Q. “Windows protected your PC” pop-ups help. Just started yesterday I believe. I started getting unwanted pop-up alerts (tech support scam?) on my desktop, on any internet browser I’m running. I cannot do anything! I have searched the Internet on this. I also believe it is adware software. If anyone has any hints would be great!
Text presented in “Windows protected your PC” pop-up:
Windows protected your PC Windows SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk. For technical support call on +1-888-365-4348 Publisher: Unkonwn Publisher App: windows10manager (1).exe
A. If those popups, fake alert (tech support scam) or ads keep appearing and greatly affect you, then it indicate that your personal computer is hijacked with potentially unwanted application (PUA) or adware (also known as ‘adware software’). You can search whether there is adware in your control panel or undesired extension on your browser. If any, you should first get rid of it from your PC system.
Is Adware dangerous? Adware can make big problem to your PC system. Adware also known as ‘ad-supported’ software is malicious program that shows a large amount of advertisements in form of popups, coupons, banners or even fake alerts on the computer. Adware can seriously affect your privacy, your computer’s performance and security. Adware can be installed onto your PC without a full disclosure.
Another reason why you need to remove adware software is its online data-tracking activity. Adware software can be used to gather a wide variety of your personal information to get profit. Adware software can analyze your browsing, and gain access to your personal info and, afterwards, can share it with third-parties. Thus, there are more than enough reasons to remove adware software from your computer.
Many of the free programs out there install undesired web browser toolbars, hijacker infections, adware and PUPs along with them without your knowledge. One has to be attentive while installing free applications in order to avoid accidentally installing optional software. It’s important that you pay attention to the EULA (End User License Agreements) and select the Custom, Manual or Advanced installation mode as it will typically disclose what additional apps will also be installed.
“Windows protected your PC” is a misleading webpage that’s designed in order to force you into believing that your computer has been blocked by Microsoft. The main purpose of the scam is to force you into calling fake Microsoft Technical Support trying to sell unnecessary virus removal service.
Threat Summary
| Name | “Windows protected your PC” pop-up |
| Type | adware, potentially unwanted application (PUA), fake alerts, tech support scam, pop-ups, pop-up advertisements, popup virus |
| Symptoms |
|
| Removal | “Windows protected your PC” removal guide |
We strongly advise that you perform the step-by-step instructions below that will assist you to get rid of “Windows protected your PC” pop-up warnings using the standard features of Windows and some proven free programs.
How to Remove “Windows protected your PC” pop-up scam (removal tutorial)
In order to get rid of “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts, start by closing any programs and popups that are open. If a pop up won’t close, then close your internet browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Edge, Chrome and Mozilla Firefox). If a program won’t close then please restart your computer. Next, follow the steps below.
To remove “Windows protected your PC” pop-up, complete the steps below:
- How to remove “Windows protected your PC” pop up warnings without any software
- How to automatically remove “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts
- Run AdBlocker to block “Windows protected your PC” scam and stay safe online
- Finish words
How to remove “Windows protected your PC” pop up warnings without any software
Read this “How to remove” section to know how to manually get rid of adware which causes unwanted “Windows protected your PC” pop up. Even if the few simple steps does not work for you, there are several free malware removers below that can easily handle such adware that causes multiple annoying popups.
Uninstall questionable programs using MS Windows Control Panel
Some programs are free only because their installation package contains an adware. This unwanted apps generates profit for the authors when it is installed. More often this adware software can be uninstalled by simply uninstalling it from the ‘Uninstall a Program’ that is located in MS Windows control panel.
- If you are using Windows 8, 8.1 or 10 then click Windows button, next click Search. Type “Control panel”and press Enter.
- If you are using Windows XP, Vista, 7, then click “Start” button and press “Control Panel”.
- It will show the Windows Control Panel.
- Further, press “Uninstall a program” under Programs category.
- It will display a list of all applications installed on the PC.
- Scroll through the all list, and remove dubious and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed software, we recommend sort apps by date.
See more details in the video guidance below.
Remove “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts from IE
In order to restore all browser settings you need to reset the IE to the state, that was when the Microsoft Windows was installed on your system.
First, open the Internet Explorer. Next, click the button in the form of gear (
). It will open the Tools drop-down menu, click the “Internet Options” like below.
In the “Internet Options” window click on the Advanced tab, then press the Reset button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will show the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” window as shown below. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click “Reset” button.
You will now need to restart your system for the changes to take effect.
Remove “Windows protected your PC” pop-up scam from Mozilla Firefox
Resetting Mozilla Firefox web-browser will reset all the settings to their original settings and will remove “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts, malicious add-ons and extensions. Your saved bookmarks, form auto-fill information and passwords won’t be cleared or changed.
Run the Firefox and press the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the browser screen. Next, press the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will open the slide-out menu.
Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you are unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page like below.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation prompt. The Mozilla Firefox will begin a procedure to fix your problems that caused by the “Windows protected your PC” adware. Once, it is finished, press the “Finish” button.
Remove “Windows protected your PC” pop-up warnings from Google Chrome
Run the Reset web-browser tool of the Google Chrome to reset all its settings to original defaults. This is a very useful tool to use, in the case of web browser redirects to misleading web sites such as the “Windows protected your PC” scam.
First start the Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal dots (
).
It will open the Chrome menu. Select More Tools, then click Extensions. Carefully browse through the list of installed addons. If the list has the extension signed with “Installed by enterprise policy” or “Installed by your administrator”, then complete the following steps: Remove Google 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 way 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, like below and press the “Reset settings to their original defaults” button.
The Chrome will show the confirmation dialog box as displayed in the figure below.
You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will run the task of cleaning. After it’s finished, the browser’s settings back to the values which have been when the Google Chrome was first installed on your computer.
How to automatically remove “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts
Manual removal instructions may not be for everyone. Each “Windows protected your PC” removal step above, such as removing suspicious programs, restoring infected shortcut files, removing the adware from system settings, must be performed very carefully. If you are have doubts about the steps above, then we recommend that you follow the automatic “Windows protected your PC” removal steps listed below.
Run Zemana Anti-Malware to get rid of “Windows protected your PC” popup warnings
We advise using the Zemana. You can download and install Zemana to scan for and get rid of “Windows protected your PC” pop up warnings from the Internet Explorer, Firefox, MS Edge and Chrome web browsers. When installed and updated, the malicious software remover will automatically check and detect all threats exist on your system.
- Installing the Zemana is simple. First you will need to download Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) on your personal computer from the following link.
Zemana AntiMalware
164101 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your internet browser will open the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- When downloading is finished, please close all programs and open windows on your computer. Next, start a file named Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- This will open the “Setup wizard” of Zemana onto your system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will open and open the main window.
- Further, click the “Scan” button to scan for adware software which causes annoying “Windows protected your PC” pop-up warnings. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of files on your PC and the speed of your computer. During the scan Zemana will scan for threats exist on your machine.
- Once Zemana Anti Malware (ZAM) completes the scan, Zemana AntiMalware (ZAM) will open a screen which contains a list of malicious software that has been found.
- All found items will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click the “Next” button. The utility will delete adware software responsible for “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts and add items to the Quarantine. Once the cleaning process is finished, you may be prompted to restart the PC system.
- Close the Zemana and continue with the next step.
Scan your computer and remove “Windows protected your PC” popup with HitmanPro
HitmanPro is a free removal tool. It removes PUPs, adware, browser hijackers and unwanted web-browser add-ons. It will identify and get rid of adware related to the “Windows protected your PC” popup. HitmanPro uses very small personal computer resources and is a portable program. Moreover, HitmanPro does add another layer of malware protection.
- Download Hitman Pro by clicking on the link below.
- Once downloading is done, run the Hitman Pro, double-click the HitmanPro.exe file.
- If the “User Account Control” prompts, click Yes to continue.
- In the HitmanPro window, press the “Next” . Hitman Pro program will scan through the whole computer for the adware which causes unwanted “Windows protected your PC” pop-up warnings. Depending on your PC system, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour.
- Once HitmanPro completes the scan, HitmanPro will open you the results. When you are ready, click “Next”. Now, click the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial to delete all malicious software found.
Automatically delete “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts with MalwareBytes
You can get rid of “Windows protected your PC” fake alerts automatically through the use of MalwareBytes Free. We recommend this free malicious software removal tool because it can easily remove hijackers, adware software, PUPs and toolbars with all their components such as files, folders and registry entries.
- Click the link below to download the latest version of MalwareBytes Anti Malware for MS Windows. Save it to your Desktop so that you can access the file easily.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326454 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- When the download is finished, close all programs and windows on your computer. Open a directory in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, click Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is finished, click the “Scan Now” button to scan for adware that cause pop up message. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. While the utility is scanning, you may see how many objects and files has already scanned.
- After MalwareBytes Anti Malware has completed scanning, MalwareBytes Free will show you the results. Make sure all items have ‘checkmark’ and click “Quarantine Selected”. Once finished, you can be prompted to reboot your personal computer.
The following video offers a few simple steps on how to remove hijackers, adware and other malware with MalwareBytes Free.
Run AdBlocker to block “Windows protected your PC” scam and stay safe online
The AdGuard is a very good ad blocking application for the IE, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Chrome, with active user support. It does a great job by removing certain types of intrusive ads, popunders, pop ups, annoying newtab pages, and even full page ads and web-page overlay layers. Of course, the AdGuard can block the “Windows protected your PC” pop up automatically or by using a custom filter rule.
Download AdGuard on your PC system by clicking on the following link.
26655 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading it, start the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as displayed in the following example.
Follow the prompts. Once the setup is complete, you will see a window like below.
You can click “Skip” to close the install application and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial that will help 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 run your PC, AdGuard will launch automatically and stop unwanted advertisements, block “Windows protected your PC” scam, as well as other harmful or misleading webpages. 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.
Finish words
Once you have done the step-by-step instructions above, your PC system should be clean from adware software which causes unwanted “Windows protected your PC” pop up scam and other malware. The Internet Explorer, Edge, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome will no longer reroute you to various intrusive webpages such as “Windows protected your PC”. Unfortunately, if the step-by-step guidance does not help you, then you have caught a new adware software, and then the best way – ask for help here.
