Stvkr pop-up alerts can appear out of the blue, covering the content of the page you visited or opening your web browser when you do not wish it to be opened.
Clicking the Stvkr ad can trigger the injection of different malware or unwanted programs. In this guide, you will see the guideline of Stvkr popups clearing in multiple methods, as well as inspecting your computer for additional viruses presence.
What are Stvkr pop-ups?
Stvkr popups are a result of adware presence. Adware is a sort of malware that shows you the pay-per-view of pay-per-click promotions, which generates a significant amount of profit for adware suppliers. These ads may include explicit material, or have a web link to malevolent content/website, since adware maintainers have no reason to examine the goodness of the web content they are going to show – their single target is money.
Pop-up advertising itself is a very good, low-cost and also very productive advertising solution1. It makes it possible for the seller to link the customers’ interest to their website, as well as the buyers to receive the dynamic updates on the goods they wish to buy. When the person will receive a pop-up alert that the TV set he desires to purchase is offered at the online store he/she saw earlier with a 15% discount, one will surely use this opportunity and purchase it. Considering the extremely low cost for the popups and their targeting, such a marketing instrument is a much-loved thing amidst the advertising teams of big internet retailers.
However, such a successful strategy could not be missed by malware creators. Option to show the popup ads by force to the people of malware attack is a great basis for malicious tricks with the popup ads. And Stvkr.com ads is among hundreds that are “employed” in this system.
Here is a details for the Stvkr
Site | Stvkr.com |
Hosting | AS60781 LeaseWeb Netherlands B.V. Netherlands, Amsterdam |
Infection Type | Adware, Push notifications, Unwanted Ads, Pop-up Ads |
IP Address | 212.32.251.44 |
Symptoms | Annoying pop-up ads in the right corner. |
Similar behavior | Producingdestroyer, Pastaesthetictracks, News |
Fix Tool | To remove possible virus infections, try to scan your PC |
How have I got the Stvkr virus?
There are a plenty of ways of getting infected by the adware that result in the Stvkr 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. Freeware may also be downloaded from the main website, and the adware is delivered as a legitimate bundled program.
There is no need to blame yourself. A number of individuals regularly make use of the unreliable programs from untrusted providers: abandonware, various tools that are free, and even hacked programs. All of these types of software are dangerous, since it is extremely simple to build in a Stvkr 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.
Stvkr popup virus may additionally be hidden in the ad somewhere on the odd website. Such web pages are typically packed with colorful and blinking advertisements, and their owners generally approve any kind of promotions to be posted on their page. Thus, clicking on such banners is a risky thing: only the ad provider realizes what will happen when you press this ad. Besides some “light” viruses, like adware or unwanted programs, you can additionally receive something far more damaging, like ransomware or coin miner; the large share of coin miners distribution is exactly after the malicious advertisements.
Potentially undesirable applications, like Stvkr popup virus can cause a lot of different problems on your computer. Distracting is not the only problem – pop-up notifications can show you the banners, where you are offered to get another unknown program, or “a amazing anti-malware tool”. Scareware is often spread with the last motto. Potentially undesirable applications, in turn, may have spyware functions. And it is very hard to distinguish the unwanted app from a legit one, if you don’t know the exact names. Besides the PUPs and fake antiviruses, popup-related ads are also chosen as a spreading way by different trojan viruses, for instance – coin miners. The consequences of actions of such viruses is 100% unwanted, and can cost you hundreds of dollars. And even if you are not clicking these advertisements, they may be clicked by whoever 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 data and money loss. It is recommended to eliminate the viruses with antivirus applications as soon as possible.
How can I get rid of Stvkr pop-up advertisements?
The tutorial of Stvkr adware removal consists of 2 parts. Initially, we need to get rid of the malware, and then correct the consequences of its activity. The elimination procedure is really easy, due to the fact that it may be performed even with making use of Microsoft Defender – security tool that is present on all personal computers with Windows 8/10. However, as a result of its significant resources usage, as well as some defects that may be critical for some categories of individuals, Defender is frequently turned off by the users, so its usage is most likely impossible. Additionally, various trojan viruses can disable the embedded antivirus. It is far better to make use of the separated program that will not have such weakness.
I would certainly suggest you to use Gridinsoft Anti-Malware2 – a well-proven anti-malware tool that will surely exterminate the viruses from your personal computer and make an invulnerable cover with a Proactive protection function. But let’s manage Stvkr adware first.
Removing Stvkr 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.
- 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.
- When the scan is over, you may choose the action for each detected virus. For all files of Stvkr malware the default option is “Delete”. Press “Apply” to finish the malware removal.
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 :
- Open “Settings and more” tab in upper right corner, then find here “Settings” button. In the appeared menu, choose “Reset settings” option :
- 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 :
- Open Menu tab (three strips in upper right corner) and click the “Help” button. In the appeared menu choose “troubleshooting information” :
- In the next screen, find the “Refresh Firefox” option :
After choosing this option, you will see the next message :
If you use Google Chrome
- Open Settings tab, find the “Advanced” button. In the extended tab choose the “Reset and clean up” button :
- In the appeared list, click on the “Restore settings to their original defaults” :
- 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
- 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 :
- 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 make sure that your web browser will definitely be connected the accurate DNS while connecting to the site you need. Make a text file named “hosts” on your desktop, then open it and fill it with the following lines3:
#
# 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 issue that makes the things a lot more difficult to repair, particularly without the anti-malware program. Most of adware versions that are utilized to show you the Stvkr pop-up ads are altering the deep browser settings, disabling an access to the settings tab. So, if you attempt to fix your browser settings after your system was infected by pop-up-related malware, your browser will certainly crash quickly. In certain cases, you will see no crash, but huge lag spike after pushing the “settings” key. Browser will stop responding for ~ 30 seconds, and afterwards it will be back to the normal, up until 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.
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.
How to Remove Stvkr Pop-ups?
Name: Stvkr
Description: Stvkr - 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 Stvkr.com push notifications?” or “why do Stvkr.com pop-ups keep appearing on Chrome even after AdBlock installation?”. In this article we will show you how to deal with Stvkr 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
User Review
( votes)References
- More about pop-up ads on Wikipedia.
- GridinSoft Anti-Malware overview and the reasons why I suggest it for malware removal.
- Official Microsoft guide for hosts file reset.