The unwanted “Ads Related To” ads appeared within the Google Chrome, Firefox, IE or Edge without any notice? After that, you’re faced with the fact that your internet browser is now redirected to other unwanted web-pages and filled with a variety of pop-ups and banners. The cause of all your problems with your personal computer is ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) that has been installed on many personal computers around the world without users permission, so you’re one of many. Most probably, you do not even know how and where this adware has got into your PC system. In the step-by-step instructions below, we will explain all the general features of ad-supported software and its typical behavior on the personal computer, as well as effective methods for manually removing it from your system.
Most often, the adware affects the most common web-browsers such as the Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer. But such the malicious software as well may infect another web-browsers by changing its shortcuts (adding an argument such as ‘http://site.address’ into Target field of a browser’s shortcut). So every time you start the internet browser, it’ll redirect to the unwanted ads. Even if you setup a new start page, an annoying page will be the first thing you see when you run the Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.
The adware is not a virus, but the virus behaves similarly. As a rootkit hides in the system, changes browser settings and blocks them from changing. Also the adware can install additional internet browser extensions, addons and modules that will inject advertising banners within the Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and MS Edge’s screen. Moreover, the adware may install a browser hijacker that once started, will alter the internet browser’s homepage and search engine. And finally, the ‘ad-supported’ software can collect a wide variety of personal information such as what web-pages you are opening, what you are looking for the World Wide Web and so on. This information, in the future, may be transferred to third parties.
Therefore it is very important to follow the instructions below as soon as possible. The step-by-step instructions will assist you to delete ‘ad-supported’ software as well as clean your computer from the “Ads Related To” ads. What is more, the step-by-step guide below will help you remove other malicious software such as unwanted toolbars and browser hijackers, which could penetrate the computer along with the adware.
How does “Ads Related To” ads get installed onto machine
Most commonly, the ad supported software is bundled within the install packages from a free hosting and file sharing web sites. So, install a freeware is a a good chance that you will find some bundled ‘ad-supported’ software. If you do not know how to avoid it, then use a simple trick. During setup, select the Custom or Advanced setup option. Next, click ‘Decline’ button and clear all checkboxes on offers that ask you to install an unknown programs. Moreover, please carefully read Term of use and User agreement before installing any applications or otherwise you can end up with another unwanted program on your computer such as this adware which reroute the Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge onto the unwanted ‘ad’ web-page.
How to manually remove “Ads Related To” advertisements
If you perform exactly the instructions below you should be able to remove the “Ads Related To” ads. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to close your browser or reboot your system.
- Remove suspicious and unknown software by using Windows Control Panel
- Delete “Ads Related To” ads from Firefox
- Remove “Ads Related To” ads from Chrome
- Get rid of “Ads Related To” ads from IE
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts
- Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Remove suspicious and unknown software by using Windows Control Panel
Press Windows key 
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then click “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will display the Windows Control Panel as shown in the figure below. 
Next, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will display a list of all applications. Scroll through the all list and delete any suspicious and unknown applications.
Delete “Ads Related To” ads from Firefox
If the Firefox settings have been changed by the adware, then resetting it to the default state can help you to delete the reroute onto ‘ad’ web sites.
First, start the FF and press 
button. It will show the drop-down menu on the right-part of the web-browser. Next, press the Help button (
) as shown on the image below.
In the Help menu, select the “Troubleshooting Information” option. Another way to open the “Troubleshooting Information” screen – type “about:support” in the web-browser address bar and press Enter. It will display the “Troubleshooting Information” page as shown below. In the upper-right corner of this screen, click the “Refresh Firefox” button.
It will open the confirmation dialog box, click the “Refresh Firefox” button. The Firefox will begin a process to fix your problems that caused by the ad-supported software. Once it is finished, click the “Finish” button
Remove “Ads Related To” ads from Chrome
Open the Chrome menu by clicking on the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It opens the drop-down menu. Next, click the “Settings” option.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the Reset settings section is visible, as shown below and click the “Reset settings” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Reset” button.
Get rid of “Ads Related To” ads from IE
First, start the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then press the button in the form of gear (
). It will open the Tools drop-down menu as shown on the screen below. Next, press the “Internet Options”.
In the Internet Options window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window like below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then press on “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your machine for the changes to take effect.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts
Click the right mouse button to a desktop shortcut which you use to run your browser. Next, select the “Properties” option. Important: necessary to click on the desktop shortcut for the web-browser which is redirected to the unwanted sites.
Further, necessary to look at the text which is written in the “Target” field. The adware can rewrite the contents of this field, which describes the file to be launch when you run your internet browser. Depending on the web browser you are using, there should be: Google Chrome: chrome.exe, Opera: opera.exe, Firefox: firefox.exe, Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe. If you are seeing an unknown text similar “http://site.address” that has been added here, then you should delete it, as on the image below.
Next, press the “OK” button to save the changes. Now, when you launch the internet browser from this desktop shortcut, it does not occur automatically reroute on an unwanted website that is advertised by the ‘ad-supported’ software. Once the step is finished, we recommend to go to the next step.
Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Once installed, the adware can add a task in to the Windows Task Scheduler Library. Due to this, every time when you start your PC system, it will display an unwanted web page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and remove all tasks that have been created by adware.
Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard at the same time. It will open a prompt which titled with Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and press OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, press “Task Scheduler Library”, as shown on the image below.
Task scheduler, list of tasks
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be show just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Necessary to look at the text which is written under Details. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address” or “firefox.exe http://site.address”, then you need get rid of this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it’s a component of the ‘ad-supported’ software, then this task also should be removed.
Further click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as shown in the figure below.
Task scheduler, delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by ‘ad-supported’ software. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.
How to remove “Ads Related To” advertisements automatically
Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove “Ads Related To” ads from the infected PC. This is because the adware can hide its components which are difficult for you to find out and remove completely. This may lead to the fact that after some time, the ad supported software again infect your computer and it will start to display annoying “Ads Related To” ads. Moreover, I want to note that it is not always safe to remove ‘ad-supported’ software manually, if you do not have much experience in setting up and configuring the machine.
I suggest using the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your computer. It’s an advanced malware removal program developed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It is able to help you remove browser hijackers, malware, adware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your computer for free.
Now, click the link below to download Malwarebytes Free on your PC system. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.
302175 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
When the download is finished, close all software on your PC. Next, run the setup file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as shown on the screen below, click the Yes button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” that will help you install Malwarebytes on your PC system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is finished successfully, press Finish button. Then Malwarebytes will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown in the figure below.
Now press the “Scan Now” button . This will begin scanning the whole computer to find out ad supported software that cause the “Ads Related To” ads. When the ad supported software or malware is found, the number of the detected objects will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished. Please be patient.
When it has finished scanning your system, you can check all threats detected on your PC. Make sure all entries have “checkmark” and press “Quarantine Selected” button. The Malwarebytes will start removing malware and ad supported software. Once disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your machine.
I suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the Malwarebytes application to remove ‘ad-supported’ software and other malware.
Block “Ads Related To” ads and unwanted web pages
To increase your security and protect your PC system against new annoying ads and malicious web-pages, you need to use application that blocks access to dangerous ads and web sites. Moreover, the application can block the open of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of web pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
Download AdGuard program from the following link.
23356 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once the downloading process is finished, launch the file named adguardInstaller. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown in the following image.
Follow the prompts. Once the installation is finished, you will see a window as shown on the image below.
You can click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will assist you get to know AdGuard better.
In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your computer, AdGuard will start automatically and block pop-ups, annoying ads, as well as other dangerous 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, that is located on your Windows desktop.
Get rid of “Ads Related To” ads and malicious extensions with AdwCleaner.
If MalwareBytes cannot delete the annoying “Ads Related To” ads from the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, IE and Microsoft Edge, then we suggests to use the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal tool for adware, browser hijackers, PUPs and toolbars.
Download AdwCleaner by clicking on the link below.
197977 downloads
Version: 8.3
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: June 30, 2021
When downloading is finished, open the file location. Double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this utility is started, you will see a screen like below.
Now, click the “Scan” button . This will start scanning the whole PC system to find out malicious extensions and adware that opens “Ads Related To” ads within your browser. Once the system scan is complete, it will display a scan report as shown below.
Review the report and then press “Clean” button. It will display a prompt. Click “OK”. When the cleaning process is complete, AdwCleaner may ask you to reboot your computer.
Look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the AdwCleaner to get rid of ad-supported software, browser hijackers and other dangerous applications.
Finish words
Once you have finished the steps above, your PC should be clean from malware and adware. The Google Chrome, IE, Firefox and Microsoft Edge will no longer show “Ads Related To” annoying ads and redirect you to unknown web sites. Unfortunately, if the guide does not help you, then you have caught a new type of adware, and then the best way – ask for help.
- Download HijackThis by clicking on the link below and save it to your Desktop.
HijackThis download
3815 downloads
Version: 2.0.5
Author: OpenSource
Category: Security tools
Update: November 7, 2015
- Double-click on the HijackThis icon. Next press “Do a system scan only” button.
- When it has finished scanning your PC, the scan button will read “Save log”, press it. Save this log to your desktop.
- Create a Myantispyware account here. Once you’ve registered, check your e-mail for a confirmation link, and confirm your account. After that, login.
- Copy and paste the contents of the HijackThis log into your post. If you are posting for the first time, please start a new thread by using the “New Topic” button in the Spyware Removal forum. When posting your HJT log, try to give us some details about your problems, so we can try to help you more accurately.
- Wait for one of our trained “Security Team” or Site Administrator to provide you with knowledgeable assistance tailored to your problem with the unwanted “Ads Related To” ads.
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