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What is MessengerNow and is it a useful application, or a PUP? Let’s find out in this article.
MessengerNow is classified as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and adware which generates pop-up ads unrelated to your browsing. The MessengerNow PUP is distributed mainly in bundled software packages but it can also be downloaded from the Internet. It is important to mention that this is not the only suspicious application that takes advantage of Facebook Messenger’s popularity.
MessengerNow could also be named Messenger2Go, Facebook Messenger for Desktop, MessengerPC, MessengerSpot. We suspect that all these instances were developed by the same developer, with the sole purpose to flood users with ads and collect their personal information. Also, these bogus applications are also offered to Mac users.
Note. MessengerNow and its look-alikes could be detected as variations of Trojan.Clicker (a generic detection) which are largely employed for ad fraud on a pay-per-click basis.
Threat Summary
| Name | MessengerNow |
| Type | PUP, Adware, Trojan.Cliker |
| Short Description | The MessengerNow PUP could be employed for ad fraud, could generate intrusive advertisements or download more PUPs onto your system. |
| Symptoms | Intrusive browser redirects, pop-up ads. |
| Distribution Method | Bundled downloads and websites which may advertise it. |
| Detection Tool | See If Your System Has Been Affected by MessengerNow Download Malware Removal Tool | User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss MessengerNow. |
MessengerNow – Distribution Tricks
In most cases, potentially unwanted programs such as MessengerNow are spread with the help of the so-called bundling. These techniques hide the configuration files of unwanted programs which makes it harder for you to prevent their installation.
If you don’t remember downloading the PUP from a certain website (such as a supposedly official website, or a freeware site), the program may have entered your computer in a bundled freeware package. It is important to mention that this PUP can be detected as a Trojan.Clicker by antivirus programs. Trojan.Clickers are often included in bundled packages for the purpose of quick monetization. They are a popular form of ad fraud.
In the majority of cases, a PUP lands on a computer by being part of a software bundle. This means you might have installed it via the installer of a program you meant to download.
Being a PUP, MessengerNow may have been spying on your online activities and collecting information about you. By dropping and activating different types of tracking technologies on your system, the PUP may have obtained plenty of details about your browsing behavior, such as:
- Visited URLs and websites
- Browser’s home page
- Search queries
- Search queries on the visited web pages
- Type of used browser
- Operating system type
- Internet protocol (IP) address
- Geographic location
- The domain name of current Internet service provider (ISP)
Remove MessengerNow – Illustrated Instructions
As we’ve established, MessengerNow is not a trustworthy application, as it is a PUP, and it has no affiliation with Facebook. If you want to get rid of the PUP completely, we advise you to follow our removal instructions. They are designed to help you to remove PUPs such as MessengerNow effectively from your system, either manually or automatically.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum for 4 years. Enjoys ‘Mr. Robot’ and fears ‘1984’. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles!
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum for 4 years. Enjoys ‘Mr. Robot’ and fears ‘1984’. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles!
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum for 4 years. Enjoys ‘Mr. Robot’ and fears ‘1984’. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles!
Preparation before removing MessengerNow.
Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.
- Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
- Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.
- Be patient as this could take a while.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove MessengerNow
Step 2: Clean any registries, created by MessengerNow 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 MessengerNow 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.Step 3: Find files created by MessengerNow
For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10.
For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.For Newer Windows Operating Systems
1: On your keyboard press + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.
2: Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.
3: Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:
N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.
For Older Windows Operating Systems
In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:
1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.
2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.
3: After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.
Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.
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.
Step 4: Scan for MessengerNow with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Step 5 (Optional): Try to Restore Files Encrypted by MessengerNow.
Ransomware infections and MessengerNow aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to decrypt. This is why we have suggested a data recovery method that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that this method may not be 100% effective but may also help you a little or a lot in different situations.
For more “how-to” file recovery methods and steps, you can visit our instructive article on “How to Restore Files Encrypted by Ransomware (Without Decrypter)“.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum for 4 years. Enjoys ‘Mr. Robot’ and fears ‘1984’. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles!
Preparation before removing MessengerNow.
Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.
- Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
- Do a backup of all of your files, even if they could be damaged. You should back up your data with a cloud backup solution and insure your files against any type of loss, even from the most severe threats.
- Be patient as this could take a while.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove MessengerNow
Step 2: Clean any registries, created by MessengerNow 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 MessengerNow 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.Step 3: Find files created by MessengerNow
For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. For Windows XP, Vista, and 7.For Newer Windows Operating Systems
1: On your keyboard press + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.
2: Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.
3: Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:
N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.
For Older Windows Operating Systems
In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:
1: Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.
2: After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.
3: After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.
Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.
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.
Step 4: Scan for MessengerNow with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum for 4 years. Enjoys ‘Mr. Robot’ and fears ‘1984’. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles!
Preparation before removing MessengerNow.
Before starting the actual removal process, we recommend that you do the following preparation steps.
- Make sure you have these instructions always open and in front of your eyes.
- Be patient as this could take a while.
Step 1: Uninstall MessengerNow 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 2: Clean your Browsers from MessengerNow.
Remove an extension from Mozilla Firefox
Remove an extension from Google Chrome
Remove an extension from Internet Explorer
Remove an extension from Microsoft Edge
2. Select the “Add-ons” icon from the menu.
3. Select the unwanted extension and click “Remove“
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.
2. Move the cursor over “Tools” and then from the extended menu choose “Extensions“
3. From the opened “Extensions” menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its “Remove” button.
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.
2. Click on the gear icon labeled ‘Tools’ to open the drop menu and select ‘Manage Add-ons’
3. In the ‘Manage Add-ons’ window.
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’.
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.
2. Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
3. From the drop menu select “Extensions”.
4. Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
5. Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by MessengerNow 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 MessengerNow 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.
Step 4: Scan for MessengerNow with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum for 4 years. Enjoys ‘Mr. Robot’ and fears ‘1984’. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles!
Preparation Phase:
Before starting to follow the steps below, be advised that you should first do the following preparations:
- Backup your files in case the worst happens.
- Make sure to have a device with these instructions on standy.
- Arm yourself with patience.
Step 1: Uninstall MessengerNow 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”.
Step 2: Remove MessengerNow – related extensions from your Mac’s browsers
Remove a toolbar from Mozilla FirefoxRemove a toolbar from Google Chrome
Remove an extension from Safari and reset it.
Step 3: Scan for and remove MessengerNow files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as MessengerNow, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. Combo Cleaner offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum for 4 years. Enjoys ‘Mr. Robot’ and fears ‘1984’. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles!
