How to Remove Android-recaptcha.info Pop-up Ads

What is Adware?

Adware is a type of malicious software that displays unwanted advertising on the web pages you are viewing. Adware might automatically appear as a pop-up, take over your screen, or insert banners into the web pages you visit. It is often bundled with freeware or other spam messages. Once installed, it can be difficult to remove adware from your system. Adware can display ads based on your current activity, such as pages you have visited. If the site you are surfing appears to be different than the site you expected, it may be due to a type of adware known as a "browser hijacker." Browser hijackers can change your desktop and search settings in order to redirect traffic from the intended legitimate page to a selected ad server. Once infected, a computer or mobile device can become slow and unreliable due to increased activity from running background processes.

How Does Adware Spread?

Adware is often bundled with freeware or other spam messages. Once installed, it can be difficult to remove adware from your system. Adware can display ads based on your current activity, such as pages you have visited. If the site you are surfing appears to be different than the site you expected, it may be due to a type of adware known as a "browser hijacker." Browser hijackers can change your desktop and search settings in order to redirect traffic from the intended legitimate page to a selected ad server. If left unchecked, a computer or mobile device can become slow and unreliable due to increased activity from running background processes.

How Does Android-recaptcha.info Pop-up Ads Adware Work?

Android-recaptcha.info is a type of adware that displays ads on your device based on your activity, such as pages you have visited. If the site you are viewing appears to be different than the one you expected, it may be due to a browser hijacker that has changed your desktop and search settings in order to redirect traffic from the intended legitimate page to a selected ad server.

How to Remove Android-recaptcha.info Pop-up Ads Adware

To remove an adware infection, you must do the following:

1. Reboot your computer to Safe mode with a command prompt, and then access Internet Options.

2. Change your home page and search engine to original ('http://www').

3. If you can access the desktop, uninstall any newly installed software that you don't recognize or trust. You can do this by going to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs (XP) or Programs and Features (Vista/7). Remove any recently installed suspicious programs from the list of installed programs found in this window.

4. Keep track of any programs that you remove from your computer and note down the publisher's name as well as the software name and version number.

5. After removing all suspicious software, change your home page and reset your browser settings to their original defaults if changed previously (i.e., Internet Explorer: Tools > Internet Options > General; Firefox: Edit > Preferences > General).

6. Remove any installed browser extensions or toolbars that you don't remember installing previously by using Tools in Internet Explorer (or Command Strings in Firefox). To do this in Internet Explorer, go to Tools and then click on Manage Add-ons. To remove unwanted toolbars in Firefox, please go to Tools > Extensions.

7. If your desktop appears to be different than usual, it may be due to a browser hijacker that has changed your desktop settings. This can happen if you have installed an adware/spyware program that changes your home page and search settings in order to redirect traffic from the intended legitimate page to a selected ad server or purchase site. To restore your original desktop, simply reboot your computer into normal mode and restore the previous settings by going to Settings > Control Panel > Internet Options (XP) or View Program Add-ons (Vista/7).

How to Protect My Computer From Aware

The following guidelines will help you to prevent adware from infecting your computer and change settings to remove it if it has already been installed.

1. Don't install software from websites you don't trust or recognize, such as those that are advertising-supported or sponsored sites. Always review the publisher's name as well as the software name and version number before installing anything on your computer. If you don't know what a program does, it is safest not to download or install it.
2. Use a trusted desktop browser like Google Chrome, Opera, IE11, or Firefox with built-in security features instead of using a third-party browser extension like Chrome extensions (on its own) which may also contain adware and spyware.
3. Don't double-click on pop-up ads when surfing the Internet, and never open unsolicited e-mail attachments.
4. If you have already installed browser adware, maintenance of your computer such as scanning for viruses or spyware, clearing your browser's cookies and temporary Internet files, as well as restarting your computer may remove the unwanted applications.
5. You should always pay attention when installing software because often, a software installer includes optional installs. Be very careful what you agree to install. Always opt for the custom installation and deselect anything that is not familiar, especially optional software that you never wanted to download and install in the first place.