To browse the web more securely is how My Web Shield charms many computer users. Thus, a number of them were tricked into downloading and using this tool. In contrary, computer security experts state that My Web Shield is one program that you should avoid. Aside from being linked to various adware activities, this tool also made changes on the computer without user’s approval.
My Web Shield may appear as a tool that protects your PC from malicious web content. In fact, it assured to make your browser much safer by providing actual content protection system. Nevertheless, it has supplementary codes aiming to take control of your browser so that it can deliver advertisements. My Web Shield authors intent is to gain revenue, while end users suffer from annoyances of excessive ads and browser redirect issues.
Techniques such as bundling and pay-per-install are ways how adware authors were able to spread My Web Shield. So far, this is the most effective way to distribute potentially unwanted program. Download managers and software distribution networks are in-charge of spreading freeware that is packed with adware.
Once running on the computer, My Web Shield changes on the browser are almost unseen to most users. It discretely loads a number of add-on and extension that will be the origin of various problems. Your privacy is also at risk during the presence of My Web Shield or its other variants called Content Protector and Content Defender. These PUP’s can monitor browsing habit that includes logging of your visited web sites, keywords used, and your area of interests.
Do not believe that My Web Shield is true to its claims that it will provide safer web browsing. Its actions when installed on the computer exhibits a very negative outcome. In fact, the program is categorized as adware and is being detected by anti-malware tool as PUP.Optional.Mywebshield.
My Web Shield Removal Procedure
In this section, we will provide effective guidelines to get rid of the threat from an infected computer. To automatically remove My Web Shield, you may download the recommended scanner. For comprehensive instructions, please execute the manual step-by-step procedures.
Instant Removal : Scan the computer with antivirus program
Combo Cleaner is a trusted computer security and optimization tool equipped with a powerful virus and malware detection engine. This program can get rid of My Web Shield browser hijacker and similar threats, whether it has infected PC, Mac, Android, or iOS.
1. Download the application from the following page:
2. Save the file to your preferred location.
3. Double-click the downloaded file CCSetup.exe and install with the default settings.
4. At the end of the setup process, click Finish to run Combo Cleaner.
5. The tool will update the database file; please wait for this process to complete.
6. To begin checking for threats like My Web Shield, click on the Start Scan button. Wait for this scan to finish.
7. At the end of the scan process, click on Remove all threats to delete My Web Shield, including all harmful objects from the computer.
To fully optimize the features of antivirus and privacy scanners, users may have to upgrade to the premium version.
Please continue with the succeeding removal procedures if you are comfortable manually getting rid of the adware and malicious items linked to it.
Manual Removal : Steps to get rid of My Web Shield
The steps below will guide you to manually remove My Web Shield without having to purchase a recommended virus scanner. We have tested the procedures; hence, the attackers may make modifications overtime. As a result, terms, names, and images in the guide may differ from what users are seeing recently.
The procedure may require you to close the browser or restart the computer; therefore, we are suggesting to Bookmark or Print this page.Step 1 : Turn Off Sync on Google Chrome
At this point, it is crucial to turn off Google Sync to prevent My Web Shield from restoring if in case it has exploited this feature. Follow the procedures below to sign out and turn off sync.
1. Open Google Chrome application.
2. On top address bar, please type the following:
chrome://settings/syncSetup
3. Once you are in the Sync and Google Services, click on the Turn Off button.
4. If it prompts for the confirmation, click on Turn Off once again.
5. The process will turn off the sync and logout the Google account as well. Please restart Google Chrome browser and proceed with the remaining steps.
Step 2 : Remove the malicious Extension from interent browser
Most adware and unwanted programs use an application called a "browser extension" to be able to take over the settings of internet applications. Therefore, we highly recommend checking and removing the extension that is closely related to My Web Shield. If it is not present, look for and delete any suspicious browser extension.
Google Chrome
For Google Chrome Browser
1. Open the Google Chrome browser.
2. Input the strings below in the address bar and press Enter on the keyboard:
chrome://extensions
3. Look for My Web Shield or a relevant entry and remove it from Google Chrome.
Microsoft Edge
For Microsoft Edge Browser
1. On your keyboard, press Windows Key + R. Type the appwiz.cpl command and click OK.
2. The Program and Features window will open. Arrange the list in a chronological manner, with recently installed applications on top. To do this, click on the 'Installed On' column.
3. Select My Web Shield or a recently installed suspicious entry from the list.
4. Click on Uninstall to remove it from the Windows system.
If My Web Shield is still present on the browser and unwanted homepage and pop-ups persist, another option is to remove the hijacker from the browser settings.
5. Open the Microsoft Edge program.
6. Input the following string in the address bar and press Enter on the keyboard:
edge://extensions/
7. Look for and Remove or Disable entries for My Web Shield from the Installed Extensions area.
8. You may now close the window and restart the Microsoft Edge browser.
Mozilla Firefox
For Mozilla Firefox Browser
1. Open the Mozilla Firefox browser.
2. Type or copy and paste the strings below in the address bar and press Enter on the keyboard:
about:addons
3. Click on Extensions from the sidebar menu.
4. Look for an entry that pertains to My Web Shield and Disable or Remove it from the browser using the options button.
Opera
For Opera Browser
1. Open the Opera internet browser program.
2. In the address bar, type or copy and paste the text below. Press Enter on your keyboard.
opera://extensions
3. Find the malicious extension and then, click on Remove button to delete it from the Opera browser.
Step 3 : Scan the computer with Sophos Home Antivirus
To remove My Web Shield automatically, scanning the computer with this powerful virus and malware removal tool is recommended. This scanner does not just uncover known threats like viruses or malware; it is also effective in discovering adware like My Web Shield.
1. Please click on the link below to download the program.
2. After downloading, locate the file SophosInstall.exe in the Downloads folder.
3. Install by double-clicking on the file.
4. If it prompts "Do you want to allow this app to make changes on your device?" please click Yes.
5. Next, it will display the Terms and Conditions page. Click the Install button to begin.
6. Run the installation with the default settings. Please note that an internet connection is required in order to download important updates.
7. After finishing the installation, you must login to the dashboard. If you already have a Sophos account, please login. Otherwise, please enter your details and click on the Create Account button.
8. Once you are in the Sophos Home console, click the Scan button to start checking the computer for My Web Shield components.
9. Scanning may take a while; please wait for this process to finish.
10. After scanning the computer, Sophos Home will start cleaning or deleting files infected with My Web Shield.
11. You may now close Sophos Home. The computer is now free from My Web Shield, as well as associated malware and viruses.
The above procedures should have totally eliminated My Web Shield adware. However, if you find that there are still remnants of the virus, please proceed to the next steps below.
Step 4 : Scan and Delete Adware with AdwCleaner
In addition to the procedure, we suggest scanning the computer with AdwCleaner tool. Possibly, there are some traces of My Web Shield on the browser that were not deleted during the preceding steps. This tool will scan the computer and check for presence of malicious applications.
1. Follow the link below to download the tool called AdwCleaner.
2. When the download has completed, please close all running programs on the computer, especially browsers affected by My Web Shield.
3. Browse the location of the downloaded file and double-click on adwcleaner.exe to start running the tool.
4. If Windows displays a prompt saying, "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device?" click Yes to proceed.
5. On the AdwCleaner dashboard, click on Settings.
6. While in the Settings window, please turn On the Reset Chrome Policies and Reset IE Policies.
7. Go back to the Dashboard and click the Scan Now button.
8. AdwCleaner searches the computer for malicious programs, extensions, plug-ins, adware, and any items that may be associated with My Web Shield.
9. Clean or Remove all suspicious and harmful items identified after the thorough scan.
10. AdwCleaner will then prompt an option to run another repair, which will reset Winsock and other settings. Please click the Run Basic Repair button.
11. A message will appear stating that "All processes will be closed..." Please click Continue.
12. After the cleanup procedure, rebooting the computer is required to finalize the removal of My Web Shield as well as other detected threats.
Check if your internet browser application is no longer being bothered by My Web Shield. If the adware still persists, please continue with the steps below to reset internet programs to their default homepage and search settings.
Step 5 : Restore the homepage and search settings
Google Chrome
For Google Chrome Browser
1. Open the Google Chrome browser. Type or copy and paste the following on the address bar. Then, press Enter on the keyboard:
chrome://settings
2. Go to the left sidebar and click On Startup.
3. Select "Open a specific page or set of pages" in the right panel.
4. Locate the unwanted Homepage URL, click on More Actions icon (3-dot), and select Remove or Edit.
5. If you choose Edit, enter the desired web address as your home page, replacing My Web Shield. Click Save.
6. To set the default search engine, go to the left sidebar, and this time, select Search Engine.
7. Click on the Manage search engines and site search button in the right panel.
8. Find the unwanted Search Engine in the list. Click on More Actions icon, and then click Delete.
9. Go back to the left side bar and click Search Engine.
10. In the right panel, choose a valid entry from the "Search engine used in the address bar."
You can now restart the Google Chrome browser to see if the unwanted homepage and search engine related to My Web Shield are gone.
Microsoft Edge
For Microsoft Edge Browser
1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser on your computer.
2. In the address bar, type or copy and paste the string below, then press Enter on the keyboard:
edge://settings/startHomeNTP
3. Go to the "When Edge Starts" area. Under the "Open these pages" section, click More Actions (3-dot).
4. Select Edit to open the Edit Page window.
5. Input your desired address to replace the homepage settings of My Web Shield.
6. Click the Save button. You may now restart Microsoft Edge browser.
Mozilla Firefox
For Mozilla Firefox Browser
1. Open the Mozilla Firefox browser on your computer.
2. Type or copy and paste the following on the address bar, then press Enter on the keyboard:
about:preferences
3. Click Home in the sidebar area.
4. Under "Homepage and new windows", you may choose Firefox Home (Default) or Custom URLs.
5. If you chose Custom URLs, input the desired URL to replace My Web Shield settings.
6. To configure the default search engine, select Search in the left sidebar to display the settings.
7. Under the "Default Search Engine" list, please select a legitimate one (i.e., Google).
8. Scroll down to "Search Shortcuts" and select an unwanted search engine.
9. Click on the Remove button to delete the unwanted search engine. You may now restart the Mozilla Firefox browser.
Opera
For Opera Browser
1. In the address bar of Opera browser, type or copy and paste the text below. Press Enter on your keyboard.
opera://settings/searchEngines
2. Scroll down to the "Search Engine" section and find your desired name (i.e. Google Search)
3. Click on the ellipses icon (3-dot) and select Make Default.
4. In the same section, click the ellipses icon of the unwanted search engine and select Delete to remove the malicious search engine from the Opera browser.
5. Go back to the Basic section and scroll down to the "On Startup" section.
6. Find the unwanted homepage address, click its ellipses icon (3-dot), and choose between Remove or Edit.
7. If you choose Edit, enter the desired web address as your homepage, replacing My Web Shield. Click Save.
System Compatibility Notice
We ensured that our method to get rid of My Web Shield is compatible with the majority of Microsoft operating systems (Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows 8, Windows 10, and Windows 11). To prevent complicated steps, the commands used in the instructions are common, useful, and tested. If you encounter any compatibility problems when following this tutorial, please message us or leave your comment below, and we will reply and make the required modifications.
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