What is FASST Adware?
FASST Adware is a critical adware program that is potentially unwanted. Once injected in your system, the adware functions to destroy user browsing experience. This pernicious OS infection displays annoying ads and malicious popup Window and cheats user to download the sponsored freeware to get commission.
The adware is designed with the objective to generate revenue. The Adware has the capability to invade the user security and privacy completely. If your system falls in the vicious trap of this malice, all of your browsing history, favorites, bookmarks and search queries and being spied by cyber criminals.
So the infestation of this malware encounters you with an endless array of negatives. It is therefore important to get rid of this OS infection as soon as possible.
How did the Adware get into the system?
Adware Programs turn to deception to invade. FASST Adware Program is one such example.
Freeware download is the easiest and swiftest technique to distribute adware virus in the system. Fraudsters wrap malicious infections in the installation file of the main tool. During the installation of such popular free tools, users often don’t pay heed to the supporting documents related to the application and hence end up infesting computer infections like FASST Adware in the system.
Downloading macro enabled spam email attachments may also result in proliferating this troublesome malware infection in the system.
Accidental click on suspicious links, Peer- to- Peer file sharing, mounting infected external drives may also result in FASST Adware infiltration.
Why is this Adware dangerous?
Adware aim to infect your PC with tons of annoying ads. These ads are not just irritating, but also dangerous since they contain a scam. If you are not careful enough, you may end up falling into the vicious trap of these notorious adware programs.
Once infiltrated the adware spies on user browsing activities to generate most appropriate ads of user interest. Click on those ads by the user redirects the web traffic to sponsored pages and hence generate revenue for the cyber criminals.
When virus enters your computer, it is not just the threat to system security, but also a danger to the privacy and financial safety. Moreover, the adware may also serve as a door to other infections in the system.
Also this adware creates several unwanted shortcuts, duplicate files or folders that consume a lot of system memory and hence render the system sluggish and unresponsive.
Symptoms of FASST Adware?
- This Adware floods the website with tons of intrusive ads and pop- ups.
- It helps cyber criminals to steal some important information from the system
- This malware connects malicious server to download more infections into your computer secretly
- It redirects your web searches to advertising or phishing websites.
- The infection might cause system crash or damage computer programs
Threat Summary
Name: FASST Adware
Browsers Affected: Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Firefox
Targeted Operating System: Windows
Category: Adware
Symptoms: Registry modification, customized browser settings, unnatural network activities, occasional sluggishness of the infected device, appearance of annoying ads, download links, pop-ups, torrents, spam messages that may redirect the user to another webpage and interrupt their browsing activity
How to Remove FASST Adware from your computer system?
When FASST Adware program invades the computer, it always brings along with it other threats to the infected machines. To secure entire system, you need to be very careful and follow virus removal guidelines to keep your PC risk free.
Note: Before we begin, try to remember how the extension got downloaded on your computer system. Generally, these programs come bundled with free applications that we download off the internet. It is a good practice to locate and uninstall such programs while removing the Adware.
Step A: Remove the malicious program from Control Panel
Windows XP
- Click on the “Start” button on the bottom left corner of your screen. A Start menu will be displayed as shown below. From this menu select the option that reads “Control Panel”.
- In the window that will be displayed, click the option “Switch to classic view”.
- This will display all the options/icons available to you. From the displayed icons, click on the icon that reads “Add or Remove Programs”.
- Select the “Uninstall a program” option from the “Programs” category. A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
- Select the programs related to FASST Adware and click on the Uninstall button.
Windows 7/Vista
- Right click on the “Start” button located at the lower left corner of the screen. From the Start menu, click on “Control Panel”.
- The “Control Panel” Window will be displayed on the screen. Click on “Uninstall a Program” option from the “Programs” category.
- The “Programs and Features” window will be displayed on the screen. A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
- Scroll though the list of programs and select the programs related to FASST Adware and then click on the “Uninstall” button.
Windows 8/10
- Right click on the “Windows logo” on the lower left side of the computer screen. From the drop down menu, select and click on “Control Panel”.
- The “Control Panel” window will be displayed. From this window select “Uninstall a program” option form the “Programs” category.
- A list will populate on the screen displaying all the programs.
- Select the programs related to FASST Adware and click on the “Uninstall” button.
- In the confirmation box, click on the box that reads “OK” to save changes.
STEP B: Restore the setting changed by the Adware
Google Chrome
- Open Google chrome and click on the three vertical dots (
) located on the top right corner of the Chrome Window.
- From the Drop down menu that appears, click on the “Settings”. A new browser tab will open up, displaying all the settings.
- Now, we will make changes to the appearance section. Under the “Appearances” section, we will enable the “Show Home Button” option. You can select New Tab page or can add Google or any of your preferred browsers under the “Show Home Button” option.
- After this, we will go to the “Search Engine “section.
- Here, make Google or any of your preferred browsers as your default browser in the drop-down menu under the option “Search engine used in the address bar”.
- After this click on Manage Search Engines. Now you can remove Other Search Engines that were added by the browser hijacker. Simply click the three vertical dots () and select the option “Remove from list”.
- You can make Google or any other preferred browser as your Default Search Engine by clicking the three vertical dots () and clicking on the “Make default” option.
- At the end, we will go to the section “On Startup”. You can select the “Open the New Tab page” or can “Continue where you left off”. If you want to open a specific page or set of pages, select the option “Open a specific page or set of pages” and remove any pages added by the browser hijacker by clicking on the three vertical dots () and selecting “Remove”.
- Then, add Google or any of your desired URL in “Add a new page” option under the “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
- This is a very important step and we would like you to pay very close attention here. This step has to be repeated with all the shortcuts to the browser that you can locate; like your desktop, start menu and the shortcut pinned to your taskbar. Right click on the shortcut and a context menu will appear. On this menu select the last option that reads Properties.
- A Google Chrome Properties Dialogue box will appear as below. Replace whatever is there in the text box next to the label Target with the following: Make sure that inverted commas are included.“C:\Program Files(x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe”
- Click OK at the end to save the changes.
Mozilla Firefox
- Open Mozilla Firefox and click on the three horizontal lines (
) i.e. Open Menu located on the top right corner of the Firefox Window.
- From the drop down menu that is displayed, we have to right click on the (
) Options to open the window.
- Now, we will click Search, under the given options that are displayed in the left corner of the screen.
- You can choose Google or any of your preferred browsers as your default search engine to use in the address bar and search bar.
- Then, you have to go to the () General and under “startup” section to make sure that Firefox is your default browser.
- At the end, we have to add Google or your preferred URL in the box given under Home Page.
- After this, you have to right click on the browser shortcuts that you can locate like your desktop, start menu and taskbar to which the application is pinned. A context menu will appear. On this menu select the last option that reads Properties.
- A Firefox Properties Dialogue box will appear as below. Replace whatever is there in the text box next to the label Target with the following: Make sure that inverted commas are included.“C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe”
- Click OK at the end to save the changes.
Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer and click on the gear icon ()which is at the top right corner of the Internet Explorer Window.
- From the Drop down menu that appears, click on the “Manage add-ons” A new browser tab will open up, displaying all the add-on types.
- Now, we will click on the “Search Providers” option from the list of options displayed on the left hand side of the screen. Then we will click “Find more search providers” option given at the lower left corner of the Manage add-ons
- This will open an Internet Explorer Gallery; from here you can add Google search or any of your preferred add-ons as your default browser.
- Next, you are required to go to the “Manage add-ons” window and click on the “Search Providers” option under the Add-on Types.
- Here, you can enable Google Search or any of your preferred browsers as your default browser in the list of search providers.
- At the end, we will click on the gear icon ()which is at the top right corner of the screen and select “Internet Options” from the drop-down menu.
- A new window will open displaying the Internet options. In the “Internet Options” window, add Google or any of your desired URL under the Create Home Page option and click OK.
- After this, you have to right click on the browser shortcuts that you can locate like your desktop, start menu and taskbar to which the application is pinned. A context menu will appear. On this menu select the last option that reads Properties.
- An Internet Explorer Properties Dialogue box will appear as below. Replace whatever is there in the text box next to the label Target with the following: Make sure that inverted commas are included.“C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe”
- Click OK at the end to save the changes.
STEP C: Reset Your Browser’s Home and Search Pages
Mozilla Firefox
- Open Mozilla Firefox and click on the three horizontal lines (
) which are at the top right corner of the computer screen.
- A Drop down menu will be displayed. On this menu click on the “Help” (
) button as shown in the image below. The Help menu will be displayed on the screen.
- From this menu click the option that reads “Troubleshooting information“. A new tab will open up with the <strong”>Troubleshooting information.
- On the Troubleshooting Information page, click on the button that reads “Refresh Firefox” as shown in the image below.
- The “Refresh Firefox” message box will pop up on the screen. On this message box click on the “Refresh Firefox” button.
- After this Firefox will close itself and a new window will be displayed which will list the information that is imported. Click on the option that reads “Finish” to complete the task.
Google Chrome
- Open Google chrome and click on the three vertical dots ( ) which is at the top right corner of the computer screen. A drop down menu will appear on the screen. From this menu choose the option that reads “Settings”.
- The Chrome’s settings window will be displayed on the screen. On this screen scroll through the bottom of the page and click on the option that reads “Advanced option” as shown below.
- The Advanced setting options will be displayed on the screen. Scroll through the list of options till you find the “ Reset browser settings” section. Click on the icon as shown below.
- The reset dialogue box will pop up on the screen. From this dialogue box click on the button that reads “Reset”.
Internet Explorer
- Open Internet Explorer and click on the gear icon (
) which is at the top right corner of the browser screen. A drop down menu will be displayed on the screen. From this drop down menu, click on the option that reads “Internet options”.
- The “Internet options” dialogue box will be displayed. Click on the “Advanced” tab. In the Advanced tab click on the button that reads “Reset” as shown in the image below. The “Reset Internet Explorer Settings” section will be displayed on the screen. Now click on the button that reads “Reset” .Precautions: In this dialogue box make sure to uncheck the “Delete Personal settings” option to save your passwords and other important data.
- When it’s done, click on the button that reads “Close” to complete the task. Now close and reopen your browser.
STEP D – Remove FASST Adware from the registry key.
- Type “Regedit” in search box / Run Box, select it and press Enter.
- An authorization dialog box will appear, then you just have to click “Yes”. (The dialog box appearance may vary depending on OS used. For Windows 10 the the dialog box looks like the first screenshot and for windows 7 it appears like the second screenshot)
- In the registry editor, take the backup of the current registry settings before making any changes in case you want to revert to old settings later. For this, Click on File option in the menu and select Export. Save the entry at a known location.
- From the Menu, Click Edit and Select Find.
- Enter FASST Adware and click OK in the search box.
- Select and delete suspicious enteries.
STEP E – Restore the System Files and Settings.
Tips to prevent your computer system from getting infected –
- Keeping the Operating System Updated- In order to remain protected and avoid such infections, it is recommended to keep your Operating System updated by enabling the automatic update on your system. The systems with outdated or older versions of Operating System become an easy target for the attackers.
- Resist clicking on spam emails – One of the major techniques used for malware distribution is forwarding spam emails to the user. The system gets infected as soon as the user clicks on the attachment. These mails appear to be genuine, so be aware and resist falling for these tricks.
- Keep an eye on third party installations- It is quite important that you take due care while installing any third party applications for they are major source of such infections. Such malware programs come bundled with the free applications thereby requiring the user to remain cautious.
- Regular periodical backup- In order to keep your data and files safe, it is recommended to take regular back up of all your data and files either on an external drive or cloud.
- Use Anti-Virus Protection- We strongly recommend the use of antivirus protection/internet security in your PC like BULL GUARD and Vipre so that it remains safe.
- Enable the Ad Blocker/Popup Blocker in your browser- Enabling the popup blocker/ ad blocker in your chosen browser will help you to stay protected from annoying adware.
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