Pc-tools-2022.xyz Ads Removal Guide — How to Fix It?

Written by Wilbur Woodham
Pc-tools-2022.xyz pop-up notices can appear out of the blue, covering the post of the page you visited or opening your browser when you do not wish it to be opened.

Clicking on the Pc-tools-2022.xyz ad can result in the injection of other malware or unwanted programs. In this post, you will see the tutorial of Pc-tools-2022.xyz popups clearing in several methods, as well as checking your computer for other viruses existence.

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What are Pc-tools-2022.xyz pop-ups?

Pc-tools-2022.xyz popups are a result of adware presence. Adware is a type of malware that shows you the pay-per-view of pay-per-click advertisements, which produces a major amount of income for adware distributors. These advertisements may include explicit information, or have a web link to malicious content/website, since adware maintainers have no purpose to check the goodness of the web content they are going to show – their single target is cash.

Pc-tools-2022.xyz push notification

Pc-tools-2022.xyz push notification.

Pop-up marketing itself is an excellent, low-priced and also really productive advertising instrument1. It makes it possible for the vendor to link the customers’ interest to their website, and the buyers to get the dynamic updates on the goods they wish to buy. When the person will get a pop-up alert that the TV set he wishes to purchase is available at the online store he/she visited earlier with a 15% price cut, one will undoubtedly use this possibility and get it. Considering the very small cost for the popups and their targeting, such a marketing tool is a favourite thing among the advertising departments of huge online retail stores.

However, such a rewarding system could not be missed by malware developers. Ability to show the popup ads forcibly to the targets of malware attack is an excellent basis for malevolent tricks with the popup promotions. And Pc-tools-2022.xyz advertisements is among hundreds that are “employed” in this scheme.

Here is a details for the Pc-tools-2022.xyz site
Site Pc-tools-2022.xyz
Hosting AS13335 Cloudflare, Inc.
United States, San Francisco
Infection Type Adware, Push notifications, Unwanted Ads, Pop-up Ads
IP Address 188.114.96.3
Symptoms Annoying pop-up ads in the right corner.
Similar behavior Compathered, Defensivereaction, Ptaimpeerte
Fix Tool
To remove possible virus infections, try to scan your PC

How have I got the Pc-tools-2022.xyz virus?

There are a number of methods of getting infected by the adware that trigger the Pc-tools-2022.xyz popups tornado. A lion’s part of this malware incidents is after the free software or cracked programs, that are distributed on the peering networks. Free software can likewise be downloaded from the official web page, and the adware is supplied as a legit bundled program.

There is no need to blame yourself. A plenty of people oftentimes work with the unreliable programs from untrusted sources: abandonware, various tools that are free, or even hacked programs. All of these kinds of applications are risky, due to the fact that it is very simple to include a Pc-tools-2022.xyz malware under the cover of part of the license hacking script, or as a part of the self-made algoritm inside of the Windows optimization tool.

Pc-tools-2022.xyz popup virus may likewise be hidden in the advertisement somewhere on the unusual website. Such websites are generally packed with intense and blinking advertisements, and their proprietors usually approve any promotions to be placed on their page. Hence, clicking such banners is a shot in the dark: only the advertisement provider knows what will occur when you press this advertisement. Besides some “light” viruses, like adware or unwanted programs, you may likewise get something much more unsafe, like ransomware or coin miner; the substantial share of coin miners distribution is exactly after the malicious advertisements.

People dislike popups

The statistic shows that people dislike popup advertising more than other types of promotions

Potentially undesirable programs, like Pc-tools-2022.xyz popup virus can provoke a lot of different problems on your computer. Distracting is not the single effect – pop-ups can present you the ads, where you are offered to download another unknown program, or “a amazing security tool”. Scareware is often spread under the last slogun. Potentially undesirable programs, in turn, may have spyware functions. And it is pretty hard to distinguish the undesirable app from a good one, if you don’t know the exact names. Besides the potentially unwanted programs and dubious antiviruses, popup-related banners are also exploited as a spreading method by different trojan viruses, for instance – coin miners. The consequences of activity of such malware is 100% unpleasant, and can cost you several hundreds of dollars. And even if you are not tapping these banners, they may be clicked by someone who also uses your PC – parents, children, spouse, etc. So the situation may become much more serious, and it will be much harder to deal with it without information loss. It is recommended to eliminate the viruses with anti-malware programs as soon as possible.

How can I get rid of Pc-tools-2022.xyz pop-up advertisements?

The tutorial of Pc-tools-2022.xyz adware removal includes 2 sections. Initially, we need to deal with the malware, and afterwards repair the effects of its action. The elimination procedure is pretty easy, since it can be executed even with using Microsoft Defender – anti-virus program that is present on all personal computers with Windows 8/10. However, because of its large resources consumption, as well as some bugs that may be pivotal for some groups of users, Defender is oftentimes turned off by the users, so its usage is probably impossible. Moreover, a variety of trojan viruses are able to shut off the embedded antivirus. It is far better to use the separated program that will not have such weakness.

I would certainly suggest you to utilize Gridinsoft Anti-Malware2 – a well-proven antivirus tool that will certainly eliminate the malware from your computer and also make an invulnerable cover with a Proactive protection function. But let’s take care of Pc-tools-2022.xyz adware initially.

Removing Pc-tools-2022.xyz popup virus with GridinSoft Anti-Malware

  • Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware. After the installation, you will be offered to perform the Standard Scan. Approve this action.
  • Gridinsoft Anti-Malware during the scan process

  • Standard scan checks the logical disk where the system files are stored, together with the files of programs you have already installed. The scan lasts up to 6 minutes.
  • GridinSoft Anti-Malware scan results

  • When the scan is over, you may choose the action for each detected virus. For all files of Pc-tools-2022.xyz malware the default option is “Delete”. Press “Apply” to finish the malware removal.
  • GridinSoft Anti-Malware - After Cleaning

Now, when the computer is clean of viruses, we can proceed to the browser reset. You can do this step manually, as well as with the use of GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

Reset browser settings to default

Manual method of browser reset

To reset Edge, do the following steps :
  1. Open “Settings and more” tab in upper right corner, then find here “Settings” button. In the appeared menu, choose “Reset settings” option :
  2. Reseting the Edge browser

  3. After picking the Reset Settings option, you will see the following menu, stating about the settings which will be reverted to original :
For Mozilla Firefox, do the next actions :
  1. Open Menu tab (three strips in upper right corner) and click the “Help” button. In the appeared menu choose “troubleshooting information” :
  2. The first step to revert Mozilla Firefox

  3. In the next screen, find the “Refresh Firefox” option :
  4. The second step of Firefox restoration
    After choosing this option, you will see the next message :
    The last step for Firefox
If you use Google Chrome
  1. Open Settings tab, find the “Advanced” button. In the extended tab choose the “Reset and clean up” button :
  2. In the appeared list, click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” :
  3. Finally, you will see the window, where you can see all the settings which will be reset to default :
Opera can be reset in the next way
  1. Open Settings menu by pressing the gear icon in the toolbar (left side of the browser window), then click “Advanced” option, and choose “Browser” button in the drop-down list. Scroll down, to the bottom of the settings menu. Find there “Restore settings to their original defaults” option :

  2. After clicking the “Restore settings…” button, you will see the window, where all settings, which will be reset, are shown :

When the browsers are reset, you need to ensure that your web browser will definitely connect the correct DNS while connecting to the web page you need. Make a text file named “hosts” on your desktop, then open it and fill it with the following text3:

# Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a ‘#’ symbol.
#
# For example:
#
# 102.54.94.97 rhino.acme.com # source server
# 38.25.63.10 x.acme.com # x client host
# localhost name resolution is handle within DNS itself.
# 127.0.0.1 localhost
# ::1 localhost

Find the hosts.txt file in C:/Windows/System32/drivers/etc directory. Rename this file to “hosts.old.txt” (to distinguish it from the new one), and then move the file you created on the desktop to this folder. Remove the hosts.old from this folder. Now you have your hosts file as good as new.

Nonetheless, there is one trouble that makes the things a lot more difficult to restore, especially without the anti-malware software. Most of adware variants that are used to show you the Pc-tools-2022.xyz pop-up ads are adjusting the deep browser settings, disabling an access to the settings tab. So, if you attempt to change your browser settings after your PC was infected by pop-up-related malware, your browser will certainly crash quickly. In some cases, you will see no crash, however, large lag spike after pushing the “settings” key. Browser will stop responding for ~ 30 secs, and afterwards it will be back to the normal, till you try to open settings once again.

Reset your browser settings with GridinSoft Anti-Malware

To reset your browser with GridinSoft Anti-Malware, open the Tools tab, and click the “Reset browser settings” button.

Tools tab in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

You can see the list of the options for each browser. By default, they are set up in the manner which fits the majority of users. Press the “Reset” button (lower right corner). In a minute your browser will be as good as new.

Reset Browser Settings tab in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

The browser reset is recommended to perform through the antivirus tool by GridinSoft, because last is also able to reset the HOSTS file without any additional commands.

How to Remove Pc-tools-2022.xyz Pop-ups?

Name: Pc-tools-2022.xyz

Description: Pc-tools-2022.xyz - a lot of users became a target for the pop-up advertisements. I have a lot of friends who literally bombed me with the questions like “how to remove Pc-tools-2022.xyz push notifications?” or “why do Pc-tools-2022.xyz pop-ups keep appearing on Chrome even after AdBlock installation?”. In this article we will show you how to deal with Pc-tools-2022.xyz pop-ups, which may corrupt your browser’s correct performance, and create a lot of troubles while you are working.

Operating System: Windows

Application Category: Adware

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References

  1. More about pop-up ads on Wikipedia.
  2. GridinSoft Anti-Malware overview and the reasons why I recommend it for malware removal.
  3. Official Microsoft guide for hosts file reset.

About the author

Wilbur Woodham

I was a technical writer from early in my career, and consider IT Security one of my foundational skills. I’m sharing my experience here, and I hope you find it useful.

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