This article has been created in order to explain what is the Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner and how to remove this potentially unwanted program from your computer.
The Auto Refresh Plus is the type of browser extension you do not want added to your web browser. As soon as it is installed on Mozilla Firefox browsers, the extension runs a JavaScript which aims to utilize a cryptocurrency miner and monetize the web pages your visit by injecting advertisements from third-parties. Since those third-parties may be a direct threat for your computer, recommendations are to remove the Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from your computer by reading the information on this article.
Threat Summary
| Name | Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner |
| Type | Browser Hijacker/Adware/JavaScript Miner |
| Short Description | The . |
| Symptoms | Your web browser begins to display various types of online advertisements, which results in slowing down of your PC. Your computer may slow down as a result of mining operation running in the background. |
| Distribution Method | Bundled downloads. Web pages which may advertise it. |
| Detection Tool |
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner. |
Auto Refresh Plus PUP and Miner – How Did I Get It
One of the methods of letting the Auto Refresh Plus PUP to slither onto your computer Is by letting the app to be automatically installed alongside other free programs. This technique is often referred to as bundling by malware researchers and many users tend to fall victims of software bundling, even experienced users.
The main method of this extension being added to your computer however is via a scam message that may be directly introduced to Firefox, called “Firefox requires a manual update”. It appears along with a pop-up which claims that your browser needs an update, however the ‘update’ instead is the browser extension Auto Refresh Plus. The pop-up appears like the following:
As soon as the pop-up is clicked on it adds the browser extension and it’s unwanted activities begin.
Auto Refresh Plus PUP – Activity
As soon as this unwanted program has been installed on the victim’s computer, it may immediately utilize various different tracking technologies, like:
- Pixels.
- Cookies.
- LSOs or Flash Cookies.
- Geo Locators.
- Tags.
These technologies may be used on your web browser in order to obtain different information on it, such as;
- Information on the websites you visit (browsing history).
- Information about what you search for online.
- Details on your online clicks on ads.
- IP address, language and country.
These details may be used to target you with advertisements that are inserted directly on the websites you visit. These ads may come in different forms, for instance:
- Banners.
- Pop-ups.
- Highlighted text ads.
- Ad-supported search results.
In addition to those, the Auto Refresh Plus may also advertise the types of adds you are likely to click on, using your language in the ads and even using terms that you may have searched for and are likely interested in to increase the chance of you clicking on those ads. Since these advertisements often lead to unwanted websites that may be a scamming, phishing or even malicious ones, this is one of the main reasons why Auto Refresh Plus is considered to be indirectly harmful for your computer.
Besides adverts, another reason why this program is unwanted is that it may involve various different types of web links that may run a JavaScript code, which has the potential to connect your computer to a cryptocurrency mining pool and use your CPU and GPU of your PC to mine for anonymous tokens, such as Monero (XMR) or BitCoins. This may result in your computer slowing down completely, since the firefox.exe web browser process may run at a 100% of your CPU power. What is more to this than that, is that if this miner remains for longer periods of time on your computer, you risk frying your PC’s components due to overheating them – the main reason why you should consider removing Auto Refresh Plus immediately from your computer system.
Remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware Miner you’re your Computer
In order to remove this unwanted software completely from your PC, recommendations are to follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They are divided in manual and automatic removal manuals, since you can choose the one which is best fit for you, based on your malware removal experience. Be advised though, the security experts strongly recommend removing the Auto Refresh Plus extension automatically by scanning your PC with an advanced anti-malware software, which will make sure that your PC is fully secured and remains protected against future infections by malware as well.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
Follow Me:
- Guide 1: How to Remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Internet Explorer.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
How to Remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner
Step 2: Uninstall Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Get rid of Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Erase Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Uninstall Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Eliminate Auto Refresh Plus Adware and Miner from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.
