AdvanceElite - How to remove

AdvanceElite is yet another adware, that is very similar to the most other adware. It is presented as a powerful and useful tool that is used to save both time and money when shopping online or even as a handful alternative for web search. And you get all those abilities for free, you just have to install this browser add-on called AdvanceElite. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, this application has some major downsides and due to them it is listed as an adware and a PUP (potentially unwanted program). First of all, because it is completely free for users, it gets sponsored from third parties for displaying their advertisements on your web browser. As we have mentioned before, it is a browser add-on that can be added to all most popular web browsers, such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Once installed it will display various ads on your web browser randomly. Those ads can be displayed in all kinds of forms, such as banner, pop-up, pop-under and in-text ads. Not only those ads are annoying but they also can lead you to some real cyber security problems. It is because they do not administrate or in some ways moderate third parties that are keen on idea to promote their products or services through this advertising network. This means various cyber criminals, such as hackers or scammers have an ability to reach you right on your web browser, on a daily basis. And that’s why you should not click on those ads. If you do so, you will be immediately redirected to third parties websites that may be infected by cyber criminals and cause harm to your computer. Or if you try to purchase something from such website, you can get scammed and lose your money.

However, sometimes it can hard to avoid clicking on those ads, because they look very appealing. It’s because most of the time they are fake and you shouldn’t believe them. Those ads most of the time appear on e-commerce websites, such as eBay or Amazon and offers to purchase particular goods at a better price range. AdvanceElite can be listed as a browser hijacker as well, because it has some attributes of a browser hijacker. It can change your default search engine or even home page. A new tab can be opened randomly on your web browser from time to time as well.

If you pay a visit to their official website at http://advanceelite.com, take a look at their privacy policy (you will find some interesting facts out there). Look at the section “Collection of information from software users”:

“User Submitted Information. When contacting us, you may submit personal information (such as your full name and other identifying information) to allow us to effectively respond to you inquiry. Your submission is voluntary and you have the choose not to disclose any information when contacting us. Your user submitted information may also include user names associated with third party services, information or content you have permitted other parties to share with us, and any information you have made public through social media or other means. In addition, we may supplement any user submitted information with other information collected by us or obtained from other parries for marketing, advertising, and analytics purposes.

When Accessing and Using the Software. When using the Software, various types of individual user information is collected, stored, shared with other parties, supplemented, used and sold for business and marketing purposes, such as maintaining and improving the Software, providing the Software features, displaying relevant advertisements and content, conducting research, providing analytics services, and other purposes described in this policy. This user information includes information about your computer system, such as IP address, unique identifier number, hardware, software, configuration, operating system, browser, other connected devices, applications, usage patterns, capability, and performance. It also includes information about your internet use, browsing activity, demographic, location, and interests, such as websites visited, pages viewed, search queries entered, and specific content displayed or accessed, including advertisements, items in your online shopping carts, and other products or services of interest to you. This collected data may also be supplemented with information obtained from third parties or submitted by users for marketing, advertising, and analytics purposes.

Types Of Data tracking and Collection Technologies. We may use browser cookies, web and DOM storage data, Adobe Flash cookies, pixels, beacons, JAvaScript, and other tracking and data collection technologies, which may include an anonymous unique identifier assigned to you. These technologies may be used to collect and store information about your use of the Software while browsing websites, such as web pages viewed, features and content you have accessed, advertisements you have seen, search queries you have run, referral URL information, links you have clicked on, and specific products, services or content you have purchased, used or viewed. This data is used, supplemented, sold and shared with other parties for business purposes such as providing the Software features and displaying more relevant ads and content, and also for conducting market research, an providing and selling analytics services and research data to third parties. We may also use these technologies and other similar tools to relate you use of the Software to personal information obtained from you or other party sources. For example, cookie, click stream or other data about your activities using the Software may allow us to refine the ads, offers and content provided to you through the Software to items we think you will fin interesting and relevant to you, based on your prior online activities and preferences.

Third Party Tracking and Data Collection. Third parties that support the Software by serving advertisements, content or providing other services, such as tracking website or Software usage, or providing Software users with the ability to comment on or share content, may also use cookies, pixels and other tracking and data collection technologies described above to collect user information.

Do Not Track Settings. Please be aware that the Software does not accommodate or respond to unique browser or privacy settings, such as “Do Not Track”. “

So in a nutshell, once installed AdvanceElite will gather all kinds of your personal information, such as IP address, various information about your operating system and software you use, your e-mail address or even your geographic location! Do you realise in what kind of danger this puts you? If this information will land in some evil hands, you can lose your money and files that are really important to you. As you have just read, your information can be sold. For instance, if your e-mail address will be sold to third parties, you will receive tons of spam e-mails every day. Take into the consideration that those emails may be infected with other malware as well, so you should think twice before opening one of those. All other information usually is used to adjust those ads according to given data. This way those ads looks more appealing and attractive to you based on your web browsing habits, so the chances that you will click on one of those ads rise. And that’s the main goal of AdvanceElite – they want you to click on those ads, because they get paid for every click you make. For that reason they try to build as big as possible audience and make those ads look impressive, so the users would want to click on them.

Another interesting thing on their official website is that there are no valid contact information. It is unclear what company or person stands behind this application. This means that in case something wrong happens due to this malicious browser add-on, no one will take responsibility for that and you will have no one to blame for it. It’s a a sign of an unreliable application that you should not keep installed on your computer. As you may know, AdvanceElite can be installed on computer without user even being aware of it, but it is not difficult to indicate it once it is inside. You will begin to see ads on your web browser that is usually labeled with a slogan “Ads by AdvanceElite”. If you notice this, wait no more and take needed action to get rid of it.

As we have mentioned before, this application can be installed on your computer without you even being aware of it. It’s because it is distributed bundled with other free software. Even though there is a download button at their official website, usually it’s not the case. When you download and install some free software from a suspicious looking website, there is a chance that AdvanceElite will be installed alongside, behind your back. To avoid this happening, you should avoid downloading any software that looks fishy. If you have no other option but to download a particular piece of software from a website with a questionable reputation, run it’s installation very carefully. Do not skip any steps (don’t just click “next” and “agree” buttons all the time without reading the whole thing first) and opt out for a custom or advanced install mode, if possible. This will allow you to see all available options. Look for information very closely, because it can be written in a very tiny font. There may even be some checkboxes, that can be already checked for you. If you see that some additional software is being installed alongside – do not allow it.  This can be AdvanceElite or any other malware, so you don’t want this to be installed. If it is too late and your computer is already infected, you should remove AdvanceElite right now. There are a couple of ways how you can do this. First and perhaps most efficient one is to download a trustworthy anti-malware, such as Spyhunter, StopZilla or Malwarebytes. Scan your computer with it and it will detect and remove the adware automatically. It will protect your computer from similar infections in the future as well. If you are not into downloading some additional software to complete this task, you can do it by your own, manually. To perform this, please feel free to follow our step-by-step AdvanceElite removal guide given below.

How to get rid of AdvanceElite adware

How to remove AdvanceElite using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like AdvanceElite install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to AdvanceElite . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make AdvanceElite easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

TopRemoving AdvanceElite from Firefox

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything AdvanceElite related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to AdvanceElite, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to AdvanceElite and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to AdvanceElite, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopRemoving AdvanceElite from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to AdvanceElite. Click on the trash bin icon next to AdvanceElite or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to AdvanceElite, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Manual removal