How to remove S.thebrighttag.com redirect [Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge]

The ‘ad supported’ software can change the settings of the Google Chrome, FF, MS Edge and Internet Explorer, but often that a harmful software such as this can also infect all types of web-browsers by changing their desktop shortcuts. Thus forcing the user each time start the web browser to see S.thebrighttag.com unwanted ads.

So, obviously, you need to remove the ‘ad supported’ software ASAP. Use the free guidance below. This guide will help you clean your machine of adware and thereby delete the S.thebrighttag.com unwanted pop ups.

Remove S.thebrighttag.com redirect

There are a few ways that can be used to delete S.thebrighttag.com pop-up advertisements. But, not all PUPs like this adware can be completely removed using only manual solutions. In many cases you are not able to remove any ad supported software utilizing standard MS Windows options. In order to remove S.thebrighttag.com pop up ads you need complete a few manual steps and run reliable removal utilities. Most IT security experts states that Zemana Anti-malware, Malwarebytes or AdwCleaner tools are a right choice. These free applications are able to detect and get rid of S.thebrighttag.com redirect from your system and revert back your internet browser settings to defaults.

Remove S.thebrighttag.com pop up ads without any utilities

If you perform exactly the guide below you should be able to delete the S.thebrighttag.com pop-up advertisements from the Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Edge internet browsers.

Remove S.thebrighttag.com related applications through the Control Panel of your system

It’s of primary importance to first identify and remove all PUPs, adware applications and browser hijackers through ‘Add/Remove Programs’ (Windows XP) or ‘Uninstall a program’ (Windows 10, 8, 7) section of your MS Windows Control Panel.

1. If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then press Windows button, next click 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 display the Windows Control Panel.
4. Further, press “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
5. It will show a list of all software installed on the computer.
6. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall suspicious and unknown software. To quickly find the latest installed programs, we recommend sort programs by date.

See more details in the video instructions below.

Clean up the web browsers shortcuts which have been hijacked by ad-supported software

Unfortunately, the ad-supported software can also hijack Windows shortcuts (mostly, your web browsers shortcuts), so that the S.thebrighttag.com ad web site will be shown when you launch the Chrome, FF, Internet Explorer and Edge or another web browser.

Right click on the web browser’s shortcut, click Properties option. 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 “http://site.address” that has been added here. Remove everything after .exe. An example, for Google Chrome you should remove everything after chrome.exe.

To save changes, click OK . You need to clean all internet browser’s shortcuts. So, repeat this step for the Google Chrome, FF, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Edge.

Delete S.thebrighttag.com from Mozilla Firefox by resetting web-browser settings

The Mozilla Firefox reset will keep your personal information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill data, recover preferences and security settings, get rid of redirections to unwanted S.thebrighttag.com web-page and ad supported software.

First, start the Firefox. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will open the drop-down menu. Next, click the Help button ().

In the Help menu click the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page click on “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the image below.

Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.

Remove S.thebrighttag.com popups from Google Chrome

Reset Chrome settings is a simple way to remove the browser hijackers, harmful and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to recover the web-browser’s new tab page, start page and search provider by default that have been changed by adware that made to redirect your web browser to various ad sites like S.thebrighttag.com.

First launch the Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will show the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to show the Google Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web browser adress bar and press Enter.

The web-browser will open the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as shown on the image below and press the “Reset settings” button.

The Chrome will open the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will launch the process of cleaning. Once it’s finished, the web browser’s settings including home page, newtab page and search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your computer.

Get rid of S.thebrighttag.com advertisements from Internet Explorer

The Internet Explorer reset is great if your web browser is hijacked or you have unwanted addo-ons or toolbars on your internet browser, which installed by an malicious software.

First, launch the Internet Explorer, click ) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as on the image below.

In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click Reset button. The IE will display the Reset Internet Explorer settings dialog box. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.

You will now need to reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will get rid of S.thebrighttag.com redirect, disable malicious and ad-supported internet browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings such as new tab, start page and search provider by default to default state.

Get rid of 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 personal computer, it will open S.thebrighttag.com annoying web-page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all harmful tasks which have been created by malicious software.

Press Windows and R keys on the keyboard together. This opens a dialog box that called 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 screen below.

In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Please choose the first task, its properties will be open just below automatically. Next, click the Actions tab. Pay attention to that it launches on your personal computer. Found something like “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address”, then get rid of this malicious task. If you are not sure that executes the task, check it through a search engine. If it is a component of the adware, then this task also should be removed.

Having defined the task that you want to remove, then click on it with the right mouse button and choose Delete as on the image below.

Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks which have been created by malicious application. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.

How to automatically delete S.thebrighttag.com popups

Many antivirus companies have designed software that help detect ad-supported software and thereby remove S.thebrighttag.com from the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge browsers. Below is a a few of the free programs you may want to use. Your PC may have lots of PUPs, ‘ad supported’ software and hijackers installed at the same time, so we suggest, if any unwanted or malicious program returns after rebooting the machine, then boot your computer into Safe Mode and use the anti malware utility again.

Remove S.thebrighttag.com advertisements with Zemana Anti-malware

We suggest you to use the Zemana Anti-malware which are completely clean your PC of S.thebrighttag.com pop-up ads. Moreover, the tool will allow you to remove potentially unwanted software, malicious software, toolbars and browser hijackers that your computer can be infected too.

1. Download Zemana anti malware (ZAM) from the link below.
   
   

   Zemana AntiMalware
   159545 downloads
   Author: Zemana Ltd
   Category: Security tools
   Update: July 16, 2019
   
2. Once the download is complete, close all applications and windows on your personal computer. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
3. Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
4. Once installation is complete, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the ad-supported software that causes tons of undesired S.thebrighttag.com pop-up advertisements. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your computer. While the utility is checking, you can see count of objects and files has already scanned.
5. After it has completed scanning, it’ll open a list of found threats. Review the scan results and then click “Next”. After finished, you can be prompted to restart your system.

Run Malwarebytes to remove S.thebrighttag.com redirect

Delete S.thebrighttag.com redirect manually is difficult and often the adware is not completely removed. Therefore, we recommend you to use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your PC system. Moreover, the free program will help you to delete malicious software, potentially unwanted software, toolbars and browser hijackers that your PC can be infected too.

Download Malwarebytes Free on your computer by clicking on the link below. Save it on your desktop.

After the download is complete, close all windows on your PC. Further, start the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” prompt pops up as shown on the screen below, click the “Yes” button.

It will display the “Setup wizard” that will help you setup Malwarebytes on the machine. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.

Once install is done successfully, click Finish button. Then Malwarebytes will automatically start and you can see its main window as shown on the screen below.

Next, press the “Scan Now” button for scanning your PC for the adware that developed to redirect your web browser to various ad web pages such as S.thebrighttag.com. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. During the scan it’ll detect all threats present on your machine.

Once it has finished scanning, a list of all threats detected is produced. Review the scan results and then click “Quarantine Selected” button.

The Malwarebytes will delete ad supported software that causes internet browsers to open intrusive S.thebrighttag.com advertisements. After disinfection is finished, you may be prompted to restart your machine. We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the Malwarebytes to remove hijackers, ad-supported software and other malicious software.

Use AdwCleaner to get rid of S.thebrighttag.com redirect from web-browser

The AdwCleaner utility is free and easy to use. It can scan and remove malicious software, potentially unwanted programs and adware in Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge browsers and thereby delete all undesired S.thebrighttag.com pop-ups. AdwCleaner is powerful enough to find and remove harmful registry entries and files that are hidden on the PC system.

Download AdwCleaner tool by clicking on the link below. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.

Once the download is finished, open the file location and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will run the AdwCleaner utility and you will see a screen as shown on the screen below. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to open the program, press Yes button to continue.

Next, click “Scan” to perform a system scan with this tool for the ad-supported software which causes undesired S.thebrighttag.com ads. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your computer. While the tool is scanning, you can see count of objects it has identified either as being malicious software.

As the scanning ends is finished, it’ll show a screen that contains a list of malware that has been found like below.

Review the report and then press “Clean” button. It will show a prompt. Click “OK” button. The AdwCleaner will remove ‘ad supported’ software which made to redirect your internet browser to various ad web-pages such as S.thebrighttag.com and move threats to the program’s quarantine. When that process is done, the utility may ask you to reboot your personal computer. After restart, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.

All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video instructions.

Use AdBlocker to stop S.thebrighttag.com and stay safe online

In order to increase your security and protect your computer against new annoying advertisements and malicious web sites, you need to use ad-blocking application that blocks an access to harmful advertisements and pages. Moreover, the program can block the display of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.

Download AdGuard program by clicking on the following link.

When downloading is finished, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen like below.

Follow the prompts. When the installation is complete, you will see a window as on the image below.

You can click “Skip” to close the setup application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” button to see an 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 machine, AdGuard will start automatically and block pop ups, web-sites such S.thebrighttag.com, as well as other malicious or misleading 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 desktop.

Where the S.thebrighttag.com popups comes from

These days certain free programs developers bundle third-party programs which could be potentially unwanted applications like this adware, with a view to making some money. These are not free applications as install an unwanted software on to your MS Windows system. So whenever you install a new free application that downloaded from the World Wide Web, be very careful during setup. Carefully read the EULA (a text with I ACCEPT/I DECLINE button), choose custom or manual setup method, uncheck all optional software.

Finish words

Now your system should be free of the ad-supported software which made to redirect your web browser to various ad web sites such as S.thebrighttag.com. Uninstall AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep Zemana Anti-malware (to periodically scan your system for new malicious software, browser hijackers and ad supported software) and AdGuard (to help you stop undesired pop ups and malicious web-sites). Moreover, to prevent adware, please stay clear of unknown and third party programs, make sure that your antivirus program, turn on the option to detect PUPs (potentially unwanted programs).

If you need more help with S.thebrighttag.com popups related issues, go to our Spyware/Malware removal forum.