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.
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.
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.
Note! Your computer might be affected by Free Game Zone Toolbar and other threats.
Threats such as Free Game Zone Toolbar may be persistent on your system. They tend to re-appear if not fully deleted. A malware removal tool like SpyHunter will help you to remove malicious programs, saving you the time and the struggle of tracking down numerous malicious files. SpyHunter’s scanner is free but the paid version is needed to remove the malware threats. Read SpyHunter’s EULA and Privacy Policy
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.
A toolbar going by the name Free Game Zone is actually a browser extension with over 2 million users, devloped by BANDOO MEDIA, INC. This particular extension is regarded as a PUA(Potentially Unwanted Application) and virus researchers outline it as one possibility of malware entering your computer by using the application. This reported to be browser hijacker is created with the sole purpose of hijacking your browser only to advertise third-party vendors based on your online interests. Its removal, for which we have tutorial after this article is strongly advisable.
Name
Free Game Zone Toolbar
Type
Browser Hijacker
Short Description
The toolbar may request permissions from the user, collect user data and display various advertisements linking to thrid-party websites.
Symptoms
The user may witness various advertisements of different types.
Distribution Method
Via PUPs, installed by bundling or by visiting a suspicious third-party site that is advertising it.
One way to let this indirectly dangerous toolbar slip into your personal machine is by downloading another program that you may already be familiar with like you favorite media player or file converter, etc. Some programs come with bundled software like Free Game Zone toolbar and it really depends where the program is downloaded from.
It is highly advisable if you seek certain software to download it from reputable website or the official webpage of the software itself. It is strongly recommended not to use third-party websites that include programs ‘as free extras’ in the custom installation steps of the installers and add them to your imaginary ‘do not use for download anymore’ list.
Free Game Zone toolbar – More Information
Once installed on your computer, the toolbar may change your home page to an ask-com supported one. Furthermore, it may enforce any of the requested permissions which it requires upon initial adding to the browser:
What is more, Free Game Zone toolbar may begin to collect various information from the user via cookies, more specifically the information mentioned in this privacy policy:
This information, according to Free Game Zone may or may not be shared or used to administer targeted advertisements to users that have it installed on their computers. Also, one of the vendors providing the types of games (Action, arcade) in the toolbar is Torch media – a company notorious for developing ad-supported Chromium browsers with suspicious privacy policies:
Furthermore, Free Game Zone toolbar might as well begin displaying various advertisements based on what the user searches online (Ad-supported search results) or other ads such as pop-ups, taken over banner spaces on websites the user visits, highlighted texts and others.
Also, when scanned the computer for the toolbar with an anti-malware tool designed to hunt browser hijackers and other ad-supported programs that may bring scamming or malicious sites in the form of adverts to the user, Free Game Zone toolbar was identified as a potential hazard.
Removing Free Game Zone Toolbar
Such programs are not viruses but they contain heavy advertisements linking sometimes to dangerous third-party websites. This is why you should act fast towards its removal.
One way to remove it is via following the step-by-step instructions after mentioned in the tutorial below. Also, you should make sure to use an advanced anti-malware software that will take care of any files that are usually left behind after the manual uninstall of such browser hijackers on your computer. Having such advanced protection will also prevent future unwanted programs from conducting intrusions on your computer.
Step 1: Remove/Uninstall Free Game Zone Toolbar 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 Free Game Zone Toolbar.
Step 2: Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar 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
Start Mozilla Firefox Open the menu window
Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu
Select Free Game Zone Toolbar and click “Remove”
After Free Game Zone Toolbar 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 Free Game Zone Toolbar and click on the garbage bin icon on the right of it.
After Free Game Zone Toolbar 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 Free Game Zone Toolbar 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 Free Game Zone Toolbar 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 Free Game Zone Toolbar Click ‘Uninstall’
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall Free Game Zone Toolbar. Select ‘Uninstall’ again, and the Free Game Zone Toolbar will be removed.
Step 3: Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar automatically by downloading an advanced anti-malware program.
1. Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
1. Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Free Game Zone Toolbar.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar.
Step 1:Click here to go to SpyHunter’s download instruction page. 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 Free Game Zone Toolbar 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.
2. Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
2. Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
1. Install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to scan for and remove Free Game Zone Toolbar. 2. Scan your PC with MalwareBytes to remove all Free Game Zone Toolbar associated files automatically.
Step 1: Download Malwarebytes 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 ‘Next’ on the following 4 steps that will appear afterwards and after that click on the ‘Install’ button. Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button and check the ‘Launch MalwareBytes AntiMalware’ check box.
Step 1: Launch MalwareBytes if you havent launched it after install. Step 2: Wait for the software to update and then click on the blue ‘Scan Now’ button. If it doesnt start updating automatically, click on the blue ‘Update Now’ highlighted text.
Step 3: At this point, after clicking the ‘Scan Now’ button, the system should start scanning your PC. It may take a while but be patient – it is worth it. Step 4: After the scan has been complete and all of the threats have been identified, click on the ‘Remove Selected’ button to detelete them permanently. Step 5: Once the scan has completed, MalwareBytes will prompt you to restart your computer. It is recommended to save all your data you are working on before restarting.
3. Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar with STOPZilla AntiMalware
4. Remove Free Game Zone Toolbar with STOPZilla AntiMalware
1. Install STOPZilla Anti Malware to scan for and remove Free Game Zone Toolbar. 2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all Free Game Zone Toolbar associated files completely.
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.
Step 1:Launch STOPZilla if you havent 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.
4. Back up your data to secure it against attacks related to Free Game Zone Toolbar in the future
4. Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future
Security engineers recommend that you back up your files immediately, preferably on an external memory carrier in order to be able to restore them. In order to protect yourself from Free Game Zone Toolbar (For Windows Users) please follow these simple steps:
1. For Windows 7 and earlier 1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10 1. Enabling the Windows Defense Feature (Previous Versions)
1-Click on Windows Start Menu 2-Type Backup And Restore 3-Open it and click on Set Up Backup 4-A window will appear asking you where to set up backup. You should have a flash drive or an external hard drive. Mark it by clicking on it with your mouse then click on Next. 5-On the next window, the system will ask you what do you want to backup. Choose the ‘Let Me Choose’ option and then click on Next. 6-Click on ‘Save settings and run backup’ on the next window in order to protect your files from possible attacks by Free Game Zone Toolbar.
1-Press Windows button + R 2-In the window type ‘filehistory’ and press Enter 3-A File History window will appear. Click on ‘Configure file history settings’ 4-The configuration menu for File History will appear. Click on ‘Turn On’. After its on, click on Select Drive in order to select the backup drive. It is recommended to choose an external HDD, SSD or a USB stick whose memory capacity is corresponding to the size of the files you want to backup. 5-Select the drive then click on ‘Ok’ in order to set up file backup and protect yourself from Free Game Zone Toolbar.
1- Press Windows button + R keys. 2- A run windows should appear. In it type ‘sysdm.cpl’ and then click on Run. 3- A System Properties windows should appear. In it choose System Protection. 5- Click on Turn on system protection and select the size on the hard disk you want to utilize for system protection. 6- Click on Ok and you should see an indication in Protection settings that the protection from Free Game Zone Toolbar is on. Restoring a file via Windows Defense feature: 1-Right-click on the encrypted file, then choose Properties. 2-Click on the Previous Versions tab and then mark the last version of the file. 3-Click on Apply and Ok and the file encrypted by Free Game Zone Toolbar should be restored.
NOTE! Substantial notification about the Free Game Zone Toolbar threat: Manual removal of Free Game Zone Toolbar 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.
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.
Remove a toolbar from Mozilla Firefox
Remove a toolbar from Google Chrome
Remove a toolbar from Internet Explorer
Remove a toolbar from Safari
1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove Free Game Zone Toolbar.
1. Install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to scan for and remove Free Game Zone Toolbar.
1. Install STOPZilla Anti Malware to scan for and remove Free Game Zone Toolbar.
1. For Windows 7 and earlier
