What is HidenGate? Computer security professionals have determined that HidenGate is a potentially unwanted app from ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware) group.
Technically, the adware is not a virus. It is is made to make a revenue by showing lots of pop-up ads or redirecting the web browser on unwanted web sites. Once started, the ad-supported software injects a small code within the content of web pages that you visit. This harmful code may pop-up a new web-browser window with an unwanted page or insert tons of ads directly into the web-pages you are viewing.
It’s not a good idea to have an unwanted application such as the HidenGate. The reason for this is simple, it doing things you don’t know about. And of course you completely do not know what will happen when you click on any HidenGate popup advertisements.
As well as unwanted HidenGate ads, the adware may collect your Internet browsing activity by recording URLs visited, IP addresses, internet browser version and type, cookie information, Internet Service Provider (ISP) and websites visited. Such kind of behavior can lead to serious security problems or confidential data theft. This is another reason why the HidenGate is defined as PUP (potentially unwanted program).
By following guidance below it’s easy to scan and get rid of adware from Edge, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox and your PC system. Learn how to get rid of HidenGate advertisements and malicious programs, as well as how to run a full machine virus scan.
Remove HidenGate ads
There exist several free adware removal utilities. Also it is possible to delete HidenGate ads manually. But we suggest to combine all these methods below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the guide. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to close your internet browser or reboot your computer.
To remove HidenGate, use the steps below:
- How to manually remove HidenGate
- How to remove HidenGate pop-ups with free applications
- Use AdBlocker to stay safe online
- Where the HidenGate comes from
- To sum up
How to manually remove HidenGate
Most common ad-supported software may be deleted without any antivirus software. The manual adware removal is few simple steps that will teach you how to delete the HidenGate pop-up ads.
Remove PUPs through the MS Windows Control Panel
In order to remove PUPs like this adware, open the Microsoft Windows Control Panel and click on “Uninstall a program”. Check the list of installed programs. For the ones you do not know, run an Internet search to see if they are adware, browser hijacker infection or PUPs. If yes, delete them off. Even if they are just a software that you do not use, then removing them off will increase your computer start up time and speed dramatically.
Make sure you have closed all browsers and other programs. Next, delete any unrequested and suspicious software from your Control panel.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Now, press the Windows button, type “Control panel” in search and press Enter. Select “Programs and Features”, then “Uninstall a program”.
Look around the entire list of programs installed on your PC system. Most likely, one of them is the ‘ad supported’ software. Choose the questionable program or the application that name is not familiar to you and uninstall it.
Windows Vista, 7
From the “Start” menu in Windows, select “Control Panel”. Under the “Programs” icon, choose “Uninstall a program”.
Choose the questionable or any unknown software, then click “Uninstall/Change” button to remove this undesired application from your PC system.
Windows XP
Click the “Start” button, select “Control Panel” option. Click on “Add/Remove Programs”.
Select an unwanted program, then click “Change/Remove” button. Follow the prompts.
Delete HidenGate popup advertisements from Internet Explorer
By resetting Internet Explorer web-browser you restore your browser settings to its default state. This is good initial when troubleshooting problems that might have been caused by HidenGate adware.
First, open the Internet Explorer, click 
) button. Next, click “Internet Options” as displayed in the following example.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, press Reset button. The Internet Explorer will show the Reset Internet Explorer settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and click Reset button.
You will now need to restart your PC for the changes to take effect. It will remove adware that responsible for HidenGate ads, disable malicious and ad-supported web-browser’s extensions and restore the Internet Explorer’s settings like search engine, new tab page and home page to default state.
Remove HidenGate ads from Google Chrome
Run the Reset web-browser utility of the Chrome to reset all its settings to original defaults. This is a very useful utility to use, in the case of web browser redirects to undesired ad web pages.
- First, start the Google Chrome and click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three dots).
- It will open the Chrome main menu. Choose More Tools, then click Extensions.
- You will see the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension labeled with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
- Now open the Chrome menu once again, click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, press “Advanced” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- On the bottom of the “Advanced settings” page, press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
- The Chrome will open the reset settings dialog box as shown on the image above.
- Confirm the internet browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, read the post How to reset Google Chrome settings to default.
Remove HidenGate advertisements from Firefox
If your Mozilla Firefox web browser is redirected to unwanted web-sites without your permission or an unknown search engine opens results for your search, then it may be time to perform the web-browser reset. However, your themes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and web form auto-fill information will not be deleted.
First, run the Mozilla Firefox. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will display 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 press on “Refresh Firefox” button as on the image below.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
How to remove HidenGate pop-ups with free applications
It’s not enough to remove HidenGate ads from your web-browser by completing the manual steps above to solve all problems. Some the adware related files may remain on your computer and they will restore the adware even after you remove it. For that reason we suggest to use free antimalware utility like Zemana Free, MalwareBytes Free and HitmanPro. Either of those applications should has the ability to scan for and get rid of adware responsible for HidenGate ads.
Remove HidenGate pop up ads with Zemana Free
You can get rid of HidenGate popup ads automatically with a help of Zemana. We advise this malware removal utility because it may easily get rid of hijacker infections, potentially unwanted programs, ad supported software with all their components such as folders, files and registry entries.
- Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) can be downloaded from the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164107 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- When the download is finished, close all programs and windows on your system. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once setup is finished, click the “Scan” button to perform a system scan for the HidenGate adware. A system scan may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on your system. While the Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) tool is checking, you can see count of objects it has identified as being affected by malware.
- After Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) has completed scanning, the results are displayed in the scan report. Review the results once the utility has finished the system scan. If you think an entry should not be quarantined, then uncheck it. Otherwise, simply press “Next”. When finished, you can be prompted to restart your PC.
Remove HidenGate pop-up advertisements from internet browsers with HitmanPro
The Hitman Pro utility is free (30 day trial) and easy to use. It can scan and remove malicious software, PUPs and adware in Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge internet browsers and thereby remove all annoying HidenGate advertisements. HitmanPro is powerful enough to find and get rid of malicious registry entries and files that are hidden on the computer.
- Hitman Pro can be downloaded from the following link. Save it directly to your Windows Desktop.
- Once the download is finished, launch the HitmanPro, double-click the HitmanPro.exe file.
- If the “User Account Control” prompts, click Yes to continue.
- In the Hitman Pro window, press the “Next” . Hitman Pro utility will begin scanning the whole machine to find out adware responsible for redirecting your web-browser to unwanted websites. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your system. While the Hitman Pro tool is scanning, you may see count of objects it has identified as being infected by malicious software.
- Once the system scan is finished, HitmanPro will open a screen that contains a list of malware that has been detected. All found threats will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click “Next”. Now, click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to remove all malware found.
Use Malwarebytes to delete HidenGate pop up advertisements
Manual HidenGate pop-up ads removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the adware can be not completely removed. We recommend that run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely free your PC system of adware. Moreover, the free program will help you to remove malware, potentially unwanted apps, hijackers and toolbars that your computer can be infected too.
Visit the page linked below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) for MS Windows. Save it on your MS Windows desktop or in any other place.
326460 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
When the download is finished, close all windows on your computer. Further, start the file called mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as shown in the following example, press the “Yes” button.
It will display the “Setup wizard” that will allow you install MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) on the computer. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
Once installation is finished successfully, click Finish button. Then MalwareBytes Anti Malware will automatically launch and you can see its main window like below.
Next, click the “Scan Now” button for checking your system for the HidenGate adware. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient. During the scan MalwareBytes Anti Malware will detect threats exist on your personal computer.
After the scan is complete, MalwareBytes AntiMalware will produce a list of undesired programs ad-supported software. Review the scan results and then press “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes will remove adware that causes multiple undesired popup ads and move items to the program’s quarantine. Once that process is finished, you can be prompted to restart your computer. We suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the MalwareBytes AntiMalware to delete browser hijackers, adware and other malicious software.
Use AdBlocker to stay safe online
It is also critical to protect your internet browsers from malicious webpages and ads by using an ad blocker program such as AdGuard. Security experts says that it’ll greatly reduce the risk of malware, and potentially save lots of money. Additionally, the AdGuard may also protect your privacy by blocking almost all trackers.
Click the following link to download the latest version of AdGuard for MS Windows. Save it directly to your Microsoft Windows Desktop.
26656 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading it, double-click the downloaded file to start it. The “Setup Wizard” window will show up on the computer screen as shown in the following example.
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 tutorial like below.
Press “Skip” button to close the window and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick guide that will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
Each time, when you start your personal computer, AdGuard will launch automatically and block unwanted pop up advertisements, as well as other malicious or misleading pages. 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 desktop.
Where the HidenGate comes from
The adware most likely to occur during the installation of free applications due the fact that PUPs like this are usually hidden in the installer. Thus, if you’ve installed some freeware using Quick(Standard) method, you may have let the HidenGate get inside your computer. Keep in mind that the Quick mode is unreliable because it do not warn about bundled programs. Thus, bundled apps will be installed automatically unless you select Advanced/Custom mode and reject its installation.
To sum up
Once you have done the step-by-step guide shown above, your PC system should be clean from HidenGate adware that made to reroute your web-browser to various ad websites and other malware. The Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Microsoft Edge will no longer display annoying HidenGate ads. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.
