Remove Shbzek Virus — How to Fix Guide

Shbzek pop-ups are malicious advertisements that appear in your web browser. They can appear after your interaction with a dangerous website, or after the adware activity.

When you click on the Shbzek advertisement, it can initiate the injection of various malware or unwanted programs. These ads can also redirect you to phishing websites. In this article, I will show you how to remove Shbzek pop-ups using different methods and how to check your system for any additional presence of viruses.

It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!

Removing Shbzek manually may take hours and may damage your PC in the process. I recommend you to download GridinSoft Anti-Malware for threats removal. Allows to complete scan and cure your PC during the trial period.

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What is Shbzek virus?

The presence of adware is the underlying cause of Shbzek pop-ups. Adware is a type of malware that displays pay-per-view or pay-per-click advertisements, generating significant revenue for adware distributors. These advertisements may contain explicit content or have links to harmful content/websites because adware maintainers do not prioritize content verification – their main priority is to generate profit.

Shbzek push notification.

Pop-up advertising is a highly effective, cost-efficient, and successful advertising method¹. It allows vendors to capture the attention of buyers and provides buyers with real-time updates on the products they are interested in purchasing. For example, if a consumer receives a pop-up notification offering a 15% discount on the TV set they want to buy from an online store they previously visited, they are likely to take advantage of the opportunity. Given the affordability and targeting capabilities of pop-up ads, they have become a favored marketing tool among large online retailers.

However, this profitable scheme has not gone unnoticed by virus developers. The ability to forcefully display pop-up ads to victims of malware attacks provides a perfect opportunity for malicious manipulation. Shbzek.com promotions are just one example among many others that are “employed” in this scheme.

Here is a summary for the Shbzek

How have I got the Shbzek virus?

There are a number of methods of getting infected by the adware that lead to the Shbzek popups storm. A lion’s part of this computer virus cases is after the free software or cracked programs, that are distributed on the peering networks. Free software can also be downloaded from the main website, and the adware is presented as a legal bundled program.

There is no need to blame yourself. A plenty of people regularly make use of the dubious programs from untrusted providers: abandonware, different apps that are free of cost, or even hacked programs. All of these sorts of software are dangerous, because it is very easy to integrate a Shbzek malware under the cover of part of the license hacking script, or as a component of the self-made algoritm within the Windows optimization tool.

Shbzek popup malware can likewise be concealed in the ad somewhere on the odd site. Such websites are usually loaded with colorful and blinking advertisements, and their owners typically permit any kind of promos to be posted on their page. Thus, clicking such banners is a risky thing: only the advertisement contractor realizes what will happen when you click this advertisement. Besides some “light” viruses, like adware or undesirable programs, you can likewise get something far more dangerous, like ransomware or coin miner; the substantial share of coin miners distribution is exactly after the malicious ads.

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

Undesirable applications

Potentially undesirable applications, like Shbzek popup virus can cause a variety of different problems on your computer. Distracting is not the single effect – pop-ups can present you the ads, where you are offered to get one more dubious program, or “a effective anti-malware tool”. Scareware is often spread with the last motto. Potentially undesirable applications, in turn, may have spyware functionality. 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 pseudo antiviruses, popup-related ads are also used as a distribution method by different trojan viruses, for example – coin miners. The consequences of actions of such malware is 100% unpleasant, and can cost you hundreds of dollars. And even if you are not interacting with these ads, they may be clicked by someone who also uses your computer – parents, children, spouse, etc. So the situation can become much more serious, and it will be much harder to solve it without data loss. It is recommended to remove the viruses with antivirus programs as soon as possible.

How can I get rid of Shbzek pop-up advertisements?

The tutorial of Shbzek adware clearing includes 2 sections. First, we need to deal with the malware, and after that take care of the consequences of its activity. The removal procedure is really easy, because it can be done even with the use of Microsoft Defender – anti-virus tool that is present on all computers with Windows 8/10. Nevertheless, due to its significant resources utilization, as well as some defects that may be crucial for some categories of individuals, Defender is oftentimes disabled by the users, so its utilization is likely impossible. In addition, various trojan viruses are capable to turn off the embedded antivirus. It is better to use the separated program that will not have such weakness.

I’d advise you to use Gridinsoft Anti-Malware² – a well-proven antivirus tool that will certainly eliminate the viruses from your system and also make an impenetrable cover with a Proactive protection function. However, let’s handle Shbzek adware first.

Remove Shbzek pop-ups with Gridinsoft Anti-Malware

We have also been using this software on our systems ever since, and it has always been successful in detecting viruses. It has blocked the most common Adware as shown from our tests with the software, and we assure you that it can remove Shbzek pop-ups as well as other malware hiding on your computer.

To use Gridinsoft for remove malicious threats, follow the steps below:

1. Begin by downloading Gridinsoft Anti-Malware, accessible via the blue button below or directly from the official website gridinsoft.com.

2.Once the Gridinsoft setup file (setup-gridinsoft-fix.exe) is downloaded, execute it by clicking on the file.

3.Follow the installation setup wizard's instructions diligently.

4. Access the "Scan Tab" on the application's start screen and launch a comprehensive "Full Scan" to examine your entire computer. This inclusive scan encompasses the memory, startup items, the registry, services, drivers, and all files, ensuring that it detects malware hidden in all possible locations.

Be patient, as the scan duration depends on the number of files and your computer's hardware capabilities. Use this time to relax or attend to other tasks.

5. Upon completion, Anti-Malware will present a detailed report containing all the detected malicious items and threats on your PC.

6. Select all the identified items from the report and confidently click the "Clean Now" button. This action will safely remove the malicious files from your computer, transferring them to the secure quarantine zone of the anti-malware program to prevent any further harmful actions.

8. If prompted, restart your computer to finalize the full system scan procedure. This step is crucial to ensure thorough removal of any remaining threats. After the restart, Gridinsoft Anti-Malware will open and display a message confirming the completion of the scan.

Remember Gridinsoft offers a 6-day free trial. This means you can take advantage of the trial period at no cost to experience the full benefits of the software and prevent any future malware infections on your system. Embrace this opportunity to fortify your computer's security without any financial commitment.

Trojan Killer for “Shbzek pop-ups” removal on locked PC

In situations where it becomes impossible to download antivirus applications directly onto the infected computer due to malware blocking access to websites, an alternative solution is to utilize the Trojan Killer application.

There is a really little number of security tools that are able to be set up on the USB drives, and antiviruses that can do so in most cases require to obtain quite an expensive license. For this instance, I can recommend you to use another solution of GridinSoft - Trojan Killer Portable. It has a 14-days cost-free trial mode that offers the entire features of the paid version. This term will definitely be 100% enough to wipe malware out.

Trojan Killer is a valuable tool in your cybersecurity arsenal, helping you to effectively remove malware from infected computers. Now, we will walk you through the process of using Trojan Killer from a USB flash drive to scan and remove malware on an infected PC. Remember, always obtain permission to scan and remove malware from a computer that you do not own.

Step 1: Download & Install Trojan Killer on a Clean Computer:

1. Go to the official GridinSoft website (gridinsoft.com) and download Trojan Killer to a computer that is not infected.

2. Insert a USB flash drive into this computer.

3. Install Trojan Killer to the "removable drive" following the on-screen instructions.

4. Once the installation is complete, launch Trojan Killer.

Step 2: Update Signature Databases:

5. After launching Trojan Killer, ensure that your computer is connected to the Internet.

6. Click "Update" icon to download the latest signature databases, which will ensure the tool can detect the most recent threats.

Step 3: Scan the Infected PC:

7. Safely eject the USB flash drive from the clean computer.

8. Boot the infected computer to the Safe Mode.

9. Insert the USB flash drive.

10. Run tk.exe

11. Once the program is open, click on "Full Scan" to begin the malware scanning process.

Step 4: Remove Found Threats:

12. After the scan is complete, Trojan Killer will display a list of detected threats.

13. Click on "Cure PC!" to remove the identified malware from the infected PC.

14. Follow any additional on-screen prompts to complete the removal process.

Step 5: Restart Your Computer:

15. Once the threats are removed, click on "Restart PC" to reboot your computer.

16. Remove the USB flash drive from the infected computer.

Congratulations on effectively removing Shbzek pop-ups and the concealed threats from your computer! You can now have peace of mind, knowing that they won't resurface again. Thanks to Gridinsoft's capabilities and commitment to cybersecurity, your system is now protected.

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. 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. In the next screen, find the “Refresh Firefox” option :

After choosing this option, you will see the next message :

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 browser will definitely be connected the accurate DNS while connecting to the web page you need. Make a text file titled “hosts” on your desktop, then open it and fill it with the following content³:

# 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.

However, there is one problem that makes the things a lot harder to repair, particularly without the anti-malware program. Different adware variants that show you the Shbzek pop-up advertisements deeply change browser settings. They can sometimes disable access to the settings tab. So, if you attempt to change your browser settings after your computer was penetrated by pop-up-related malware, your browser will crash soon. In some cases, you will see no crash, but large lag spike after pushing the “settings” key. Browser will stop responding for ~ 30 secs, and then it will be back to the typical, until you attempt to open settings one more time.

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.

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.

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.

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