Settings adware (Virus removal guide)

What is Settings

Settings.exe is an adware program. Adware is considered by many to be synonymous with ‘malware’. It is a form of malicious software that displays unwanted advertisements to computer users. Some examples include pop-up ads, advertising links, unclosable windows, pop-ups or various offers and deals, push notifications and even fake virus alerts. Clicks on the advertisements produce a monetary payoff for the adware creators.

Typically, adware such as Settings can infect a personal computer when a user runs and installs an infected program as well as hacked software, freeware, key generators and other similar software.

 

QUICK LINKS

• What is Settings adware?
• Threat Summary
• Removal

Settings adware can display unwanted advertisements on your computer screen so that your cannot stop them, redirect your web browser to unsafe web-pages, and it can cause scam sites to pop up on your web browser. Even worse, it can collect a wide variety of confidential information which can be later sold to third parties. You do not know if your home address, account names and passwords are safe.

 

 
Another reason why you need to delete the adware is its online data-tracking activity. Settings.exe can collect user data, including:

• IP addresses;
• URLs visited;
• search queries/terms;
• clicks on links and ads;
• web-browser version information.

To summarize, Settings adware can lead to malware infection and financial losses. It can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security.

How does Settings get on your computer

Most adware (such as Settings) gets installed when users visit a scam site and click an Install button, or when users download and run a suspicious program, or when users install freeware that includes a bundled program.

Sometimes it is possible to avoid the setup of any adware: run only reputable software which download from reputable sources, never install any unknown and suspicious apps, keep internet browser updated (turn on automatic updates), use good antivirus software, double check freeware before install it (do a google search, scan a downloaded file with VirusTotal), avoid malicious and unknown web pages.

Threat Summary

Name	Settings, “Settings.exe”, “Settings virus”, “Settings software Copyright © 2021”, “Settings.exe software”, “SettingsSoftware”, “Settings 10.3.6676”
Type	adware software, potentially unwanted program (PUP), pop up advertisements, pop-ups, popup virus
Related software	PC_En-1653558054_setup.exe (Win32:DropperX-gen [Drp], Trojan.Jaik, Backdoor.Win32.Manuscrypt.h)
Detection names	Win/grayware_confidence_60% (W), PUP.Optional.Agent, Adware.Win64.Gen.ca, Adware.Alien.Win32.23
Symptoms	you experience lots of unwanted pop up ads web links redirect to websites different from what you expected there is an unexpected application in the ‘Uninstall a program’ section of your Control Panel unexpected browser addons or toolbars keep coming back your web-browser homepage or search engine keeps changing or is not set to Google anymor you cannot update your security software speed test good but internet slow CPU usage seems unusually high
Removal	Settings removal guide

 
On the Internet, users can come across many malicious programs that perform various malicious actions. Among them there are such as Dropbox Update Setup virus, Numando malware, DPD Delivery Email virus, Bloom exe adware and AnarchyGrabber Stealer, although, of course, there are many more. Some of them collect user data, others install malware on computers, and still others add infected computers to botnets, and so on. In any case, each malicious program (adware, browser hijacker, trojan, worm, …) is a huge threat to both user privacy and computer security. Therefore, malicious programs must be removed immediately after detection; using an infected computer is very dangerous.

How to remove Settings from computer (Adware removal guide)

If you have consistent pop-ups or unwanted ads, slow PC, crashing system issues, you are in need of adware removal assistance. The step-by-step guidance below will guide you forward to get Settings adware removed and will help you get your computer operating at peak capacity again.

To remove Settings, use the following steps:

1. Kill Settings adware
2. Disable Settings start-up
3. Uninstall Settings related software
4. Scan computer for malware
5. Reset Google Chrome
6. Reset Internet Explorer
7. Reset Firefox

Kill Settings adware

Press CTRL, ALT, DEL keys together.

Click Task Manager. Select the “Processes” tab, look for “Settings software Copyright © 2021” then right-click it and select “End Task” or “End Process” option. If your Task Manager does not open or the Windows reports “Task manager has been disabled by your administrator”, then follow the guide: How to Fix Task manager has been disabled by your administrator.

Adware can mask itself to avoid detection by imitating legitimate Microsoft Windows processes. A process is particularly suspicious: it’s taking up a lot of memory (despite the fact that you closed all of your applications), its name is not familiar to you (if you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for its name in Google, Yahoo or Bing).

Disable Settings start-up

Select the “Start-Up” tab, look for something suspicious that is the Settings app, right click to it and select Disable.

Close Task Manager.

Uninstall Settings related software

Check the list of installed apps on your computer and remove all unknown and recently installed apps. If you see an unknown program with incorrect spelling or varying capital letters, it have most likely been installed by malware and you should clean it off first with malware removal utility such as MalwareBytes Anti-Malware.

Windows 7	Windows 8
Click ‘Start’. In the Start menu select ‘Control Panel’. Find and select ‘Programs and Features’ or ‘Uninstall a program’. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.	Press and hold Windows key and hit X key. Select ‘Programs and Features’ from the menu. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows 10	Mac OS
Press and hold Windows key and hit X key. Select ‘Programs and Features’ from the menu. Select the program. Click ‘Uninstall’.	On the top menu select ‘Go’, then ‘Applications’. Drag an unwanted application to the Trash bin. Right-click on the ‘Trash’ and select ‘Empty Trash’.

Scan computer for malware

Antimalware tools differ from each other by many features such as performance, scheduled scans, automatic updates, virus signature database, technical support, compatibility with other antivirus programs and so on. We recommend you use the following free malware removal tools: Zemana Anti-Malware, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware and Hitman Pro. Each of these programs has all of needed features, but most importantly, they can be used to identify the Settings adware and remove it from the computer.

You can remove Settings automatically with a help of MalwareBytes AntiMalware. We recommend this free malware removal utility because it can easily remove browser hijackers, adware, PUPs and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
 

 
First, visit the page linked below, then click the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of MalwareBytes.

Once the downloading process is complete, run it and follow the prompts. Once installed, the MalwareBytes will try to update itself and when this procedure is done, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this utility for the Settings adware. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your computer and the speed of your personal computer. During the scan MalwareBytes AntiMalware will locate threats exist on your computer. Make sure all threats have ‘checkmark’ and click “Quarantine” button.

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

There is another antimalware tool that can remove adware for free – this is Zemana AntiMalware. It will scan the Windows registry keys and files in your PC along with the system settings and web browser add-ons. If it finds any malware, adware or harmful add-on then the Zemana will remove them from your PC completely.

Installing the Zemana Anti-Malware is simple. First you will need to download Zemana from the link below.

After the downloading process is complete, close all windows on your personal computer. Further, open the set up file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up like below, click the “Yes” button.

It will display the “Setup wizard” that will allow you install Zemana on the computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.

Once installation is done successfully, Zemana AntiMalware will automatically run and you can see its main window as displayed on the image below.

Next, click the “Scan” button to detect the Settings adware. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. During the scan Zemana Anti-Malware will search for threats present on your computer.

Once Zemana has finished scanning your PC, it will display a list of security threats detected by the scan. When you are ready, click “Next” button.

The Zemana AntiMalware will remove Settings and move the selected malicious entries to the program’s quarantine. After finished, you can be prompted to restart your PC.

Reset Google Chrome

In this step we are going to show you how to reset Google Chrome settings. Adware such as Settings can make changes to your web-browser settings, add toolbars and unwanted extensions. By resetting Chrome settings you will reset unwanted changes caused by adware. However, your saved passwords and bookmarks will not be changed, deleted or cleared.

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

It will open the Google Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then press Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed addons. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Google Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.

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

The web browser will display the settings screen. Another method to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the internet 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 shown in the following example and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.

The Google Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box as displayed on the image below.

You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web browser will run the task of cleaning. Once it is finished, the internet browser’s settings including search provider by default, home page and newtab back to the values which have been when Google Chrome was first installed on your personal computer.

Reset Firefox

If your Firefox web browser is hijacked by Settings, then it may be time to perform the browser reset. Keep in mind that resetting your web-browser will not remove your history, bookmarks, passwords, and other saved data.

Start the 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 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 displayed in the following example.

Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation prompt. The Firefox will start a process to fix your problems that caused by the Settings adware. Once, it is finished, click the “Finish” button.

How to stay safe online

If you browse the Web, you can’t avoid malicious ads and scam sites. But you can protect your internet browser against it. Download and use an ad blocking program. AdGuard is an ad-blocker which can filter out a huge number of of the malicious advertising, blocking dynamic scripts from loading harmful content.

1. First, visit the following page, then click the ‘Download’ button in order to download the latest version of AdGuard.
   
   

   Adguard download
   26627 downloads
   Version: 6.4
   Author: © Adguard
   Category: Security tools
   Update: November 15, 2018
   
2. When the downloading process is complete, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
3. After the installation is complete, press “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which 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 run your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block harmful and misleading webpages. 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.

Finish words

We suggest that you keep Zemana Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your device for new adware and other malware) and AdGuard (to help you stop malicious pop-ups and scam sites). Moreover, to prevent any adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus software, turn on the option to search for potentially unwanted programs.

If you need more help with Settings related issues, go to here.