What Is Folder Share Adware and How to Remove It from Your PC

This article has been created in order to help you to understand what is the Folder Share adware program and how to permanently remove it from your computer system.

Folder Share is an application of a Potentially Unwanted type. The suspicious app aims to read Windows folders as a network share and help distribute files, however without notifying victims the app also displays different third-party advertisements with a time-spam of a minute time during browsing activity. While the application helps sharing folders, it also may come with bunch of ads that it may display to you and these advertisements may lead you to various third-party websites of different character. Since there may be multiple different risks involved with those websites, it is wise to consider removing this ad-supported software, preferably by using the information in this article.

Threat Summary

Name	Folder Share
Type	Potentially Unwanted Program
Short Description	Aims to assist with creating a Network Shared folder, however the program displays advertisements on your browser.
Symptoms	Slow performance of your computer plus different types of advertisements to begin appearing.
Distribution Method	Via bundled installers, fake setups or via other PUP that has already been installed on your PC.
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by Folder Share Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss Folder Share.

Folder Share Adware – How Did I Get It

Programs like Folder Share have two main methods of propagation. The first of those is to upload the program and present it as useful on software providing websites from the same type as download.cnet.com or the Softonic download site. The app may be uploaded on a suspicious website for software download that may present it as a useful free download and this is one way you may have intentionally installed Folder Share.

The other, more likely way of getting Folder Share on your computer is without knowing you are installing it during the installation of other free program you have downloaded online. This technique is known as software bundling and you may encounter it If you have downloaded the software setup of any free program that you are looking to download online, like your favorite media player, torrent program, driver for computer, etc. This happens via bundling of the Folder Share program as a “free extra” to the setup procedure of the program you have installed. Usually it is easy to miss, because the prompt for installing Folder Share may be located in the “Custom” otherwise known as “Advanced” installation option on the Setup Wizard. The prompt to install or opt-out from Folder Share appears somewhat like the following image:

Folder Share – More Information

As soon as it has been installed on your computer, the program may add files in the %Program Files% directory of your computer. Folder Share may also create scheduled tasks and add registry entries in order for the software to run automatically when you start Windows.

In addition to this, Folder Share may also modify aspects of your web browser by possibly adding a custom browser extension or simply chaning the browser’s settings to accept scripts injected from the program. This may result in the program tracking your online activity via tracking technologies, such as:

• Cookies.
• Pixels.
• Tags.
• Flash Cookies.

This may be done with the purpose to obtain different information from your computer, such as:

• Your browsing history.
• Your bookmarked websites.
• The online clicks you perform.
• What you type while browsing.

Based on those, the Folder Share software may use different algorithms to display you advertisements while you are browsing. These ads usually target you based on what you have searched for online, thus increasing the likelyhood of you clicking on them. The advertisements displayed by Folder Share on your computer may be the following types:

• Pop-ups.
• Browser redirects.
• Taken over banner spaces.
• Highlighted text ads.

Security researchers feel convinced that this program may display those ads primarily to generate profit at the user’s expense. In addition to doing this, the Folder Share software may also display you adverts that may be dangerous for you PC, since they come from third-parties that have nothing to do with the program. This is one of the main reasons that you should consider removing Folder Share from your PC.

How to Remove Folder Share from Your Computer

In order to completely eliminate this program from your PC, if you have decided to do so, we recommend that you follow the removal instructions which are down below. They are specifically designed in order to assist you in uninstalling this program. But be advised that since Folder Share may also situate other programs on your computer that may also display advertisements, it is recommended to automatically remove all adware from your PC by scanning it with an advanced anti-malware software. Such will not only remove all traces of Folder Share from your PC, but will also actively protect your computer system from malware and unwanted software in the future too.

Manually delete Folder Share from Windows and your browser

Note! Substantial notification about the Folder Share threat: Manual removal of Folder Share requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

1. Remove or Uninstall Folder Share in Windows

Remove or Uninstall Folder Share in Windows.

Step 1: Remove/Uninstall Folder Share in Windows

Here is a method in few easy steps to remove that program. No matter if you are using Windows 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 get left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, mistakes 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:

Hold the Windows Logo Button and “R” on your keyboard. A Pop-up window will appear (fig.1).

In the field type in “appwiz.cpl” and press ENTER (fig.2).

This will open a window with all the programs installed on the PC.
Select the program that you want to remove, and press “Uninstall” (fig.3).

Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall Folder Share.

2. Remove Folder Share from Your Browser and Your Registry Editor

Remove Folder Share from Your Browser.

Remove a toolbar from Mozilla FirefoxRemove a toolbar from Google Chrome Remove a toolbar from Internet Explorer Remove a toolbar from Safari Fix registry entries created by Folder Share on your PC.

Start Mozilla Firefox Open the menu window

Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu

Select Folder Share and click “Remove”

After Folder Share is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Google Chrome and Open the drop menu

Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“

From the opened “Extensions” menu locate Folder Share and click on the garbage bin icon on the right of it.

After Folder Share is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red “X” in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Internet Explorer:

Click “‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’

In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window, make sure that in the first window ‘Add-on Types’, the drop menu ‘Show’ is on ‘All add-ons’

Select Folder Share to remove, and then click ‘Disable’. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected toolbar, and some additional toolbars might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click ‘Disable’.

After Folder Share has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red ‘X’ in the top right corner and start it again.

Start Safari

Open the drop menu by clicking on the sprocket icon in the top right corner.

From the drop menu select ‘Preferences’
In the new window select ‘Extensions’
Click once on Folder Share
Click ‘Uninstall’

A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall Folder Share. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the Folder Share will be removed.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries of your computer to change different settings. This is why manual clean up of your Windows Registry Database is strongly recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit lenghty, we recommend following our instructive article about fixing registry entries.

Automatically remove Folder Share by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove Folder Share with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

Remove Folder Share with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Folder Share.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove Folder Share. Back up your data to secure it against infections and file encryption by Folder Share in the future.

Step 1:Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any Folder Share files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove Folder Share Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove Folder Share.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all Folder Share associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Vencislav Krustev

Ventsislav has been covering the latest malware, software and newest tech developments at SensorsTechForum for 3 years now. He started out as a network administrator. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management and then Network Administration, he found his passion within cybersecrurity and is a strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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