Windows-secureit.com POP-UP SCAM (Virus removal guide)

What is Windows-secureit.com?

Windows-secureit.com is one of the sites promoting the McAfee – Your PC is infected with 5 viruses scam. The scam masquerades as a McAfee system scan and displays fake scan results and virus alerts claiming that a computer is infected with five viruses. Scammers use fake virus alerts to trick users into downloading or purchasing software they don’t need.

Usually, users end up on Windows-secureit.com and similar scams by going to a misspelled URL or, clicking on a fake link from push notifications and spam emails. In addition, they can be redirected to this scam by malicious advertisements (malvertising), PUPs (potenially unwanted programs) and Adware that users can unwittingly install on their computers if they visit malware-infested website download pirated versions of software.
 

QUICK LINKS

• What is Windows-secureit.com?
• Protection
• Removal

Typically, scam sites first check the user’s IP address to determine their geolocation. Scammers, having determined the user’s location, can use various scam schemes, change the page language or redirect the user to other malicious and scam sites. During the research, Windows-secureit.com showed a fake message that the computer is infected with 5 viruses and other security threats. It instructs users to click “Proceed..”/”Renew License” to remove the found malware.

As we reported above, scammers use such tactics to trick victims into installing untrustworthy and unreliable software, among which may be fake antivirus software, spyware, trojans, browser hijackers, adware and other malicious software; this is described in more detail in this article.

Windows-secureit.com displays a show notifications popup that attempts to get users to click the ‘Allow’ button to allow to its notifications. These notifications are advertisements displayed in the lower right corner of the screen urges users to play online games, visit dubious web pages, install internet browser extensions & so on.

How to protect against Windows-secureit.com scam

To avoid becoming a victim of scammers, it is important to always keep in mind:

• There are no sites that can detect viruses and other security threats.
• Never install/purchase software promoted by suspicious sites, as it can be useless, and besides, it can be dangerous for you and your computer.
• Close Windows-secureit.com as soon as it appears on your computer screen. Scammers can prevent you from closing it in various ways. In such cases, close your browser using Task Manager or restart your computer. If the next time you launch the browser, it prompts you to restore the previous session, abandon it, otherwise this scam will reopen on your screen.
• Use an ad blocker when browsing the internet. It can block known scam sites and protect you from scammers.

Threat Summary

Name	Windows-secureit.com
Type	scam, phishing, fake virus alerts
Fake claims	Your PC is infected with 5 viruses, Your Norton subscription has expired
Symptoms	fake security warnings fake system messages pop-up errors fake Windows Defender (Norton, McAfee) computer scan
Removal	Windows-secureit.com removal guide

 

Microsoft Windows Virus Alert, McAfee – Your PC is infected with 5 viruses, McAfee Tollfree, Your McAfee Subscription Has Expired are other scams designed to trick visitors into installing untrustworthy software or calling fake tech support. Some of these scams are positioned as a legitimate Microsoft, McAfee sites, but in fact have nothing to do with Microsoft, and McAfee. The scam sites should never be trusted, they should be closed as soon as they appear on the screen.

The Windows-secureit.com pop ups are caused by malicious advertisements on websites you visit, browser notifications or Adware. Browser (push) notifications are originally developed to alert the user of recently published news. Cyber criminals abuse ‘push notifications’ by displaying unwanted ads. These ads are displayed in the lower right corner of the screen urges users to play online games, visit questionable web-pages, install web browser add-ons & so on.

Adware software is not as dangerous as like a computer virus or Ransomware, but its presence can bring constant pop-up windows and/or unwanted advertising. Actually creators of adware is associated with some third-party ad networks and by showing ads to users they earn money for yourself. These adverts not only bother your browsing experience but also redirect your internet browser to malicious webpages.

How does Adware get on your PC

Adware usually is bundled within malicious downloads, fake updates and free programs which downloaded from the Internet. Which means that you need to be proactive and carefully read the Terms of use and the License agreement properly. For the most part, adware and potentially unwanted programs will be clearly described, so take the time to carefully read all the information about the software that you downloaded and want to install on your computer.

How to remove Windows-secureit.com scam from Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge

We are presenting various ways to remove Windows-secureit.com pop-ups from the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and IE using only built-in Microsoft Windows functions. Most of adware and PUPs can be removed through these processes. If these steps does not help to get rid of scam pop-ups, then it is better to use a free malware removal tools linked below.

To remove Windows-secureit.com, perform the steps below:

1. How to manually remove Windows-secureit.com
   • Delete PUPs using Microsoft Windows Control Panel
   • Remove Windows-secureit.com scam from Internet Explorer
   • Remove Windows-secureit.com pop-ups from Chrome
   • Remove Windows-secureit.com popups from Firefox
2. Automatic Removal of Windows-secureit.com pop up scam
3. Stop Windows-secureit.com popups

How to manually remove Windows-secureit.com

In this section of the blog post, we have posted the steps that will allow to delete Windows-secureit.com pop up scam manually. Although compared to removal utilities, this method loses in time, but you don’t need to download anything on the computer. It will be enough for you to follow the detailed guide with images. We tried to describe each step in detail, but if you realized that you might not be able to figure it out, or simply do not want to change the Windows and web-browser settings, then it’s better for you to run tools from trusted developers, which are listed below.

Delete PUPs using Microsoft Windows Control Panel

You can manually remove most nonaggressive adware by uninstalling the program that it came with or removing the adware itself using ‘Add/Remove programs’ or ‘Uninstall a program’ option in MS Windows Control Panel.

1. If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next press Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
2. If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and click “Control Panel”.
3. It will show the Windows Control Panel.
4. Further, click “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
5. It will open a list of all programs installed on the personal computer.
6. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall questionable and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed apps, we recommend sort apps by date.

See more details in the video tutorial below.

Remove Windows-secureit.com scam from Internet Explorer

If you find that Microsoft Internet Explorer web-browser settings such as newtab page, search provider and homepage had been modified by adware, then you can restore your settings, via the reset browser procedure.

First, start the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (). It will display the Tools drop-down menu, press the “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.

In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown on the image below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.

You will now need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

Remove Windows-secureit.com pop-ups from Chrome

If adware, other program or addons replaced your Chrome settings without your knowledge, then you can get rid of Windows-secureit.com pop ups and revert back your web browser settings in Google Chrome at any time. However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed, deleted or cleared.

1. First launch the Chrome and click Menu button (small button in the form of three dots).
2. It will show the Google Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
3. You will see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
4. Now open the Google Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
5. You will see the Chrome’s settings page. Scroll down and press “Advanced” link.
6. Scroll down again and click the “Reset” button.
7. The Chrome will show the reset profile settings page as on the image above.
8. Next press the “Reset” button.
9. Once this procedure is finished, your browser’s newtab page, default search engine and homepage will be restored to their original defaults.
10. To learn more, read the post How to reset Chrome settings to default.

Remove Windows-secureit.com popups from Firefox

Resetting Firefox web browser will reset all the settings to their original state and will remove Windows-secureit.com pop-ups, disable malicious add-ons and extensions. However, your saved bookmarks and passwords will not be lost. This will not affect your history, passwords, bookmarks, and other saved data.

Start the Mozilla Firefox and click the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the internet browser screen. Next, click 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 below.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The Mozilla Firefox will start a task to fix your problems that caused by the adware. When, it’s done, press the “Finish” button.

Automatic Removal of Windows-secureit.com pop up scam

It’s not enough to remove Windows-secureit.com pop-ups from your browser by completing the manual steps above to solve all problems. Some the adware related files may remain on your device and they will recover the adware even after you remove it. For that reason we recommend to run free anti-malware utility such as Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Free and HitmanPro. Either of those programs should has the ability to detect and get rid of adware responsible for scam popups.

Use Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) to remove Windows-secureit.com pop up scam

If you need a free tool that can easily remove Windows-secureit.com scam, then use Zemana Free. This is a very handy program, which is primarily created to quickly locate and remove adware software and malware affecting browsers and changing their settings.

Now you can set up and use Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) to get rid of Windows-secureit.com pop-ups from your internet browser by following the steps below:

Please go to the link below to download Zemana installer named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your personal computer. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Run the installer after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to set up this tool on your personal computer.

During setup you can change certain settings, but we recommend you do not make any changes to default settings.

When installation is finished, this malicious software removal utility will automatically launch and update itself. You will see its main window as displayed below.

Now click the “Scan” button to start scanning your PC system for the adware that causes Windows-secureit.com popups. This process may take some time, so please be patient. When a threat is found, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is done.

Once that process is complete, a list of all items detected is produced. Next, you need to click “Next” button.

The Zemana Anti Malware will remove adware that causes Windows-secureit.com pop-up. After that process is done, you can be prompted to restart your device to make the change take effect.

Delete Windows-secureit.com pop-up and harmful extensions with Hitman Pro

Hitman Pro is a free portable program that scans your personal computer for adware that causes Windows-secureit.com popups, potentially unwanted software and browser hijackers and helps delete them easily. Moreover, it will also allow you remove any malicious web browser extensions and add-ons.

Please go to the link below to download the latest version of HitmanPro for Microsoft Windows. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop.

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

Double click the HitmanPro desktop icon. Once the tool is started, you will see a screen as shown in the following example.

Further, click “Next” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the adware software related to the Windows-secureit.com popup. This process can take quite a while, so please be patient. Once the scan get completed, it will show the Scan Results as on the image below.

Review the scan results and then click “Next” button. It will display a dialog box, click the “Activate free license” button.

Delete Windows-secureit.com popup with MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM)

We suggest using the MalwareBytes Free. You can download and install MalwareBytes Free to remove adware and get rid of Windows-secureit.com pop ups from your web browsers. When installed and updated, this free malware remover automatically searches for and removes all threats present on the PC.

Please go to the following link to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Free for Microsoft Windows. Save it directly to your MS Windows Desktop.

Once the downloading process is complete, close all windows on your device. Further, open the file called MBSetup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up like below, click the “Yes” button.

It will display the Setup wizard that will assist you install MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) on the computer. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is finished successfully, click “Get Started” button. Then MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) will automatically launch and you can see its main window as displayed in the following example.

Next, press the “Scan” button to detect the adware which causes the Windows-secureit.com pop-ups. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the utility is checking, you can see number of objects and files has already scanned.

After MalwareBytes Free has finished scanning your PC, it will display a scan report. In order to remove all items, simply press “Quarantine” button.

The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will begin to remove adware software which causes the Windows-secureit.com pop-ups. When finished, you may be prompted to restart your personal computer. We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) to remove hijackers, adware and other malware.

Stop Windows-secureit.com pop-ups

By installing an ad-blocker program such as AdGuard, you are able to block Windows-secureit.com, stop autoplaying video ads and remove a ton of distracting and intrusive ads on web-sites.

Download AdGuard on your device from the following link.

After downloading it, double-click the downloaded file to run it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown on the image 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 shown on the image below.

Click “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 start your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block Windows-secureit.com, as well as other malicious or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which is located on your desktop.

Finish words

We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop-ups and unwanted malicious web-pages) and Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) (to periodically scan your personal computer for new adware softwares and other malware). Probably you are running an older version of Java or Adobe Flash Player. This can be a security risk, so download and install the latest version right now.

If you are still having problems while trying to remove Windows-secureit.com scam from the Firefox, Chrome, Edge and Internet Explorer, then ask for help here here.