How to Remove SiteAdware | SiteAdware Removal Guide
SiteAdware is a rogue antivirus application that is typically installed without the computer users express permission. It is promoted through trojans and fake video codec or flash player updates. Once established on the sysem it will tend to do a falsified scan of your pc and claim that you have numerous security problems and viruses on your system that must be fixed and removed. They could not remove these though until you register and pay for the software and that is the trick because they really care nothing about your pc’s security and just want your money. Read more for how to remove SiteAdware.
As with many of these rogue applications, you should not be concerned about the files that it claims are infected as they are typically files that the rogue itself has created simply for the purpose of then “finding” them during a scan of your disk. You may wish to try to go to the control panel and visit add/remove programs to attempt to uninstall siteadware the usual way. If it works then you will have much less of a hassle. Even if it does work be sure to follow up with a scan of your pc using malwarebytes antimalware or superantispyware and then a scan with a reputable antivirus application like avg/mcafee/avira or reputable online scanner such as trendmicro’s housecall.
You can find a download link for malwarebytes antimalware on my virus removal toolkit page. While you are there you may also wish to download process explorer as it may be useful further in this removal process.
If you are unable to install, update and scan with malwarebytes antimalware then you may wish to try the following tricks to get it installed. 1) rename the malwarebytes installer from mbam-setup.exe to something like iexplore.exe and then retry the install, update and scan. 2) reboot into safe mode (with networking) and try to install, update and scan. 3) follow the next step which is terminating the running processes associated with siteadware, then without rebooting continue to install, update and scan with malwarebytes antimalware (or superantispyware if you’ve chosen this tool.)
The following processes are associated with siteadware and should be killed off using the task manager to proceed with a manual removal of siteadware. If you are unable to launch the task manager you may try the following. 1) copy the task manager executable (taskmgr.exe) to the desktop and then rename it to something like firefox.exe and try to launch it. Then proceed to kill off the programs listed. 2) reboot into safe mode and see if the programs listed are running, if not then proceed with the rest of your cleanup. 3) Use process explorer instead of task manager to kill off the following processes:
siteadware.exe
uninstall.exe
The following files and folders are associated with siteadware and should now be deleted for a manual removal of siteadware:
%docs%\All Users\Desktop\SiteAdware.lnk
%docs%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SiteAdware
%docs%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SiteAdware\1 SiteAdware.lnk
%docs%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SiteAdware\2 Homepage.lnk
%docs%\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SiteAdware\3 Uninstall.lnk
%progfiles%\SiteAdware Software
%progfiles%\SiteAdware Software\SiteAdware
%progfiles%\SiteAdware Software\SiteAdware\SiteAdware.exe
c:\Program Files\SiteAdware Software\SiteAdware\uninstall.exe
After your manual removal of siteadware then you should follow up with a scan of the computer using malwarebytes antimalware or superantispyware as well as a scan with a reputable antivirus prodcut. (AVG/F-prot/norton/etc.) Now you should have finished your removal process.