Remove Safesurfs.net from Chrome/Firefox

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In this article we are going to try and help you remove Safesurfs.net. Our instructions cover all Windows versions as well as most browsers – Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer etc.

We are writing this article in the hope of helping the users who, unfortunately, have to deal with Safesurfs.net. Maybe you have researched that topic and that program. Nevertheless, below, we are going to give you all the necessary details when it comes to the typical features, possible effects and ways to remove Safesurfs.net. Hopefully, you will find the information presented below really useful. Make sure that you get acquainted with all the aspects of Safesurfs.net and read very carefully the entire page before moving on to the removal guide.

What you should know about Safesurfs.net

Basically, all you need know now is that this program has been driving your browser crazy recently and making sure that you are constantly being showered with different ads. The programs that have been created with that purpose (to show banners, pop-ups and new browser tabs that promote something) are known as Adware. To be completely precise, such ad-producing software is NOT as dangerous as the actual versions of malware. The typical malicious programs like the Ransomware based ones can really do much harm to your computer. For instance, some of them can steal banking or account credentials. Others can spy on you through your own web camera or crash your entire PC. Viruses are truly dangerous, whatever group they may be included in (Trojans/Ransomware).

Adware, on the contrary, is simply overwhelming your browser or a program that is opened on your screen with various ads. Such behavior can be tolerable to some extent, when the number of the advertisements is not too big. Nonetheless, some Adware specialists consider most of the ad-generating software potentially unwanted. Some of the characteristics of Safesurfs.net may really contribute to its quite bad reputation. To illustrate this statement with an example, we will point out that some Adware-type programs may be capable of researching your habitual browsing requests. Based on the results of that survey, Safesurfs.net then may generate only pop-ups that are supposed to correspond to your personal preferences. Also, another somehow questionable feature of Adware is the fact that that software might be able to show plenty of ads and consume the most of your system resources. In this way your PC might even freeze or slow down substantially. Even all these possible negative sides of Safesurfs.net cannot allow it to be classified as malware. Remember, you have to deal with an annoying program, but not a harmful one.

Now that you might be a little more relieved, as your PC has not been infected with a virus, we would like to share with you some details about the typical distribution paths of Safesurfs.net. Maybe you have no clue in what way you have come across this software. Actually, there are many possibilities when it comes to the spreading of that program. Safesurfs.net can be a part of a torrent, could be included in a spam email or its attachments, can be spread via contagious websites. Despite all those possible transportation means, it still prefers traveling inside software bundles. Let me elaborate a little on this term. A software bundle is the product that developers create when they mix their own software with Adware and other programs. They like creating such bundles because they can earn money from them. The ways in which they make money from ads are the following: the vendors that have their products and services promoted pay the people who develop Adware. Also, the other parts of the bundles are actually their own software that they distribute for free. In this way users get to know the programmers’ products and later are more willing to pay for the whole versions.

Prevention matters most

There are certain prevention habits that you need to develop in order to keep your system safe and healthy. The most important one is the right manner of installing any kind of software. And the proper way of doing that is only by selecting the option of the installer marked as ADVANCED (CUSTOM/CUSTOMIZED). This installation feature provides you with the biggest amount of information about the software you are installing. In this way the chances of incorporating something annoying or suspicious into your PC get fewer.  Other general advice on cyber security is to always have an anti-virus program. In this way you will get protected not only from Adware, but also from malware. Last but not least, all the Internet addresses that you visit should be trustworthy. Do not load or download anything from pages that you do not trust.

Remove Safesurfs.net from Chrome/Firefox

Many types of malware will restrict your access to their core files. It is highly recommended that you reboot your PC in safe mode before attempting to use this guide.

  • To enable Safe Mode reboot you PC, then hit F8 repeatedly. When the corresponding menu opens please select Safe Mode with Networking.

WARNING! If you are using Windows 8,0 or later and/or your operating system is installed on a fast SSD drive this may fail to work. In this case click here to see how to start your PC in Safe Mode.

#1: Uninstall the malicious program from your control panel

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Enter control panel to look for any suspicious programs, which may have installed on your PC. To do that:

  1. Navigate to your Desktop
  2. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
  3. In the Run window that just opened type appwiz.cpl

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  1. Go through the list of programs and find Safesurfs.net or anything else that may seem suspicious. Right-click on it and choose the uninstallation option

WARNING! Carefully read any confirmation messages that may be created in the process. Sometimes you may get offers to download more Adware applications and this can be linked to either the Yes or the No answer depending on the wording!

  • Optional:

Go through the list of programs again and check online for any potentially unwanted programs. We have an article that covers this awesome free software that makes sure that your computer is free from bloatware and programs that you don’t need.

#2: Remove Safesurfs.net From Chrome

Now we’ll remove the extensions that the malware has attached to your browser.

  1. Open your Google Chrome browser.
  2. Type chrome://extensions/  in the URL address bar and press Enter.
  3. Click on “Developer Mode” on the top right and look for the extension installed by Safesurfs.net and anything that might be related to it. Copy their IDs (the string of letters), then remove them by clicking on the trash bin icon.

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  1. Type Regedit in the Windows Start Menu and press Enter. Go in : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google\Chrome\Extensions and delete the entries corresponding to the suspicious IDs you recorded.

#3: Remove Safesurfs.net From Firefox

  1. Open Mozilla Firefox browser.
  2. Type “about:support” in the URL address bar and press Enter.
  3. Click on the “Refresh Firefox” button on the right and confirm.

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#4 Remove Safesurfs.net From Internet Explorer

  1. Open your Internet Explorer internet browser.
  2. Click on the Gear icon on the up right, then on manage add-ons.
  3. Go through the list disable any suspicious extensions.

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#5 Remove any leftover parasitic processes

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From the task manager:

  1. Use Ctrl + Shift + Esc and open the Task manager, then click on the Processes
  2. Go through the list of processes and look for unknown or otherwise suspicious entries.
  3. If you see anything suspicious right click on the process and shoes Open File Location, then terminate the process and delete any files you find in the directory.

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WARNING! If the directory you open from this menu has no files inside of it it’s probably because the malware has hidden them. You need to reveal hidden files and folders in order to be able to see them. Click here if you don’t know how to do that.


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From the start menu:

  1. Press simultaneously the Win button together with the R button (Win+R)
  2. In the Run window that just opened type msconfig
  3. Click on the Startup tab.

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This menu controls which programs are loaded when windows starts after a reboot. Disable anything that seems suspicious. Optionally you can also disable any program that you don’t need and also has a high impact on your startup time.

Feel free to write to us in the comment section with any questions that you may have. Also if we have been helpful to you please share this article to help us reach more people like you.  

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