0 Remove GeniusBox Adware (Virus Removal Guide)

GeniusBox is adware that displays adverts on websites you visit saying 'Ad by GeniusBox'. It also installs a box called GeniusBox on a search bar, usually above Google search results. As a result, you get ads instead of organic search results which makes this adware extremely intrusive and annoying. We are pretty sure that you've heard of adware – after all it's one of the most commonly known and most widely used forms of malicious software. Chances are that you have also been affected by it too. But if you'd like to know a little bit more about GeniusBox adware and want to know how it gets on to your computer, what it does once it's installed on your system, and how you can protect yourself against it in the future carry on reading. We'll also tell you what to do if you have a strain of this adware on your computer right now!

So how does GeniusBox work? When you're connected to the Internet, the advertising supported software will be displayed on your computer screen – you've no doubt seen it. You have probably also noticed how the adverts are often uncannily tailored towards goods or services that you've recently been looking at on the Internet. Your PC doesn't have some sort of internal mind reader installed (or not quite at least!) In actual fact the GeniusBox installs a component on your computer that spies upon you, monitoring and recording which websites you visit then relaying that information back to the adware developer. That obviously enables them to choose which adverts they subsequently show you. It may be tempting to dismiss this at not a huge problem in the grand scheme of things but it can actually cause you some issues. For example:

1. Thanks to the GeniusBox adware component working away behind the scenes, it will slow down your computer's internal processor and Internet connection as it records data and sends it back via your connection. Web pages will also be slow to load and crash constantly.
2. It hijacks your browser, tool bar, home page and/or search engine, diverting your search from the site you wanted to visit to a website of a third party's choice
3. It may make you vulnerable to security breaches because it will destabilize your computer by adversely interacting with the other programs you have installed
4. Thanks to this interaction it can also cause programs to repeatedly crash when you try and launch them

So the million dollar question is how do you protect yourself from GeniusBox? One of the crucial things to be aware of is how it installs itself on your PC in the first place. Because it is most often bundled with freeware you need to take extra care when downloading programs from the Internet. Make sure your read License Agreements properly as GeniusBox adware is normally mentioned (although often hidden) in the small print. You'll then have the option of not installing the adware.

Another thing that you can (and should) do is install a decent brand of anti-malware on your computer and make sure you keep it up to date.

Finally if you think you've been infected by adware here are the steps you should take:

1. Close everything you have open on your computer
2. Run your anti-malware software then close your computer down
3. Restart your computer and run the anti-malware again
4. You should now be free of GeniusBox adware

For more detailed instructions on how to remove GeniusBox and related malware from your computer, please follow the steps in the removal guide below. If you have any questions, please leave a comment down below. Good luck and be safe online!

Written by Michael Kaur, http://delmalware.blogspot.com

GeniusBox Removal Guide:

1. First of all, download anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this malware. Hopefully you won't have to do that.

2. Remove GeniusBox related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).

Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.



If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".



Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.



3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following:

• GeniusBox
• and any other recently installed application

Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.

Remove GeniusBox related extensions from Google Chrome:

1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.



2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove GeniusBox, MediaPlayerV1, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.

If the removal option is grayed out then read how to remove extensions installed by enterprise policy.




Remove GeniusBox related extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.



2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to remove GeniusBox, MediaPlayerV1, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.

Remove GeniusBox related add-ons from Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons. If you have the latest version, simply click on the Settings button.



2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Click Remove/Disable button to remove the browser add-ons listed above.