adware? An Introduction to Adware. Adware is a type of invasive applications — which can infect personal computers — occasionally reroute your internet browser to certain web pages so the owners of those sites can get money by displaying ads to visitors. It is not a good idea to have installed adware. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. And of course you completely don’t know what will happen when you click on any the adverts.
Does adware steal your personal information? Adware can be used to gather lots of privacy data such as what web pages you are opening, what you are looking for the Internet and so on. This user data, afterwards, may be used for marketing purposes.
Most often, adware is bundled within the installers from a free hosting and file sharing web-sites. So, install a free programs is a a good chance that you will find a bundled adware software. If you don’t know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During the setup, select the Custom or Advanced installation type. Next, press ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install optional apps. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any apps or otherwise you can end up with another unwanted application on your machine such as this adware.
Threat Summary
Name | Free-install-plug.com |
Type | adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), pop ups, pop-up advertisements, popup virus |
Symptoms |
|
Removal | Free-install-plug.com removal guide |
In the guidance below, we will explain helpful ways on how to clean your computer of adware software and get rid of Free-install-plug.com pop ups from your browser.
How to remove Free-install-plug.com pop-up from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge
There are a simple manual instructions below that will assist you to get rid of Free-install-plug.com pop-up from your Windows PC system. The most effective way to get rid of this adware is to complete the manual removal guide and then run Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware or Hitman Pro automatic tools (all are free). The manual way will assist to weaken this adware software and these malware removal utilities will completely remove Free-install-plug.com pop up and return the Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Edge settings to default.
To remove Free-install-plug.com, perform the following steps:
- Manual Free-install-plug.com popup removal
- How to fully remove Free-install-plug.com pop ups using free utilities
- How to block Free-install-plug.com
- Finish words
Manual Free-install-plug.com popup removal
The step-by-step instructions made by our team will help you manually get rid of Free-install-plug.com popups from a web-browser. If you are not good at computers, we recommend that you use the free utilities listed below.
Uninstall newly added adware
Check out the MS Windows Control Panel (Programs and Features section) to see all installed software. We suggest to click on the “Date Installed” in order to sort the list of programs by the date you installed them. If you see any unknown and dubious programs, they are the ones you need to delete.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click the Windows button , then press Search . Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click “Start” and select “Control Panel”.
It will display the Windows Control Panel as displayed in the figure below.
Next, press “Uninstall a program”
It will display a list of all apps installed on your computer. Scroll through the all list, and delete any questionable and unknown software. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort apps by date in the Control panel.
Remove Free-install-plug.com pop up from Chrome
This step will show you how to reset Google Chrome browser settings to default values. This can remove Free-install-plug.com pop-ups and fix some browsing problems, especially after adware software infection. However, your themes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and web form auto-fill information will not be deleted.
First start the Google Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots ().
It will open the Google Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the addon signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following instructions: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Google Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option called “Settings”.
The web-browser will show the settings screen. Another way 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 screen below and press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box like below.
You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The browser will start the task of cleaning. After it is complete, the browser’s settings including new tab, default search engine and start page back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your PC system.
Delete Free-install-plug.com popups from Internet Explorer
By resetting Internet Explorer internet browser you revert back your web browser settings to its default state. This is first when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by adware that causes Free-install-plug.com popups in your web-browser.
First, start the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as on the image below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The IE will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as on the image below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press “Reset” button.
You will now need to restart your machine for the changes to take effect.
Remove Free-install-plug.com from Mozilla Firefox by resetting browser settings
If Mozilla Firefox settings are hijacked by the adware, your web-browser shows unwanted pop up advertisements, then ‘Reset Firefox’ could solve these problems. When using the reset feature, your personal information such as passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and web form auto-fill data will be saved.
Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and press the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as shown in the following example.
A small menu will appear, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the image below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to restore your Firefox web-browser settings to their original state.
How to fully remove Free-install-plug.com pop ups using free utilities
Spyware, adware software, PUPs and hijackers can be difficult to remove manually. Do not try to remove this programs without the help of malware removal utilities. In order to completely remove adware from your machine, run professionally designed tools, like Zemana, MalwareBytes and HitmanPro.
How to automatically get rid of Free-install-plug.com pop up with Zemana
Thinking about delete Free-install-plug.com popups from your internet browser? Then pay attention to Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM). This is a well-known utility, originally created just to detect and delete malicious software, adware and PUPs. But by now it has seriously changed and can not only rid you of malicious software, but also protect your machine from malware and adware, as well as identify and remove common viruses and trojans.
- Please go to the link below to download the latest version of Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) for Windows. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.
Zemana AntiMalware
164034 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- After downloading is finished, close all apps and windows on your system. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- Further, press Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once install is done, press the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the adware that causes Free-install-plug.com popups. This procedure may take quite a while, so please be patient.
- When Zemana Free is finished scanning your system, Zemana Free will show a list of detected threats. Once you have selected what you wish to delete from your PC system press “Next”. After finished, you can be prompted to restart your computer.
Scan your machine and remove Free-install-plug.com pop-up with HitmanPro
Hitman Pro frees your machine from hijackers, PUPs, unwanted toolbars, browser extensions and other unwanted applications such as adware software responsible for Free-install-plug.com popup. The free removal utility will help you enjoy your computer to its fullest. HitmanPro uses advanced behavioral detection technologies to look for if there are unwanted apps in your PC. You can review the scan results, and choose the items you want to delete.
- First, visit the following page, then press the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of HitmanPro.
- Once the download is finished, double click the Hitman Pro icon. Once this tool is opened, press “Next” button for scanning your personal computer for the adware related to the Free-install-plug.com popups. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the tool is scanning, you can see how many objects and files has already scanned.
- When the system scan is done, Hitman Pro will produce a list of unwanted programs and adware. All found items will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click “Next” button. Now press the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to delete all malicious software found.
Use MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) to get rid of Free-install-plug.com pop-ups
We suggest using the MalwareBytes that are completely clean your computer of the adware. The free tool is an advanced malware removal program created by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This application uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It’s able to help you delete intrusive Free-install-plug.com pop-ups from your web-browsers, PUPs, malicious software, hijacker infections, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your PC system for free.
Installing the MalwareBytes Anti-Malware is simple. First you’ll need to download MalwareBytes Free on your Microsoft Windows Desktop by clicking on the following link.
326387 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After the download is done, close all programs and windows on your computer. Double-click the install file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up like below, click the “Yes” button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” that will help you install MalwareBytes on your machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is complete successfully, click Finish button. MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will automatically start and you can see its main screen as displayed on the image below.
Now click the “Scan Now” button to start scanning your machine for the adware related to the Free-install-plug.com pop up. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the utility is checking, you may see number of objects and files has already scanned.
Once MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) has finished scanning, a list of all items detected is produced. Review the scan results and then press “Quarantine Selected” button. The MalwareBytes will delete adware that causes undesired Free-install-plug.com pop ups. Once that process is done, you may be prompted to reboot the machine.
We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes to get rid of adware, browser hijacker infection and other malicious software.
How to block Free-install-plug.com
One of the worst things is the fact that you cannot stop all those annoying web-sites like Free-install-plug.com using only built-in MS Windows capabilities. However, there is a program out that you can use to stop intrusive internet browser redirections, ads and pop-ups in any modern web-browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. It is called Adguard and it works very well.
Download AdGuard on your machine from the link below.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
When the download is finished, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as displayed in the figure below.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick tutorial as displayed in the figure below.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guide that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you launch your personal computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop undesired ads, block Free-install-plug.com, as well as other malicious or misleading web sites. 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 can be found on your desktop.
Finish words
Now your machine should be free of the adware which cause pop ups. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop ups and annoying harmful web sites) and Zemana Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your computer for new malicious software, hijacker infections and adware software). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for MS Windows operating system. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new browser hijackers, harmful programs and adware are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to get rid of Free-install-plug.com popups from your browser, then ask for help here.