The Call Microsoft to Unlock PC is a misleading advertising that created to trick your into calling the fake Microsoft Support. If the Chrome, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Edge opens automatically to the “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” annoying web-site then it could mean that your computer is infected by an adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software). This ‘ad supported’ software alters the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer settings to display lots of annoying pop-up ads on all pages, including sites where previously you advertisements have never seen. These ads can be varied: pop-up windows, boxes, in-text ads, different sized banners and so on. What is more, the ad supported software, that displays the “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop-ups, can cause your Internet connection to be slow or freeze your web browser so that the interface is not updated anymore.
“Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” is misleading ad
The ‘ad supported’ software that reroutes your web browser to undesired “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” web site, may show advertisements depend on a web-page that you are visiting. That is, it is clear that this adware, without your permission, steals user information such as: your ip address, what is a web page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Internet, which links you are clicking, and much, much more. The worst is, the ad supported software may monetize its functionality by collecting confidential data from your surfing sessions and selling it to third party companies. This puts your privacy data at a security risk.
In addition to that, as was mentioned earlier, some adware to also change all internet browsers shortcuts which located on your Desktop or Start menu. So, every affected shortcut will try to reroute your web browser to unwanted ad sites such as “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC”, some of which might be harmful. It can make the whole personal computer more vulnerable to hacker attacks.
We advise you to remove adware and clean your PC system from “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup advertisements as soon as possible, until the presence of the adware has not led to even worse consequences. You need to follow the step-by-step guide below that will allow you to completely remove the reroute to “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” unwanted web page, using only the built-in MS Windows features and a few of specialized free malware removal utilities.
How to remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup
There are several steps to deleting the ad supported software which shows misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup on your system, because it installs itself so deeply into Windows. You need to delete all suspicious and unknown software, then get rid of malicious addons from the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer and other browsers you’ve installed. Finally, you need to reset your internet browser settings to remove any changes the adware has made, and then scan your system with Zemana Free, MalwareBytes or AdwCleaner to ensure the adware is fully removed. It will take a while.
To remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC”, use the steps below:
- Manual “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup scam removal
- Delete potentially unwanted software using Windows Control Panel
- Get rid of “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up scam from IE
- Remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
- Remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup scam from Google Chrome
- Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
- Fix infected internet browsers shortcuts to remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” redirect
- Scan your system and delete “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up scam with free tools
- Use AdBlocker to block “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” and stay safe online
- How can you prevent the “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup
- Finish words
Manual “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup scam removal
The useful removal guide for the “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup . The detailed procedure can be followed by anyone as it really does take you step-by-step. If you follow this process to remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup let us know how you managed by sending us your comments please.
Delete potentially unwanted software using Windows Control Panel
Some of potentially unwanted programs, adware and hijackers can be deleted using the Add/Remove programs tool which is located in the Microsoft Windows Control Panel. So, if you’re running any version of Microsoft Windows and you have noticed an unwanted program, then first try to delete it through Add/Remove programs.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click Windows button
, then click Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown in the following example.
When the ‘Control Panel’ opens, press the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as on the image below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as shown below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of applications installed on your computer. Most likely, one or more of them are responsible for the appearance of pop-up advertisements and web browser redirect to the annoying “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” web-site. 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, after that click ‘Uninstall’.
Windows XP, Vista, 7
First, click ‘Start’ button and select ‘Control Panel’ at right panel as displayed on the screen below.
After the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to click ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown in the following example.
You will see a list of software installed on your personal 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 advertisements and browser redirect. If you are in doubt, you can always check the application by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. When the program which you need to uninstall is found, simply click on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ as shown on the image below.
Get rid of “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up scam from IE
By resetting Internet Explorer web-browser you restore your browser settings to its default state. This is basic when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by ad-supported software which displays misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop-up on your PC.
First, start the Internet Explorer, press 
) button. Next, press “Internet Options” as displayed on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings dialog box. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.
You will now need to reboot your PC system for the changes to take effect. It will get rid of ad-supported software that created to display misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop-up within your web-browser, disable malicious and ad-supported internet browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings like homepage, newtab and search provider by default to default state.
Remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” from Mozilla Firefox by resetting internet browser settings
If the Mozilla Firefox settings such as homepage, newtab page and search engine by default have been replaced by the adware, then resetting it to the default state can help.
Press the Menu button (looks like three horizontal lines), and click the blue Help icon located at the bottom of the drop down menu as displayed below.
A small menu will appear, click the “Troubleshooting Information”. On this page, click “Refresh Firefox” button as shown on the image below.
Follow the onscreen procedure to restore your Mozilla Firefox browser settings to its original state.
Remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup scam from Google Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a easy way to remove the ‘ad supported’ software, malicious and adware extensions, as well as to recover the browser’s home page, new tab and default search engine that have been modified by adware that displays misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop-up on your machine.
First open the Google Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will show the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the web-browser adress bar and press Enter.
The browser will show 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 screen below and press the “Reset settings” button.
The Chrome will display the confirmation dialog box. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The browser will start the process of cleaning. Once it is done, the web browser’s settings including homepage, newtab page and search provider by default back to the values that have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your system.
Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If the unwanted “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” web page opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all the tasks that have been created by ‘ad-supported’ software.
Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard together. It will display a dialog box that titled with Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “Task Scheduler Library”, as displayed in the following example.
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 delete this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it is a component of the ‘ad-supported’ programs, then this task also should be removed.
Further click 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 ‘ad-supported’ program. Once is complete, close the Task Scheduler window.
Fix infected internet browsers shortcuts to remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” redirect
Now you need to clean up the web-browser shortcuts. Check that the shortcut referring to the right exe-file of the web browser, and not on any unknown file.
Open the properties of the web browser shortcut. Right click on the shortcut of infected web browser and choose the “Properties” option and it will show the properties of the shortcut. Next, choose the “Shortcut” tab and have a look at the Target field as shown in the following example.
Normally, if the last word in the Target field is chrome.exe, iexplore.exe, firefox.exe. Be sure to pay attention to the extension, should be “exe”! All shortcuts that have been altered by adware like “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” usually point to .bat, .cmd or .url files instead of .exe as shown in the figure below
Another variant, an address has been added at the end of the line. In this case the Target field looks such as …Application\chrome.exe” http://site.address as on the image below.
In order to fix a shortcut, you need to insert right path to the Target field or remove an address (if it has been added at the end). You can use the following information to fix your shortcuts which have been modified by ‘ad supported’ software.
| Chrome | C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe | |
| Firefox | C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe |
| IE | C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe | |
| Opera | C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\launcher.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Opera\launcher.exe |
Once is done, press OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all browsers which are re-directed to the “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” intrusive site.
Scan your system and delete “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up scam with free tools
There are not many good free anti malware applications with high detection ratio. The effectiveness of malicious software removal tools depends on various factors, mostly on how often their virus/malware signatures DB are updated in order to effectively detect modern malicious software, adware, browser hijacker infections and other potentially unwanted applications. We suggest to use several programs, not just one. These applications that listed below will help you get rid of all components of the adware from your disk and Windows registry and thereby delete “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up scam.
Use Zemana Anti-malware to remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC”
We suggest using the Zemana Anti-malware. You can download and install Zemana Anti-malware to detect and remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup scam from the FF, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and MS Edge web browsers. When installed and updated, the malware remover will automatically scan and detect all threats exist on your PC.
- Please download Zemana AntiMalware from the following link and save it to your Desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164113 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web browser will show the “Save as” dialog box. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- When downloading is done, please close all applications and open windows on your PC. Next, run a file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- This will run the “Setup wizard” of Zemana Free onto your computer. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana AntiMalware will run and display the main window.
- Further, press the “Scan” button .Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) application will scan through the whole PC for the adware which made to display misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop-up within your web browser. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a malicious software, adware or PUPs are found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.
- After Zemana Anti-Malware has finished scanning, a list of all threats detected is produced.
- Review the scan results and then click the “Next” button. The utility will delete adware which causes misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up scam on your web browser and add threats to the Quarantine. When the cleaning procedure is finished, you may be prompted to reboot the system.
- Close the Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) and continue with the next step.
Run Malwarebytes to remove “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup
Manual “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up scam removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the ad supported software can be not completely removed. We advise that use the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your computer of adware. Moreover, the free program will help you to remove malware, PUPs, browser hijackers and toolbars that your machine can be infected too.
Download MalwareBytes AntiMalware from the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.
326464 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After downloading is done, close all windows on your computer. Further, run the file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed in the figure below, press the “Yes” button.
It will display the “Setup wizard” that will assist you set up MalwareBytes Free on the machine. Follow the prompts and do not make any changes to default settings.
Once install is done successfully, click Finish button. Then MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically launch and you can see its main window as displayed below.
Next, click the “Scan Now” button .MalwareBytes Anti-Malware program will scan through the whole system for the adware which shows misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up on your PC.
Once that process is finished, you can check all items detected on your system. You may move threats to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware (MBAM) will start to delete ad-supported software which cause misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup to appear. After the task is done, you can be prompted to restart your PC. We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the process of using the MalwareBytes to remove hijackers, adware and other malicious software.
If the problem with “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop-up is still remained
AdwCleaner is a free removal utility which can scan your personal computer for a wide range of security threats such as malicious software, ad supported softwares, PUPs as well as adware which causes misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup on your web-browser. It will perform a deep scan of your PC including hard drives and Windows registry. When a malicious software is found, it will help you to remove all detected threats from your computer by a simple click.
- Download AdwCleaner by clicking on the following link. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop or in any other place.
AdwCleaner download
225301 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
- After the download is finished, double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once this utility is started, press “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the adware that causes multiple misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” alerts and popups. A system scan can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system. While the AdwCleaner program is scanning, you may see number of objects it has identified as threat.
- After the scan get finished, AdwCleaner will show a screen which contains a list of malware that has been detected. All found threats will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click “Clean” button. It will display a prompt, press “OK”.
These few simple steps are shown in detail in the following video guide.
Use AdBlocker to block “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” and stay safe online
In order to increase your security and protect your computer against new undesired advertisements and malicious web pages, you need to run ad-blocker program that blocks an access to harmful advertisements and web pages. Moreover, the program can stop the open of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web sites and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
Installing the AdGuard ad-blocking program is simple. First you will need to download AdGuard from the following link. Save it on your Desktop.
26659 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
Once the downloading process is finished, double-click the downloaded file to run it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as displayed on the image below.
Follow the prompts. AdGuard will then be installed and an icon will be placed on your desktop. A window will show up asking you to confirm that you want to see a quick guide as on the image below.
Click “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that will help you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you launch your PC system, AdGuard will start automatically and stop popup ads, web pages such “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC”, as well as other harmful or misleading 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, that is located on your desktop.
How can you prevent the “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” popup
Usually, adware gets into your PC as part of a bundle with free programs, sharing files and other unsafe applications that you downloaded from the World Wide Web. The creators of this adware pays software makers for distributing ad supported software within their software. So, third-party programs is often included as part of the setup file. In order to avoid the installation of any ad supported software that causes multiple misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” alerts and pop-ups: select only Manual, Custom or Advanced setup mode and uncheck all bundled applications in which you are unsure.
Finish words
Now your personal computer should be clean of the ‘ad supported’ software that cause misleading “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop-up to appear. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted popup ads and undesired malicious sites) and Zemana Free (to periodically scan your PC system for new ad-supported softwares and other malware). 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 “Call Microsoft to Unlock PC” pop up from the Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
