AdwCleaner is not exactly a new program. This anti-adware has been with us for many years, and has always been one of the benchmarks when it comes to eliminating this type of threat. In 2016, the security company malwarebytes bought the rights to this software and has been in charge of development and maintenance ever since.
This security software takes care of remove all adware that can hide on your computer, in addition to potentially unwanted applications (PUPs) and browser hijackers. It also removes annoying browser toolbars to improve our security.
This software analyzes our computer very quickly, so that in a few seconds we will already have a report on the status of our computer. In addition, we don’t have to install anything, so it doesn’t cause problems with any antivirus and it can be run at the same time as it.
Symptoms that our computer may have adware
The symptoms that can make us think that our computer is infected by some type of adware are very varied. The most common are usually that the computer is slow, that strange messages or many strange ads appear on the desktop and on web pages or that the home page of our browser changes all the time.
Taskbars or fake antivirus can also be considered as adware. Therefore, if we want to use our computer without problems, it is necessary to resort to cleaning software that allows us to recover the original state of the computer.
And none is more accurate and effective than AdwCleaner.
How to remove adware with AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner is a totally free program, and it is compatible with all versions of Windows from 7 onwards. In order to use it, the first thing we have to do is download the latest version available from the .
Once this program is downloaded, we execute it directly. As it is portable we do not have to install anything on the PC. The main interface of this program is very easy to understand and use. The first thing we will see in it will be a summary of the last analysis and cleaning, and a button with the text «scan now» that will allow us to analyze the computer in search of threats.
At the top we will see a button that will invite us to download, install and try Malwarebytes, the anti-malware from this company.
When we click on the analyze button, the program will check our entire PC for adware.
This process is very fast and in a few seconds we can see a window like the following. In it we will find all the threats that have been detected on our computer. Each one of them will have its type and we will be able to see its details.
We will review that they are indeed threats, adware, and not a false positive. If everything is correct, we will click on the “Quarantine” button at the bottom right. AdwCleaner will close all the programs that we have open on our PC (so we must save the data first) and will forcefully delete all this content.
When it finishes, it will ask us to restart the computer and, when it starts up again, we will have already eliminated all the adware from our PC.
Elements are not removed from the program, but are moved within the section “Quarantine” so that, in case we have to recover any of them we can do it. And in the section “Reports” We can see a history with all the analyzes and their results.
AdwClenaer Configuration
Initially, this security software can work just as we download it. AdwCleaner comes with a standard configuration that allows us to clean the computer efficiently and quickly without altering other elements of the system.
However, advanced users who want to go further can find very interesting options within the section “Setting” from the main interface.
Within this section we will find the possibility of generating a debugging log (useful for developers in case of having problems cleaning a threat), and another very interesting option: the possibility of using the database in the cloud when it is available.
We are also going to find a section with a series of basic repair actions that will allow us to restore the data of some elements of the operating system. For example, we can eliminate tracking keys automatically, restore Winsock (two options that are activated by default). We can also mark other interesting functions such as the ability to reset Windows firewall settings, reset IPSec or reset google chrome policies.
We can also activate a confirmation message to restart the computer, share anonymous data with Malwarebytes about cleaning, choose the language or choose if we want to restore the interface when we open the program again.
Finally, within the configuration (in the tabs above) we will also be able to configure different exceptions in case we do not want a file or registry entry to be deleted because it is considered adware.
AdwCleaner should not be used without an antivirus
This security software is not an antivirus as such, but is specialized in finding and removing adware on demand. The program does not run in the background nor does it constantly analyze our computer. Nor does it have a firewall or other shields that reinforce our security.
Therefore, it is not recommended to entrust our security exclusively to this program. It is best to use AdwCleaner together with another antivirus, such as Windows Defender. This way we can use it as a “second opinion”, since since it is portable it will not cause any problems when running it with other security programs.
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