Adtrack.king.com is causing havoc to mobile users, causing their devices to be redirected to said web address each time they are browsing the Internet. This redirect issue seems to be affecting Android and iOS systems.
It is noted that a certain code bundled with a fake software download is the culprit for these adtrack.king.com hijacking problems. Additionally, it is said that the beneficiary of this redirect is a program called Candy Crash Saga.
In a more in-depth analysis, adtrack.king.com appears to not be caused by a virus, trojan, or any kind of malware. It is a tracking cookie or something that is said to be malfunctioning or having a conflict with the script loader. Thus, instead of monitoring ads on your devices, it redirects instead.
Solution for iOS Devices:
Reset Settings:
1. Go to Settings, and then click on General.
2. Scroll down to the bottom and click Reset. This method will reset some of the modified settings, not everything that is stored on the device.
Uninstall Apps:
1. Track the Apps you have installed recently. Removing them may help stop the adtrack.king.com hijacking issue. Some of the reported apps that are causing this are Iconmania and MineCraft. However, there is no confirmation yet if users who got affected have downloaded the legitimate copies. It could be a version with code injected into it.
Logout Facebook Account:
It is said that Facebook app King Bling has something to do with this redirect problems. In some occasions, it will show an error: “You don’t have a Facebook app user session! Please log in to the King Bling app in Facebook.” You may want to delete the app from Facebook or logout the account and see what happens.
Solution for Android Devices
Clearing Cache from Google Chrome Browser:
1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Press the Menu (3 dots) in upper right corner of the screen.
3. Tap on Settings.
4. Scroll down and tap Privacy.
5. Scroll down and tap Clear browsing data.
6. Press Clear Data button.
7. Please restart Google Chrome browser.
Clearing Cache from Generic Browser:
1. Open your web browser on an Android device.
2. Press the Menu key. Select “More“, then “Settings“.
3. Scroll down until you see the three menu options: Clear cache, Clear history, and Clear all cookie data.
4. Execute each one one by one. Press “Ok” when it confirms if you want to proceed.
5. Press the back button until you get back to the web browser. You may want to restart the browser to see the changes.
Adtrack.king.com Removal Procedure
In this section, we will provide effective guidelines to get rid of the threat from an infected computer. To automatically remove malware, 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 Adtrack.king.com 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 Adtrack.king.com, 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 Adtrack.king.com, 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 browser hijacker and malicious items linked to it.
Manual Removal : Steps to get rid of Adtrack.king.com
The steps below will guide you to manually remove Adtrack.king.com 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. You must be logged in to Windows with an Administrator account to be able to execute some of the tasks. Check here to know if you are currently using an account with Admin rights.Step 1 : Uninstall Adtrack.king.com from Windows
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 Adtrack.king.com or a recently installed suspicious entry from the list.
4. Click on Uninstall to remove it from the Windows system. You can close the Program and Features window once this procedure is done.
Step 2 : Delete Adtrack.king.com Browser Extension
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 Adtrack.king.com. If it is not present, look for and delete any suspicious browser extension.
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 Adtrack.king.com or a relevant entry and remove it from Google Chrome.
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 Adtrack.king.com or a recently installed suspicious entry from the list.
4. Click on Uninstall to remove it from the Windows system.
If Adtrack.king.com 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 Adtrack.king.com from the Installed Extensions area.
8. You may now close the window and restart the Microsoft Edge browser.
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 Adtrack.king.com and Disable or Remove it from the browser using the options button.
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 with AdwCleaner and Reset Chrome Policies
In addition to the procedure, we suggest scanning the computer with AdwCleaner tool. Possibly, there are some traces of Adtrack.king.com 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 Adtrack.king.com.
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, Reset IE Policies, and Reset Winsock.
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 Adtrack.king.com.
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 Adtrack.king.com as well as other detected threats.
Step 4 : Run the Final Scan Using Sophos Home Antivirus.
To remove Adtrack.king.com 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 browser hijacker like Adtrack.king.com.
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 Adtrack.king.com 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 Adtrack.king.com.
11. You may now close Sophos Home. The computer is now free from Adtrack.king.com, as well as associated malware and viruses.
The above procedures should have totally eliminated Adtrack.king.com browser hijacker. However, if you find that there are still remnants of the malware, please proceed to the next steps below.
Step 5 : Fixing the Homepage and Search Engine
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 Adtrack.king.com. 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 Adtrack.king.com are gone.
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 Adtrack.king.com.
6. Click the Save button. You may now restart Microsoft Edge browser.
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 Adtrack.king.com 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.
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 Adtrack.king.com. Click Save.
System Compatibility Notice
We ensured that our method to get rid of Adtrack.king.com 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.
For mobile devices, do the following:
step 1: Install Xplore app its free and without ads
step 2: open app and in settings tick the box of show hidden files
step 3: In search put the string ad.*
step 4: from results delete files inside android/data/mob
That’s it. Uninstall Xplore if you want to.
We need to just get everyone that has had this problem especially people who has had their source of income interrupted, and threaten to sue unless the problem is resolved. I have never downloaded candy crush and have not recently downloaded anything. If this plan works then either they will fix it or everyone who has had this problem may be rewarded some money. We would have to be careful and get set up. But maybe if we play our cards right shady business like this will slow down. Not stopped that’s impossible. Sorry I just needed to rant there for a little while.
Chona, thanks for the post. I am now receiving this annoying redirector and I’m slow at some of this technical stuff. So, I’m hesitant to “reset” my phone, because I will have to start over and don’t want to lose info that’s important to me. However, I was able to copy the “string” or the line of info that redirects:
http: //adtrack.king. com/modules/adTracking/adClicked.jsp?type=ad&idfa_raw=&st1=hitfox&st2=33&st3=US&st4=&st5=aff_lsr&st6=1020456fa3f5f95938bd3cfd1388c8&st7=&linkId=3301
Will this help find and get rid of this malware, virus, or whatever it’s called now? Thanks for your time. RR
I’m currently having the same problem but on PC/laptop I have found the actual file to remove King browse ads from my computer but every time I prompt to remove and delete, it constantly pop-up a window saying I don’t have permission to delete the program even on an administrating profile. I believe this to be a complete joke. I’ve spent £500 on a laptop that can’t remove a silly little advert program. I feel like I don’t have control anymore and Norton Security hasn’t even helped or recognized a faulty program this is a joke, a proper violation of privacy and want someone prosecuted.
My screen keeps getting hijacked away sometimes multiple times in one turn while looking for a word placement. I am not even touching the I pad when the screen jumps to a popup empty page with some site in the browser window. This has been going on for a couple of months. I have re booted, cleared cookies and history and do not know what else to do. I don’t mind the actual ads between games but these pop ups are annoying!
I got the virus on my Galaxy Note 3 after reading the comments I removed history cookies cachet then the only game I could think of was loops legend which constantly had ads that I had to do about three or four things to back out. I uninstalled loops of Legends and I haven’t seen the Adtrack virus since
I think I have fixed my phone. I downloaded Farm Heroes Saga. That day I got the direct virus from Adtrack king. It kept bringing me back to farm hero saga. What I did was I saw when I Googled something I saw in the top right hand corner of my screen that it pulled up another window beside the one I Googled… so I clicked on it and saw hidden behind my window there was a hidden one . Redirecting me to Adtrack king. So I closed that window and have not had a problem since. I hope this helps others.
I have been bothered buy this annoying pop up for months. I followed the instructions cleared the cache and reset my browser to default and as of right now I do not have any pop ups. I’m going to see how long this last but for now I am happy. Thanks so much for the help.
This hack is back, but I glimpsed a different URL this time, not adtrack.king.com. Will capture it next time… which won’t be long.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that they are doing it again… look at how successful it was the first time around! That damn game became a huge hit. Reward a thing, get more of it.
@WM
There is currently a banner ad in DeviantART that contains a JavaScript redirect to adtrack.king.com. I should mention at DA does not choose their ads, they are part of a larger adverting network. I have sent a help desk ticket and am awaiting a response (the help desk is closed today) and what they are likely to do is report the offending ad to the advertising network. The network in turn, will either remove the ad or mark it correctly. DA does not allow page redirects in their ads, and once it is marked properly, it won’t appear on DA.
Short version: Hang in there, it’s being worked on!
I also only seem to be getting the adtrack.king redirection when using deviant I use deviantart often so I really hope this can be fixed this definitely has something to do with candy crush look at the URL for the site adtrack.king.com/modules/adTracking/adClicked.jsp?
I think I downloaded candy crush a long time ago only to delete it after playing it but I didn’t have this problem before this week I have and IOS device but the reset thing doesn’t seem to be working I hope a solution will be found soon I really love using Deviantart and refuse to believe that it could possibly be the cause of this.
@WM Did you restore your browser to default settings after you deleted all the data? I had the same problem only with DeviantArt, I emptied the cache, deleted all cookies etc. Then, restored the settings and I can access the website just fine now.
Hello.
I only recently have started to receive the adtrack.king.com redirect (with Candy Crush Saga listed at the end of the web address) when I open my web browser and only when I am using DeviantArt. I have tried everything listed here. Clearing/deleting internet history, cache, cookies, and even disabling the clever little “Network Location” app that has too much access to personal, networking, internet, and location files. Yet, I still wasn’t receiving the redirect pop-up, though it does not take me through the Google Play Store to Candy Crush Saga. I do recall accidentally clicking some ads in apps I have downloaded, so I have deleted those apps (Candy Crush Saga, What’s the Word?, the Facebook app, and Words with Friends). But I am Still receiving the redirect even when going through the steps listed here and on other websites. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy S3 which I have only bought early this year, but had left at home from the beginning of August through the week before last. More advice would be greatly appreciated as I often use DeviantArt as an active artist. I would hate to think that it is DA, but the question maybe it was an ad I pressed still remains as well.
Thank You for your time.
I cant download apps since I have no credit card on my nook, I’ve already reset my nook tablet and everything and I still get the Adtrack thing! How do I get rid of it?
For android, install Adblock plus, works for me.
I had this too – and uninstalling, “Network” worked for me, to get rid of it
I was sick and tired of Adtrack.king.com, then I removed apps that I installed recently, it was like 20 apps, so I don’t. Want to name them, but it is gone, zip, nada, no adtrak.king.com, , so guys its one hundred percent related to apps. Just delete the apps you recently downloaded.
I followed the Android instructions on my Samsung Galaxy Note II. It worked for a couple days, but came back. There must be a better way to eliminate this extremely annoying nuisance
I am sick of this popping up out of no where like an uninvited guest at a party. Please make it stop before I throw my phone.
Right, I got it too. Follow as explained above. It works. Delete the cache etc… and reset the browser. No need to reset mobile device to the factory settings.
I got this “virus” thru downloading something…the only way I could get rid of it was to factory reset my mobile device, which is a pain, but the only way I could find to get rid of it. Had to remove SD chip and SIM card first, but it worked. Haven’t reloaded anything yet.