Quiclean Adware

What is Quiclean?

Quiclean is a rogue application identical to History Cleaner, Always Weather, Search In Tabs, and a number of others. This app claims to clean browser cookies and web browsing history. Although this functionality may appear legitimate and useful, Quiclean is categorized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware.

There are three main reasons for these negative associations: 1) stealth installation without consent; 2) display of intrusive online advertisements, and; 3) tracking of users' browsing activity.

Research shows that Quiclean delivers pop-up, coupon, banner, and other similar advertisements. PUP developers usually employ a so-called "virtual layer", which enables placement of third party graphical content on any site. Therefore, displayed ads often conceal underlying website content, thereby significantly diminishing the browsing experience.

In addition, these ads often redirect to malicious websites or even execute scripts designed to download and install malware (or other PUPs). Therefore, clicking them risks further high-risk adware or malware infections. As with most PUPs, Quiclean monitor users' browsing activity by gathering various user-system information.

The list of collected data commonly includes (but is not limited to) IP addresses, URLs visited, pages viewed, and queries entered into search engines.

This information might contain personal details that PUP developers sell to third parties to generate revenue. These cyber criminals also aim to increase their revenue by misusing private information. This can lead to serious privacy issues. Therefore, you are strongly advised to uninstall Quicleadware immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ads by Quiclean
Threat Type	Adware, Unwanted ads, Pop-up Virus
Symptoms	Seeing advertisements not originating from the sites you are browsing. Intrusive pop-up ads. Decreased Internet browsing speed.
Distribution methods	Deceptive pop-up ads, free software installers (bundling), fake flash player installers.
Damage	Decreased computer performance, browser tracking - privacy issues, possible additional malware infections.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

All adware-type applications are virtually identical. Their only purpose is to generate revenue for the developers. By offering various "useful features", PUPs such as Quiclean attempt to give the impression of legitimacy, however, they deliver no significant value for regular users.

Adware-type applications employ the "Pay Per Click" advertising method to deliver intrusive online advertisements and collect various user-system information, which is later sold to third parties.

How did Quiclean install on my computer?

Quicleadware has an official download website, however, these PUPs are also proliferated using the aforementioned intrusive ads and a deceptive marketing method called "bundling" (stealth installation of third party programs with regular software/apps). Cyber criminals know that users often rush the download/installation processes and skip steps.

Therefore, they conceal bundled programs within the "Custom" or "Advanced" settings of these procedures. Clicking ads and rushing the download/installation processes often leads to inadvertent installation of PUPs. In addition, users expose their systems to risk of various infections and inadvertently grant set-ups permission to modify browser options.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

The main reasons for computer infections are poor knowledge and careless behavior. Be cautious when browsing the Internet and downloading/installing various programs. Avoid clicking advertisements.

Research shows that criminals put a great deal of time and effort into making intrusive ads appear legitimate - distinguishing legitimate ads from intrusive ones becomes virtually impossible. Do not risk clicking them.

Bear in mind also that PUPs are distributed using the "bundling" method and, therefore, you should carefully analyze each download/installation step (especially the "Custom/Advanced" options) and opt-out of all additionally-included programs.

Furthermore, third party downloaders/installers are likely to include third party software, and also hide their installation, thus preventing users from opting-out. If you are forced to use these tools, cancel the entire process immediately. We strongly advise you to download your software from direct download URLs only. The key to computer safety is caution.

IMPORTANT NOTE! Quiclean installs its Google Chrome extension as Administrator (read more here), thereby preventing removal. Therefore, before taking any further removal steps, perform these actions:

1) Open the Command Prompt by clicking the start menu button and typing "command prompt". Right click the "Command Prompt" result and select "Run as Administrator":

2) Execute the following commands:

• rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
• rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
• gpupdate /force

After performing these actions, you can proceed with further removal steps for this adware.

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Quick menu:

• What is Quiclean?
• STEP 1. Uninstall Quiclean application using Control Panel.
• STEP 2. Remove Quiclean adware from Internet Explorer.
• STEP 3. Remove Quiclean ads from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove 'Ads by Quiclean' from Mozilla Firefox.
• STEP 5. Remove Quiclean extension from Safari.
• STEP 6. Remove rogue plug-ins from Microsoft Edge.

Quiclean adware removal:

Windows 11 users:

Right-click on the Start icon, select Apps and Features. In the opened window search for the application you want to uninstall, after locating it, click on the three vertical dots and select Uninstall.

Windows 10 users:

Right-click in the lower left corner of the screen, in the Quick Access Menu select Control Panel. In the opened window choose Programs and Features.

Windows 7 users:

Click Start (Windows Logo at the bottom left corner of your desktop), choose Control Panel. Locate Programs and click Uninstall a program.

macOS (OSX) users:

Click Finder, in the opened screen select Applications. Drag the app from the Applications folder to the Trash (located in your Dock), then right click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash.

In the uninstall programs window, look for "Quiclean", select this entry and click "Uninstall" or "Remove".

After uninstalling the potentially unwanted program that causes Quiclean ads, scan your computer for any remaining unwanted components or possible malware infections. To scan your computer, use recommended malware removal software.

Remove Quiclean adware from Internet browsers:

Video showing how to remove potentially unwanted browser add-ons:

Remove malicious add-ons from Internet Explorer:

Click the "gear" icon (at the top right corner of Internet Explorer), select "Manage Add-ons". Look for "Quiclean", select this entry and click "Remove".

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by quiclean, reset your Internet Explorer settings to default.

Windows XP users: Click Start, click Run, in the opened window type inetcpl.cpl In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users: Click the Windows logo, in the start search box type inetcpl.cpl and click enter. In the opened window click the Advanced tab, then click Reset.

Windows 8 users: Open Internet Explorer and click the gear icon. Select Internet Options.

In the opened window, select the Advanced tab.

Click the Reset button.

Confirm that you wish to reset Internet Explorer settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious extensions from Google Chrome:

Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More tools" and click "Extensions". Locate "Quiclean", select this entry and click the trash can icon.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by quiclean, reset your Google Chrome browser settings. Click the Chrome menu icon  (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select Settings. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen. Click the Advanced… link.

After scrolling to the bottom of the screen, click the Reset (Restore settings to their original defaults) button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Google Chrome settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

Remove malicious plug-ins from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), select "Add-ons". Click "Extensions", in the opened window, remove "Quiclean".

Optional method:

Computer users who have problems with ads by quiclean removal can reset their Mozilla Firefox settings.

Open Mozilla Firefox, at the top right corner of the main window, click the Firefox menu, in the opened menu, click Help.

Select Troubleshooting Information.

In the opened window, click the Refresh Firefox button.

In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Mozilla Firefox settings to default by clicking the Refresh Firefox button.

Remove malicious extensions from Safari:

Make sure your Safari browser is active, click Safari menu, and select Preferences....

In the opened window click Extensions, locate any recently installed suspicious extension, select it and click Uninstall.

Optional method:

Make sure your Safari browser is active and click on Safari menu. From the drop down menu select Clear History and Website Data...

In the opened window select all history and click the Clear History button.

Remove malicious extensions from Microsoft Edge:

Click the Edge menu icon  (at the upper-right corner of Microsoft Edge), select "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious browser add-ons and click "Remove" below their names.

Optional method:

If you continue to have problems with removal of the ads by quiclean, reset your Microsoft Edge browser settings. Click the Edge menu icon  (at the top right corner of Microsoft Edge) and select Settings.

In the opened settings menu select Reset settings.

Select Restore settings to their default values. In the opened window, confirm that you wish to reset Microsoft Edge settings to default by clicking the Reset button.

• If this did not help, follow these alternative instructions explaining how to reset the Microsoft Edge browser.

Summary:

Commonly, adware or potentially unwanted applications infiltrate Internet browsers through free software downloads. Note that the safest source for downloading free software is via developers' websites only. To avoid installation of adware, be very attentive when downloading and installing free software. When installing previously-downloaded free programs, choose the custom or advanced installation options – this step will reveal any potentially unwanted applications listed for installation together with your chosen free program.

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