“Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” is a pop-up that purported to be a valid warning of legitimate program. In reality, this is a fake web site that tries to deceive computer users. It issues fake warnings and alerts prompting visitors to call a number and seek for technical support. Be aware that programs and services offered are not free. “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” was created to scam computer users and steal money through fraudulent online transactions.
When your browser is redirected to “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked”, or pop-up appears as you browse the Internet, it may mean that your computer is infected with malicious code. In contrary, your PC may be clean and the appearance of “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” pop-ups was just caused by an infected web site you are viewing. Remember that site “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” is malicious. Thus, you must avoid it to keep your computer safe and away from adware or malware threats.
If “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” files are executed, you may instantly acquire unwanted codes that may cause changes on the computer. Moreover, add-ons and extensions brought by this site can do modifications on the browser that causes pop-up ads, redirects, home page hijacking, and other unsolicited actions. On the other hand, if you call the provided number, your phone account will be billed with unexpected amount. The message you will see from this malicious pop-up reads:
Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked
Windows System Alert!.
System has been infected due to unexpected error! Please contact Microsoft Support 0-800-011-9634 immediately to unblock your computer.
In order to prevent “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” attack, you must take extra caution when visiting web sites particularly unknown ones. As much as possible, avoid downloading unfamiliar freeware or shareware that are commonly the carrier or adware and other malicious programs.
To completely remove “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” adware and stop the pop-up ads, you may have to scan the PC with legitimate security tools and virus removers. Removing any relevant software also helps eliminate unwanted items on the computer.
“Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” Removal Guide
Stage 1: Remove Rootkit and Virus from the Computer
This rootkit and virus removal tool is free and easy to use. It scans, detects and removes any rootkit as well as malware that are hidden on the computer.
1. Download Sophos Virus Removal Tool from the link provided. Save the file to your Desktop so that we can access the file easily.
– Sophos Virus Removal Tool Download Link (this will open a new window)
2. Once the download completes, double-click the file to install the program on the computer. It will update the database once installations has finished. Internet connection is required at this point.
3. After downloading necessary updates, Sophos Virus Removal Tool displays the welcome screen.
4. Click on Start Scanning button to begin checking the system for presence of rootkit and virus.
Stage 2: Scan and Delete Adware with AdwCleaner
1. Download the tool called AdwCleaner from the location stated below.
– Click here to download AdwCleaner (this will open a new window)
2. Once you have completed the download, please close all running programs on the computer.
3. Locate the file and double-click on adwcleaner_Ver.exe to start running the tool. Then, click on Scan button.
4. It searches for presence of harmful programs, plug-ins, add-ons, or any data that were found malicious and linked to “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked”. You need to Clean all items detected by this tool.
5. Once scan is done, the tool may need to reboot your computer to finalize the cleaning process.
6. After reboot, AdwCleaner will display the log file of the recent scan.
Stage 3: Remove Adware Add-on linked to “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” and Cleanup the Browser
After the previous scans, you may have deleted “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” from the affected browser. This next step will ensure that no more module of adware will be left on the browser. This free tool scans and checks the browser for unwanted add-on and extension, and if found, Avast Browser Cleanup will give you a report and suggestion.
1. Download this free tool and save it to your desktop.
Avast Browser Cleanup Download Link (this will open in a new window)
2. Please install the program. Start the process by double-clicking on the executable file avast-browser-cleanup-sfx.exe.
3. When run, Avast Browser Cleanup performs a test on the browser. If unwanted entries were found, it will display a button ‘Remove all add-ons listed below and cleanup browser.’ You may remove all or delete one entry at a time.
4. Avast Browser Cleanup will confirm before it permanently deletes the add-on. Please click Yes to proceed with the removal of “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” on the affected browser.
Option: Alternative Method to Clean Up Internet Browser
Cleaning your internet browser from clutter and unwanted add-on/extension is a must when dealing with “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked”. The procedure below discuss on resetting various browsers to its default state.
Remove “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” from Google Chrome
Resetting Google Chrome to default settings is helpful in deleting hard-to-remove extension such as from “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked”. This method is highly advisable to perform if you have difficulty in removing unwanted extension.
1. Open Google Chrome application.
2. In the address bar please type this string: chrome://settings/ and then, press Enter on keyboard.
3. Scroll down to bottom, then click Advanced…
4. Scroll to the bottom of the page until you see Reset and Clean Up section.
5. Click on Restore settings to their original defaults. If it prompts for confirmation, please click Reset Settings button to proceed.
This function will reset your home page, new tab page, search engine, and other areas affected by “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked”. Unwanted extensions will also be removed from the browser. This will not affect your bookmarks, history, and other saved data. You may also run Chrome Cleanup function from this page. An integrated tool from Google Chrome but with more advanced Adware scanner feature.
Reset Mozilla Firefox to Default
This section describes how to remove unwanted extension from Firefox that may be related to “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked”.. This process can fix many browser issues by restoring Firefox to factory settings without affecting your essential information (bookmarks, browsing history, passwords, and Internet cookies) on the browser. If you desire to remove only specific extension, please see manual removal of add-on from Firefox.
1. Navigate to Firefox menu at the top of the browser and access the Help area. Click on Troubleshooting Information.
2. A new tab will appear. You will notice a section on upper-right corner of the screen stating Reset Firefox to its default state. Click the Refresh Firefox button.
3. If confirmation window appears, click Refresh Firefox to continue.
4. Firefox browser will close and start the resetting process. When done, it will display a list of restored data. “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” should be gone by now. Click Finish to open a fresh version of Firefox.
Restore Internet Explorer to Default Settings
1. Open Internet Explorer and navigate to top menu. Click Tools, and then Internet Options.
2. Select Advanced tab on Internet Options window.
3. On lower part of the window, under Reset Internet Explorer Settings area, click the Reset button. Please see image for reference.
Your data like favorites, bookmark, and history will remain in the browser. However, this process may delete add-ons by “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” and other unknown objects. If you prefer to carry out the procedure manually, please add-on removal from Internet Explorer.
Stage 4: Cleanup Internet Browser’s Shortcut Link
One method that starts your home page to unwanted webpage is by integrating the link to browser’s shortcut link. On this section, we will discuss the proper removal of unwanted entries on shortcut link.
1. Locate the shortcut icon for affected Internet browser and right-click on it.
2. Select Properties from the drop-down list. This method opens Internet Browser Properties window.
3. Under Target field, you will need to remove extra path pointing to the web address that issues “Your windows (Microsoft) computer has been blocked” warning. Please refer to image below.
4. Do the same thing for the rest of Internet browsers that were compromised with malware.
I ran all three of these in the exact order when this malware infected my Microsoft edge browser with no luck. I have ran multiple virus removal programs and they all come back clean, I have also searched my C drive and windows directory and found no weird files associated with this malware. When I open Microsoft edge it still starts up this malware every time with audio. Chrome works fine but I want to clear everything from my computer, any more suggestions, is there a way to reset Microsoft Edge, I thought it was built into Windows 10 so there is no way to remove and reinstall?
I got this last night but my Chromebook doesn’t have Microsoft products installed on it. I will try running these tonight, if that doesn’t work, not sure what’s next. Advice?
I got this yesterday on my HP laptop. Being naïve and not thinking it through, I called the number because I literally could not do anything on the computer, even turn it off. Everything seemed legit until they wanted to charge me $350 to repair the computer and remove the malware. I hung up and will try this.
”Be aware that programs and services offered are not free. ”
But of course, as always the phone number to call is!!!
Because they want to capture your phone number even if blocked!!!!!
So what do you do if you got scammed?
Hello. What if I can’t close the warning? What should I do ? Thanks
@Wil, to close the warning, you have to end the application or browser. To do this, press CTRL+ALT+DEL on keyboard. Click on Start Task Manager. Select the application (IE, Chrome, Firefox). Then, click on End Task.
I got this today and it’s not letting me do anything. I don’t have any money so I can’t exactly purchase a virus scanner
I just got this and it shut my computer down and is requiring a weird password that I don’t have. Can literally anyone help me with this? Any tiny bit of help would be appreciated
The best thing to do is try bringing up the task manager (Control-Alt-Delete) whilst the pop up is still being displayed on your browser. Then find the processes Tab in the task manager and then the APPS sub heading (this is using windows 8.1 fyi)
Select your browser eg: Firefox etc. and click the end task at the bottom right hand corner of the task manager. Once exited out of the browser it will take you back to your desktop. Now start a full anti virus search using malware bytes or your own preferred software. Once completed – be careful when clicking back onto your browser as it will remember the previous closed down pages and may open the Microsoft pop up locked account again. Try right clicking your browsers icon and select start a new session or open new tab, new page. Hope this helps out. Remember there’s a truck load of tutorials on Youtube in regards to problems like this.
Cheers, Aleco :)
I get this about 3x a month. Simply turn off computer, wait a few minutes it gone with no damage.
I’ve tried every method to get rid of this piece of crap. Why can’t someone do anything to stop these creeps? It’s irritating as hell when this damn notice pops up. I lose all my files when I’m working on my animation programs because I have to restart my computer without any chance of saving the files. These cyber criminals should be locked up and never allowed to use a computer again.
If you are infected with this crap, I would advise you to download and install Malwarebytes. It’s free and when I ran it, it detected 332 threats on my computer. Malwarebytes removed all the threats for free. I think a program called Adware File finder is the program that I used once that caused the problem. So, never use that program!
Guys all u need to do is delete all your history and cookies from the infected browser and exit the browser then it should be back to normal. You don’t need to anything else.
Okay so I received a phone call that I needed to fix my account today to prevent it from becoming blocked tomorrow from an unknown number from Microsoft. I don’t know if it’s a scam or if there is anything I can do.
Malwarebytes ( the free version ) found nothing while the “alert” was still active. ( Win10) I closed Edge
via Task Manager and then opened Google window which had several windows I had already opened.
Then when I opened Edge, the “alert” was gone. I need to find a more powerful app or software that can power thru this alert thing. I had visited a technical websites post archives when the “alert” came up.
I just had this happen to me and like a fool I phoned the number. I hung up before I downloaded anything, but the “free” phone call cost me over 10 pounds. It was to India, though…….. What I ended up doing was turn off my computer and remove the battery. I left it for about 10 minutes, turned it back on and everything seems fine. Am doing a scan now.
What do you do if you paid them?
I got this message and tried to close it but no result. I just pressed and held the shut down button until the computer turned off. Restart showed computer did not shut down correctly and just click start normally. Browser showed a restore previous page from shut down clicked that. I think the clear your browser cookies and or reset is probably a good idea.
My friends computer will not do anything can someone please call me 5402807227
I have 268d3 on my Dell and it wont let me do anything but a hard shutdown. Anyone know how I can fix this mess? I’m a beginner, second stage, which means, I can follow directions and do things if I know where to go to do these.
Thank you. I have Windows Professional 7.
I got this error and downloaded Baidu antivirus by the way Terminator is not my real name.
Go with the mouse right-down on the screen and “switch to Desktop” (that little part right in the corner, no to see with your eyes but it works if you try with the mouse) if you want to finish your work on the site you intended to go. The site with the blocking warning is also minimized and you can choose that one that you need.
BUT MORE IMPORTANT:
Ctrl +Alt+Del
Choose THE BROWSER that you have opened ( and where that crap appeared), close the “red-ADOBE” FlashPlayer (will be reloaded if you need it), than choose your BROWSER on the list, “open” the list of opened-sites, mark the site with deceptive message and click “shut-down” (right-site, down corner of the Manager.
The site with the “Alert” gets “killed”, has no power to resist to this command.
The computer works further and the sites opened in your browser are full-operating. They were so all the time but you couldn’t access them because of that crap. An ABP with the possibility to introduce your own list of such crap-sites, is that AdBlock Plus. cannot stop all of them but you may put the sites on a blacklist “for the next time”. HOW IT COULD BE MADE, is explained very clear on the AdBlock Plus site.
A recorded warning took over my PC and showed a message , supposedly from Microsoft warning my PC had been virally infected allowing others to seize financial information, passwords. And if I didn’t call 888-976-6204 within 5 minutes they would shut me down and notify the Microsoft authorities. When I called them they said they were with Microsoft Corp. The gal & guy were from India using Anglo names. This happened 9/18/2018
I have Malwarebytes and downloaded Microsoft Malicious Software removal tool full scan. Neither of them found this and therefore neither quarantined or in anyway I did it.
It happened to me today, I got a message from Microsoft, so I called the number displayed, as always it was a person from another county, an then it hit me when they asked for remote control of my computer, they asked for a zip code where a Microsoft store was, there are in which they said there was a store is in my small town and I know for sure that no stores there, so I Googled it online on how to restore my computer ( CTRL ALT DELETE) THEN RESTART. So being the person that I am, I called back an told them that they were common thieves that was out to take people’s money. I hate dishonest people! But they got my point in details.
This crap has obviously been going on a long time. My McAfee does not stop it. Call to Microsoft went nowhere when I was unwilling to pay. Seems like they should be interested in stopping thieves impersonating them. Very, very frustrating.