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AdVPN Removal Guide

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Do you know what AdVPN is?

AdVPN is an application that works as a free VPN service. It is not at all surprising that it acts this way because it is clearly stated in its Setup Wizard that it is “based on the Open Source VPN application.” As specialists have noticed, AdVPN can be downloaded from its official website altocloudmedia.com; however, it is not the only way this program might enter computers. According to specialists, it is very likely that it can travel in software bundles too. In other words, people who do not download it from its official website might find it installed on their systems as well. Even though it might seem that AdVPN is a very beneficial application that can be fully trusted. In reality, it is known to be an ad-supported program. Our team of experienced researchers categorizes this program as adware not without reason. You will find out all those reasons listed further in this article, so if you wish to find out how this program works, continue reading this article.AdVPN Removal GuideAdVPN screenshot
Scroll down for full removal instructions

First of all, you should remove AdVPN from your computer if you notice that it starts showing advertisements. It should not start displaying ads the second it enters your computer; however, the End User License Agreement document informs users about this possibility, so you might really notice these irritating advertisements one day if you keep it:

Altocloudmedia allows other companies, called third-party ad servers or ad networks, to serve advertisements within the Service. These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to send, directly to your browser, the advertisements and links that appear on the Service.

Many users find these ads shown by AdVPN annoying very quickly because they keep appearing on different websites when they surf the web; however, only a very small number of users know that these commercials might be quite dangerous too in a sense that they might take users to untrustworthy third-party websites. If you already see these ads on your screen, ignore them all completely and make sure you do not click on them. As you already know, this is the only way to make sure that you are not taken to an unreliable third-party web page. Of course, there are cases when users click on ads accidentally too, so it would be best to remove this adware fully to make its commercials gone once and for all.

We cannot fully trust AdVPN also because it might collect information automatically. As it is stated in the EULA, it “may automatically receive a virtual, proxy IP Address assigned to your device.” What is more, it is quite suspicious that it creates the Value AdVPN in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run registry key to be able to launch automatically with the Windows OS. It does not seem that it is possible to disable the auto start function, which also suggests that AdVPN is not the most trustworthy application.

Our researchers do not like how AdVPN is distributed as well. Specialists have managed to find out that this program, even though it is possible to download it from its official website, might be distributed in software bundles as well. It has been found that those users who tend to download applications from third-party websites install software bundles on their computers the most frequently. Therefore, if you do not want to allow untrustworthy software to enter your PC again, you have to stop downloading programs from unreliable third-party websites. In addition, users who wish to feel safe should install a reputable malware remover on their computers.

It is possible to remove AdVPN through Control Panel, but, unfortunately, it will leave some of its files on your computer, and you will have to remove them all yourself. Of course, you will find instructions that will guide you through the entire process; however, users who do not have time to delete this infection manually should scan their computers with SpyHunter, which is known to be a trustworthy malware remover. Your system will be clean within seconds if you launch it.

How to delete AdVPN

Windows XP

  1. Click Start.
  2. Open Control Panel.
  3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
  4. Select the unwanted application.
  5. Delete it.

Windows 7 and Vista

  1. Click on the button with the Windows icon in the bottom-left corner.
  2. Click Control Panel.
  3. Open Uninstall a program.
  4. Right-click on AdVPN.
  5. Delete it.

Windows 8/8.1/10

  1. Tap Win+R.
  2. Type Control Panel.
  3. Tap Enter.
  4. Click Uninstall a program.
  5. Locate the program you wish to remove and select it.
  6. Uninstall it.

Delete leftovers

  1. Tap Win+R.
  2. Type regedit.exe in the box and click OK.
  3. Delete the following registry keys one after the other (right-click on the registry key and select Delete):
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AdVPN
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AdVpnProxyService
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\eventlog\AdVpnServiceLog
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\eventlog\AdVpnServiceLog
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\AdVpnProxyService
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\AdVpnProxyService
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\services\AdVPN Service
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\AdVPN Service
  1. Close the Registry Editor and tap Win+E to open the Windows Explorer.
  2. Delete the AdVPN folder from these directories:
  • %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
  • %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
  • %USERPROFILE%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
  • %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
  • %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Start Menu\Program
  • %PROGRAMFILES% or %PROGRAMFILES(x86)%

In non-techie terms:

Other untrustworthy applications might be hiding on your computer as well, so security specialists highly recommend scanning the computer with a reliable scanner. It is, of course, possible to find them without the automatic scanner too, but this will definitely take more time, and there is a huge possibility that a user will not find anything or will not detect all the existing threats. Have your scanner found undesirable software? If so, remove those threats as soon as possible.