How to Remove Ads by BlockandSurf

Ads by BlockandSurf are typically a sign of severe trouble with your computer. Past releases of this malware could be removed easily by uninstalling the software and sometimes removing some registry settings. However the lastest infection we found on a Windows 8 system was unresolved except by reinstalling the system to the factory default installation.

Signs of Infection

The Ads by BlockandSurf appear as popup ads in the lower left of the browser, on the left as sidebar ads, and in some cases will appear as a floating web dialog box over the main web page. In all cases there is some indication that the popup is being presented by "Ads by BlockandSurf". One of the signs that this is not the easy to remove version of this infection is that clicking on a link on what appears to be a clean web page results in the destination page appearing with the ads and one or more addition tabs or browser windows that appear attempting to display web sites that have malicious content that attempts to install on your computer.

The system we found this infection on also had the following malware.

• Any Protect
• Content Explorer
• Spotify
• Unchecky
• Pocket Cloud Desktop
• Optimizer Pro
• WSE_Astromenda

This system also had Firefox installed on it which we believe may have been the entry point for this infection. The system was running McAfee Security Center which did not detect any of the infections including one trojan that was removed using Malwarebytes during the initial attemt to clean up the system. 

We suspect the the ads are being injected into the web page by some programing call by the browser related to clicking on a hyper link. Any web page that is loaded directly from the address bar is not corrupted by the Ads by BlockandSurf but when a web page is opened from a link in a page it then becomes corrupted by Ads by BlockandSurf.

This infection seems to affect all three of the popular browers: Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome. We suspected that Java might play a part and so elevating the security settings in Internet Explorer did help prevent the ads from appearing but often resulted in to visible web page as well.

Removal Process

At this time we have found no viable removal process for this infection except to reinstall the system from scratch, typcially using the computer manufacturer's factory restore process. We reviewed most of the available technical notes for this issue and found none that would remove this malware or virus. Some of the technical notes suggested installing software that would cause additional damage to the system and therefore caution anyone attempting to follow these instructions. Some of these instruction may be posted by hackers and should not be trusted.

We suspect this variation to be a virus but no credible antivirus application or malware application can detect this variant of Ads by BlockandSurf. If there is a change in this, we will update this post accordingly.

If you suspect that you have this or any other malware or virus infection, shutdown your computer immediately and consult with a computer repair specialist immediately. Do not allow any support technician to attempt to perform any repairs remotely due to the increased number of hackers posing as support technicians.

We hope that this information is helpful. Please let us know how this has helped you or if you have additional questions. As always Firestone Technical Resources, Inc. is here to help with your computer support issues - "Providing personal service for your impersonal technology."