The cause of unwanted prelanders.net popups on within your web-browser is adware (sometimes called ‘ad-supported’ software). Technically, the adware, that shows a large amount of pop-ups or redirects on an annoying web page, is not a virus. It’s is created to make a money. Once started, the adware injects a small code within the content of web-pages that you visit. The malicous code may pop-up a new internet browser window with prelanders.net site or insert a ton of ads directly into the pages you’re viewing.
http://prelanders.net/mainstream/sweepstakes/iphone/ …
The malicious programs from the adware family that alters the settings of browsers usually affects only the Chrome, FF, Edge and Internet Explorer. However, possible situations, when any other web browsers will be affected too. The ad-supported software may change the Target property of a internet browser’s shortcut, so every time you launch the web browser, instead of your home page, you will see the annoying prelanders.net ads.
Therefore it’s very important to follow the few simple steps below as soon as possible. The instructions will assist you to remove adware as well as clean your PC system from the prelanders.net pop-up ads. What is more, the instructions below will help you delete other dangerous software such as unwanted toolbars and browser hijackers, which could penetrate the machine along with the ad supported software.
How to prelanders.net ads get installed onto PC system
Most often, the free programs installer includes the optional potentially unwanted programs like this ‘ad supported’ software. So, be very careful when you agree to install anything. The best way is to select the Custom, Advanced or Manual setup mode. Here disable (uncheck) all optional programs in which you are unsure or that causes even a slightest suspicion. The main thing you should remember, you don’t need to install the optional software which you don’t trust! The only thing I want to add. Once the free software is installed, if you {aninstall} this software, the adware will not be removed. This must be done by yourself. Just follow the few simple steps below.
How to manually remove prelanders.net pop-ups
The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will assist you manually remove prelanders.net advertisements from the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
- Uninstall suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove prelanders.net redirect
- Remove prelanders.net from Google Chrome
- Delete prelanders.net advertisements from FF
- Remove prelanders.net redirect from Microsoft Internet Explorer
- Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Uninstall suspicious and unknown applications by using Windows Control Panel
First, you should try to identify and uninstall the program that causes the appearance of unwanted advertisements and internet browser redirect to unwanted sites, using the ‘Uninstall a program’ which is located in the ‘Control panel’.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
Press Windows key
, then click Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown on the screen below.
When the ‘Control Panel’ opens, click the ‘Uninstall a program’ under Programs category as shown on the screen below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as on the image below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of installed applications. Most likely, one or more of them are responsible for the web browser redirect to unwanted prelanders.net advertisements. If you have many programs installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious programs by sort the list by date of installation. Once you have found a suspicious, unwanted or unused program, right click to it and press ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel like below.
When the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to click ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown below.
You will see a list of programs installed on your computer. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the software that were installed last. Most likely they responsibility for the appearance of unwanted popup ads and web browser redirect. If you are in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. When the program, you need to delete, is found, simply click on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ as on the image below.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove prelanders.net redirect
Once the ad-supported software is started, it can also modify the internet browser’s shortcuts, adding an argument such as “http://site.address” into the Target field. Due to this, every time you run the web-browser, it will be rerouted to an unwanted ads.
To clear the web browser shortcut, right-click to it and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text that starts with “http://” that has been added here. You need to remove it.
When the argument is removed, click the OK button. You need to clean all shortcuts of all your browsers, as they may be infected too.
Remove prelanders.net from Google Chrome
Like other modern web browsers, the Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thereby remove the redirect to prelanders.net annoying ads that is caused by the ad supported software.
At first, start the Google Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will appear the main menu. Click on the option named “Settings”. Another way to show the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the browser adress bar and press Enter.
The web browser will show the settings screen. 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, like below and click the “Reset settings” button.
The Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The program will start the procedure of cleaning. When it is done, the web-browser settings including the ‘block pop-ups’ option back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your machine.
Delete prelanders.net advertisements from FF
First, launch the Mozilla Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will display the drop-down menu. Next, press the “Help” button (
).
In the Help menu, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page, click “Refresh Firefox” button.
Confirm your action, press the “Refresh Firefox”.
Remove prelanders.net redirect from Microsoft Internet Explorer
First, run the Internet Explorer, then click the button in the form of gear (
). It will show 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 IE will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click on “Reset” button.
You will now need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Delete 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 open your computer, it will open prelanders.net annoying 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 together. It will show a prompt that titled as Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and press OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “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 open just below automatically. Next, click 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 delete this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it’s a component of the adware, then this task also should be removed.
Further press on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as on the image below.
Task scheduler, delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by adware. Once is complete, close the Task Scheduler window.
Remove prelanders.net ads automatically
You can remove prelanders.net advertisements automatically with a help of Malwarebytes Free. We recommend this free malware removal tool because it can easily get rid of adware, browser hijackers, potentially unwanted programs and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
Download Malwarebytes Free on your PC from the link below. Save it on your Desktop.
327261 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
Once downloading is finished, close all windows on your computer. Further, launch the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up like below, press the Yes button.
It will show the “Setup wizard” that will assist you install Malwarebytes on the personal computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
When the installation is done successfully, click Finish button. Then Malwarebytes will automatically start and you can see its main window as shown on the image below.
Next, click the “Scan Now” button . This will begin scanning the whole system to find out malware and adware which cause the prelanders.net ads. When a threat is found, the number of the detected objects will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is complete. Please be patient.
Once the scanning is finished, you can check all threats detected on your system. Make sure all entries have “checkmark” and click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The Malwarebytes will begin removing malware and adware that cause prelanders.net redirect. When the disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your system. I recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the Malwarebytes to get rid of ‘ad supported’ software and other dangerous applications.
How to block prelanders.net advertisements
To increase your security and protect your PC against new annoying ads and malicious web pages, you need to use an application that blocks access to dangerous advertisements and web-sites. Moreover, the application can block the display of intrusive advertising, that also leads to faster loading of web-sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
- Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link.
Adguard download
26898 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After the download is done, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” window. Follow the prompts.
- When the install is complete, click “Skip” to close it and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see a quick tutorial which 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 start your computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop pop-ups, prelanders.net redirects, 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 Windows desktop.
Scan your system and delete prelanders.net redirect with AdwCleaner.
This removal program is free and easy to use. It can scan and get rid of ‘ad supported’ software, browser hijackers, malware and unwanted toolbars in Chrome, Firefox, Edge and IE internet browsers and thereby restore back their default settings (startpage, new tab page and default search engine). AdwCleaner is powerful enough to find and delete malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the computer.
Download AdwCleaner utility from the link below. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
225628 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
After the download is finished, open the directory in which you saved it and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will launch the AdwCleaner utility and you will see a screen like below. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to show the application, press Yes button to continue.
Now, press the “Scan” . This will begin scanning the whole PC system to find out adware that cause a redirect to prelanders.net advertisements.
Once the scan is finished, it will open a list of all items detected by this tool like below.
You need to click “Clean” button. It will open a dialog box, click “OK” to begin the cleaning procedure. Once the cleaning procedure is done, the AdwCleaner may ask you to restart your computer. After reboot, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.
All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.
Finish words
Now your PC system should be clean of the prelanders.net ads. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted pop-up ads and annoying malicious web sites) and Malwarebytes (to periodically scan your machine for new malware and ‘ad supported’ software). 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 prelanders.net from your PC, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
