How to remove Web Companion adware

What is Web Companion?

Web Companion is a malware created by Lavasoft, that IT security experts categorize as adware. This application is able to disturb you with pop-up and intrusive advertisements on all the web pages you visit, spoiling your internet browsing experience. The only and one purpose of such applications is to earn a profit on the advertisement that is sponsored by third-party companies. Web Companion will forcibly redirect you to shady webpages and change your computer’s and browser’s settings so that it’ll spam your PC. If you see a box with advertisements on the top of webpages, pop-up ads, in-text ads then there is no doubt left – your system is infected. This article will explain to you how to remove Web Companion from your computer and web browser.

Most of the advertisement leads you to suspicious domains and far from safe websites where you can get infected with some other adware or malware. More than that, Web Companion is tracking your personal data like IP address, browser activity history, searching results, and other information concerning your activity in a web browser. This data could be shared with third-party companies and misused to generate revenue. Web Companion will generate pop-up ads, slow down your computer’s performance and track down your personal data. These reasons are leading us to a very simple conclusion – you should remove Web Companion.

How Web Companion infects your PC?

The most usual way of getting Web Companion on your computer is the so-called bundling method. Bundling method – this method is the most common in adware and malware distribution. Developers of such malware enclose it with some free software applications. The user downloads the program and installs it, but the malicious program is also getting into your system.

Web Companion is also distributed through downloaders that are usually located on file-sharing, torrent websites. You can also get this adware on software crack websites. When installing something you’ve just downloaded from the internet, be very careful, check the license agreement properly. Always choose Custom or Advanced installation type, as it can prevent you from having adware on your computer. Make it a rule to read the terms and conditions during the installation of any program you’ve downloaded from the internet.

How to remove Web Companion from your computer?

Solution for Windows and Mac users: You may try to use an anti-malware tool to remove Web Companion from your computer with all of its leftovers and register files.

Download Norton

How to remove Web Companion manually

Step 1: Remove Web Companion from Control Panel

In order to get rid of Web Companion, first thing you need to do is to uninstall malicious program from your computer. When removing Web Companion, try to find suspicious recently installed programs and delete them too, as it’s pretty common that any malware comes with some other unwanted programs.

Mac OSX:

1. Open Finder.
2. Select Applications in the Finder menu.
3. Search for saferqueries.com or saferqueries.com Uninstaller, then choose it and follow instructions.
4. Drag malicious application from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Windows XP:

1. Select Start.
2. Control Panel.
3. Then choose Add or Remove Programs.
4. Search for Web Companion.
5. Click Uninstall.

Windows 7/Windows Vista:

1. Select Start.
2. Then Control Panel.
3. Choose Uninstall a Program.
4. Find Web Companion and choose Uninstall.

Windows 8/Windows 8.1:

1. Open the Menu.
2. Select Search.
3. After that choose Apps.
4. Next Control Panel.
5. Then as in Windows 7, click Uninstall a Program under Programs.
6. Find Web Companion, select it and choose Uninstall.

Windows 10:

1. Click on the Start button (or press the Windows key) to open the Start menu, then select Settings at the top.
2. Choose App & features on the left menu.
3. On the right side, find Web Companion and select it, then click on the Uninstall button.
4. Click on Uninstall to confirm.

Note: If you can’t find required program, sort programs by date in Control panel and search for suspicious recently installed programs. If you still can’t locate any suspicious program or not sure what some application is for, we advise you to use the removal tool in order to track down what malicious program is infecting your system.

Web Companion won’t uninstall

There are a lot of options in any Windows version for removing applications. Still, not all the programs can be completely deleted using these options. Adware and other Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) are too stubborn to be removed, more than that, they are created this way, created to be hard to get rid of them. That’s why sometimes you can’t uninstall them using standard Windows options. You’ll get this message: “You do not have sufficient access to uninstall Web Companion. Please, contact your system administrator.” To remove stubborn Web Companion, use Safe Mode:

For Windows XP, Vista, 7

1. Turn off your PC;
2. Turn it on and immediately press F8 button;
3. You’ll see Advanced Boot Options menu;
4. Select Safe Mode with arrow buttons;
5. In Safe Mode navigate to Control Panel, then choose Uninstall a program and remove “Web Companion”.

For Windows 8/8.1 and 10

1. Press the Win+R buttons, type msconfig in box and press Enter;
2. Choose Boot tab, and click on Safe Boot check box;
3. Select the type of Safe Mode: Minimal or Network;
4. Press OK and reboot your PC;
5. In Safe Mode navigate to Control Panel, then choose Uninstall a program and remove “Web Companion”.

You can also perform Clean Boot. You need to turn off all the startup programs that may be the reason why the program won’t uninstall.

1. Press Windows + R;
2. In the Run window type msconfig;
3. Choose Services section;
4. Find Hide all Microsoft services line, tick the box;
5. The click Disable all;
6. Return back to General section;
7. Find the line Selective startup and untick the box Load startup items;
8. Select Apply, then OK;
9. Reboot your PC;
10. Remove Web Companion from Control Panel.

Step 2: Remove Web Companion from browsers

Once you’ve uninstalled the application, remove Web Companion from your web browser. You need to search for recently-installed suspicious addons and extensions.

Safari:

1. Open Safari
2. Choose Safari menu.
3. Select Extensions.
4. Search for suspicious and unknown extensions that may be related to saferqueries.com.
5. Choose Uninstall button to remove it.

Google Chrome:

1. Open Google Chrome
2. Push Alt + F.
3. Choose Tools.
4. Select Extensions.
5. Search for Web Companion.
6. Select the trash can icon to remove it.

Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Firefox.
2. Push Shift + Ctrl + A.
3. Select Web Companion.
4. Choose Disable or Remove option.

Internet Explorer:

1. Open IE.
2. Push Alt + T.
3. Choose Manage Add-ons option.
4. Click Toolbars and Extensions.
5. Next select Disable Web Companion.
6. Choose More information link in the left-bottom corner.
7. Click Remove button.
8. If this button is grayed out – perform alternative steps.

Step 4: Resetting your browser search and homepage settings

To be sure that there is nothing left behind, we recommend you to reset your browser. It will restore your browser settings to default.

Reset browser setting in Safari:

1. Open Safari.
2. Select Safari menu.
3. Choose Reset Safari….
4. Click Reset button.

Reset browser settings in Google Chrome:

1. Click the Chrome menu (3 bar button) in the top right corner.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Click Show advanced settings.
4. Go to Reset browser settings section.
5. Click Reset browser settings.
6. In the dialog that appears, click Reset.

Reset browser settings in Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox.
2. Go to Help.
3. Go to Troubleshooting information.
4. Click Reset Firefox… button.

Reset browser settings in Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click on the cogwheel in the right upper corner.
3. Click Internet options.
4. Got to Advanced tab.
5. Click Reset button.
6. Put a tick near Delete personal settings checkbox.
7. Click Reset button.

There are all the manual instructions that will help you to find Web Companion on your computer and remove it. The most effective method to get rid of Web Companion is to perform the manual removal instructions and then use any automatic tool. The manual method will weaken the malicious program and the program will remove it.

Thank you for your attention.