Computer security professionals has determined that Fanatical Assistant is potentially unwanted program (PUP) that can function as adware. What does adware do? Adware is something which you should be aware of even if you run Google Chrome or other modern internet browser. This is the name given to software that have been developed to display unwanted advertisements and pop-up commercials onto your web-browser screen. The reason for adware’s existence is to generate money for its creator.
Other signs of the presence of adware include:
- intrusive toolbars;
- pop ups and newtab pages are loaded without your request;
- your internet browser is redirected to web-pages you did not want;
- your machine is no stable leading to freezes;
- your PC settings are being modified without your request.
Does adware software steal your privacy information? The adware is often harmless, but sometimes the adware you inadvertently download can also be spyware. Spyware can sometimes seek out your confidential information stored on the personal computer, collect this information and use it to steal your identity.
To find out how to delete Fanatical Assistant adware software, we advise to read the step-by-step tutorial added to this blog post below. The instructions was prepared by experienced security researchers who discovered a method to get rid of the annoying adware out of the machine.
Remove Fanatical Assistant (removal tutorial)
There exist several free adware removal utilities. Also it is possible to delete Fanatical Assistant adware manually. But we recommend to combine all these methods below into the one removal algorithm. Follow the steps of the instructions. Read it once, after doing so, please print this page as you may need to exit your internet browser or reboot your system.
To remove Fanatical Assistant, perform the following steps:
- Remove Fanatical Assistant adware without any utilities
- How to remove Fanatical Assistant automatically
- How to stay safe online
- How did you get infected with adware
- To sum up
Remove Fanatical Assistant adware without any utilities
To get rid of Fanatical Assistant , adware software and other unwanted software you can try to do so manually. Unfortunately some of the adware won’t show up in your program list, but some adware may. In this case, you may be able to delete it through the uninstall function of your PC system. You can do this by completing the steps below.
Delete potentially unwanted software through the Windows Control Panel
We suggest that you begin the system cleaning procedure by checking the list of installed applications and uninstall all unknown or suspicious apps. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the harmful software such as adware software and hijackers may be bundled with free applications. Remove the unwanted apps can delete the undesired advertisements or browser redirect.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
First, click Windows button
, then press Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter as shown in the following example.
Once the ‘Control Panel’ opens, press the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as displayed on the image below.
You will see the ‘Uninstall a program’ panel as displayed in the figure below.
Very carefully look around the entire list of software installed on your computer. Most likely, one of them is the Fanatical Assistant adware software that created to redirect your web-browser to various ad web pages. If you have many apps installed, you can help simplify the search of malicious programs by sort the list by date of installation. Once you have found a questionable, 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 shown below.
When the Windows ‘Control Panel’ opens, you need to click ‘Uninstall a program’ under ‘Programs’ as shown on the image below.
You will see a list of apps installed on your PC system. We recommend to sort the list by date of installation to quickly find the applications that were installed last. Most probably, it is the Fanatical Assistant adware software that designed to redirect your browser to various ad web pages. If you’re in doubt, you can always check the program by doing a search for her name in Google, Yahoo or Bing. Once the application which you need to uninstall is found, simply press on its name, and then click ‘Uninstall’ as shown on the image below.
Remove Fanatical Assistant adware software from Chrome
Like other modern browsers, the Chrome has the ability to reset the settings to their default values and thereby restore the browser’s settings like search provider by default, new tab page and homepage that have been changed by the Fanatical Assistant adware software that causes internet browsers to display unwanted advertisements.
First open the Google Chrome. Next, click the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will display the Chrome menu. Choose More Tools, then press Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed extensions. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following tutorial: Remove Chrome extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Open the Chrome menu once again. Further, click the option called “Settings”.
The browser will display the settings screen. Another solution to show the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the internet browser adress bar and press Enter
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Advanced” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset” section is visible, as displayed on the screen below and click the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Google Chrome will open the confirmation prompt as shown below.
You need to confirm your action, press the “Reset” button. The web browser will start the process of cleaning. After it’s done, the web browser’s settings including newtab page, homepage and search provider by default back to the values which have been when the Chrome was first installed on your computer.
Remove Fanatical Assistant adware from Mozilla Firefox
Resetting Mozilla Firefox internet browser will reset all the settings to their original settings and will remove Fanatical Assistant , malicious add-ons and extensions. However, your themes, bookmarks, history, passwords, and web form auto-fill information will not be deleted.
First, run the Firefox. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will show the drop-down menu. Next, click the Help button (
).
In the Help menu press the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page press on “Refresh Firefox” button as displayed in the following example.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
Remove Fanatical Assistant from Internet Explorer
If you find that Microsoft Internet Explorer browser settings had been changed by Fanatical Assistant that causes undesired pop-ups, then you may restore your settings, via the reset internet browser procedure.
First, open the IE. Next, click the button in the form of gear (
). It will show the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” as displayed on the image below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then click the Reset button. The Internet Explorer will open the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown in the figure below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to reboot your personal computer for the changes to take effect.
How to remove Fanatical Assistant automatically
It’s very difficult for classic anti-virus to detect adware software and other kinds of potentially unwanted programs. We suggest you run a free anti-adware like Zemana, MalwareBytes and Hitman Pro from our list below. These utilities will help you scan and remove trojans, malware, spyware, keyloggers, bothersome and malicious adware from an infected system.
Get rid of Fanatical Assistant with Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM)
Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) is free full featured malware removal tool. It can check your files and Microsoft Windows registry in real-time. Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) can help to remove Fanatical Assistant adware, other potentially unwanted software, malicious software and adware software. It uses 1% of your system resources. This tool has got simple and beautiful interface and at the same time best possible protection for your machine.
Now you can set up and use Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) to remove Fanatical Assistant from your web-browser by following the steps below:
Visit the page linked below to download Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) install package called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your system. Save it on your Desktop.
164114 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Run the installation package after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to setup this tool on your personal computer.
During install you can change some settings, but we advise you don’t make any changes to default settings.
When installation is complete, this malicious software removal utility will automatically run and update itself. You will see its main window as shown on the screen below.
Now click the “Scan” button . Zemana tool will begin scanning the whole computer to find out Fanatical Assistant. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your personal computer and the speed of your computer. During the scan Zemana Free will detect threats exist on your computer.
Once the scan is complete, Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) will open you the results. When you are ready, click “Next” button.
The Zemana Free will remove Fanatical Assistant adware. When the process is finished, you can be prompted to restart your PC system to make the change take effect.
Scan your computer and remove Fanatical Assistant with HitmanPro
Hitman Pro will help remove Fanatical Assistant. Browser hijackers, adware and other potentially unwanted applications slow your internet browser down and try to force you into clicking on suspicious ads and links. HitmanPro removes the adware software and lets you enjoy your computer without Fanatical Assistant .
Click the following link to download HitmanPro. Save it on your Microsoft Windows desktop.
When the downloading process is done, open the folder in which you saved it and double-click the HitmanPro icon. It will run the HitmanPro utility. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to run the program, click Yes button to continue.
Next, click “Next” . Hitman Pro tool will start scanning the whole PC to find out Fanatical Assistant adware. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your computer and the speed of your personal computer. When a threat is detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
When the scan is finished, the results are displayed in the scan report as on the image below.
Review the report and then click “Next” button. It will show a prompt, click the “Activate free license” button. The HitmanPro will start to get rid of Fanatical Assistant. After that process is finished, the utility may ask you to restart your computer.
How to get rid of Fanatical Assistant with MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM)
We recommend using the MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM). You may download and install MalwareBytes to locate adware and thereby remove Fanatical Assistant adware software from your web browsers. When installed and updated, this free malware remover automatically detects and removes all threats exist on the PC.
- Visit the following page to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware (MBAM) for MS Windows. Save it to your Desktop.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326466 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- Once the downloading process is complete, close all software and windows on your PC. Open a file location. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once setup is finished, click the “Scan Now” button . MalwareBytes AntiMalware program will scan through the whole PC for the Fanatical Assistant and other PUPs. Depending on your system, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. During the scan MalwareBytes will search for threats exist on your machine.
- Once finished, MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will produce a list of unwanted programs adware software. 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 click “Quarantine Selected”. When the cleaning process is complete, you can be prompted to reboot your PC system.
The following video offers a guidance on how to remove hijackers, adware and other malware with MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM).
How to stay safe online
To put it simply, you need to use an ad blocker utility (AdGuard, for example). It’ll stop and protect you from all unwanted web-pages, ads and pop ups. To be able to do that, the ad-blocking program uses a list of filters. Each filter is a rule that describes a malicious page, an advertising content, a banner and others. The ad-blocker program automatically uses these filters, depending on the web-pages you are visiting.
- Download AdGuard from the following link. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
Adguard download
26660 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After downloading it, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- After the installation is finished, click “Skip” to close the installation application and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will allow 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 system, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop undesired advertisements, block malicious or misleading websites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, which is located on your desktop.
How did you get infected with adware
In order to avoid unintentionally installing adware software yourself, please follow these good security practices: don’t click on links within pop-up windows, because clicking on the link may install malicious software on your machine; don’t use Quick install method, because using Quick mode you may have let adware get inside the computer.
To sum up
Once you’ve complete the steps shown above, your computer should be free from Fanatical Assistant adware software and other PUPs. The Internet Explorer, Edge, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox will no longer redirect you to various unwanted websites. Unfortunately, if the few simple steps does not help you, then you have caught a new adware, and then the best way – ask for help here.
