Spepopud
Spepopud is a browser-redirecting piece of software that gets attached to Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and other browsers and causes sudden page-redirects in them. Spepopud has also been reported to change the settings of the affected browser’s homepage, toolbar, and default search engine.
The software category known as browser hijackers is very widespread and its representatives can be encountered on all popular platforms and operating systems. You can get hijackers like Spepopud, Go go Tech or Main Captcha Top on Windows PC computers, Android devices, iOS smartphones and tablets, and even on Mac computers.
Spepopud , in particular, is a hijacker that targets the browsers of Windows computers and it is typically presented to the user as an add-on for the browser that would supposedly help improve the user’s online experience in some way. Of course, the reality is that this app’s primary goal is to page-redirect your traffic to content that it is programmed to promote and, by doing so, generate revenue from commissions paid to the creators of Spepopud on the Pay-Per-Click and Pay-Per-View bases.
Unlike stealthy forms of malware such as Spyware viruses, Trojan Horses, or money-extortion tools of the Ransomware category, most browser hijackers don’t try to stay hidden and remain unnoticed. Quite the contrary – the goal of these potentially unwanted rogue apps is to be as noticeable as possible with their ads, redirects, and other forms of promotional materials. This is because, in order to generate money from their advertisements, the hijackers need you to interact with them. That is why you will often see banners and promotional messages pop-up on the top of those elements on a webpage that you are most likely to be interested in. This will force you to click on the advert in order to remove it (even clicking on the ad’s X/Close button usually counts as a direct click on the ad) and, in turn, cause a redirect to whatever is being promoted, thus generating revenue for the hijacker’s developers.
On its own, this app does not pose a serious threat to your computer. Though it may slow-down the browser, drain your bandwidth, RAM, and CPU, and potentially even cause browser crashes and screen freezes, none of this is a serious problem and would stop as soon as the hijacker gets uninstalled. The real problem for your system’s security comes from what may be hidden behind some of the adverts and page-redirects. There’s no guarantee that all of them are safe and it is not beyond the realm of possibility that some may link you to illegal and/or unreliable web addresses. This, in turn, could potentially get your PC exposed to different types of virus programs, including Spyware, Phishing malware, Trojans, Rootkits, and Ransomware cryptoviruses. Avoiding the ads and the page-redirects is, therefore, advisable but it could also be very difficult and not always possible so long as the hijacker remains installed in the system. Therefore, the obvious solution here that will help you clean your browser and secure your computer is to uninstall Spepopud . Below, you will find helpful advice and guidelines focused on removing this hijacker in its entirety and we advise you to take a look and complete the steps if Spepopud is presently added to any of your browsers.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Spepopud |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Danger Level | Medium (nowhere near threats like Ransomware, but still a security risk) |
| Detection Tool |
Remove Spepopud Pop up Virus
To try and remove Spepopud quickly you can try this:
- Go to your browser’s settings and select More Tools (or Add-ons, depending on your browser).
- Then click on the Extensions tab.
- Look for the Spepopud extension (as well as any other unfamiliar ones).
- Remove Spepopud by clicking on the Trash Bin icon next to its name.
- Confirm and get rid of Spepopud and any other suspicious items.
If this does not work as described please follow our more detailed Spepopud removal guide below.
If you have a Windows virus, continue with the guide below.
If you have a Mac virus, please use our How to remove Ads on Mac guide.
If you have an Android virus, please use our Android Malware Removal guide.
If you have an iPhone virus, please use our iPhone Virus Removal guide
Some of the steps will likely require you to exit the page. Bookmark it for later reference.
Reboot in Safe Mode (use this guide if you don’t know how to do it).
WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC at the same time and go to the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10). Try to determine which processes are dangerous.
Right click on each of them and select Open File Location. Then scan the files with our free online virus scanner:
After you open their folder, end the processes that are infected, then delete their folders.
Note: If you are sure something is part of the infection – delete it, even if the scanner doesn’t flag it. No anti-virus program can detect all infections.
Hold together the Start Key and R. Type appwiz.cpl –> OK.
You are now in the Control Panel. Look for suspicious entries. Uninstall it/them.
Type msconfig in the search field and hit enter. A window will pop-up:
Startup —> Uncheck entries that have “Unknown” as Manufacturer or otherwise look suspicious.
Hold the Start Key and R – copy + paste the following and click OK:
notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts
A new file will open. If you are hacked, there will be a bunch of other IPs connected to you at the bottom. Look at the image below:
If there are suspicious IPs below “Localhost” – write to us in the comments.
Open the start menu and search for Network Connections (On Windows 10 you just write it after clicking the Windows button), press enter.
- Right-click on the Network Adapter you are using —> Properties —> Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP), click Properties.
- The DNS line should be set to Obtain DNS server automatically. If it is not, set it yourself.
- Click on Advanced —> the DNS tab. Remove everything here (if there is something) —> OK.
- After you complete this step, the threat will be gone from your browsers. Finish the next step as well or it may reappear on a system reboot.
Right click on the browser’s shortcut —> Properties.
NOTE: We are showing Google Chrome, but you can do this for Firefox and IE (or Edge).
Properties —–> Shortcut. In Target, remove everything after .exe.
Remove Spepopud from Internet Explorer:
Open IE, click 
—–> Manage Add-ons.
Find the threat —> Disable. Go to —–> Internet Options —> change the URL to whatever you use (if hijacked) —> Apply.
Remove Spepopud from Firefox:
Open Firefox, click 
——-> Add-ons —-> Extensions.
Remove Spepopud from Chrome:
Close Chrome. Navigate to:
C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data. There is a Folder called “Default” inside:
Rename it to Backup Default. Restart Chrome.
Type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.
Inside, press CTRL and F together and type the threat’s Name. Right click and delete any entries you find with a similar name. If they don’t show up this way, go manually to these directories and delete/uninstall them:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory. It could be any one of them – ask us if you can’t discern which ones are malicious.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random
If the guide doesn’t help, download the anti-virus program we recommended or try our free online virus scanner. Also, you can always ask us in the comments for help!
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