Freevpn.win PUP - How to remove

FreeVPN is a program that helps you use a VPN service promoted on Freevpn.win. Though FreeVPN is not dangerous, it does occasionally promote unwanted programs and its installer is flagged by a few antivirus scanners. It uses iffy advertising and it might install apps that are unwanted.

In short about FreeVPN:

Classification	Potentially unwanted program.
Problems with FreeVPN	It is detected by a few antivirus scanners as a potentially risky program.
How it is promoted	Advertised on movie pirating sites.
How to remove FreeVPN	Uninstall FreeVPN  and other potentially unwanted programs manually, check for suspicious programs with an antivirus tool, such as Spyhunter, Malwarebytes, and others.

FreeVPN is flagged by antivirus programs

FreeVPN is one of many free VPN services that you can find online. VPNs are services that allow your internet traffic to go through their servers, encrypted so that your ISP doesn’t know what sites you’re visiting. VPNs are used to get access to websites that are blocked, both to get around censorship and to get access to pirating sites.

Installers downloaded from Freevpn.win do get detected by a few anti-malware programs as Riskware and Unsafe (Virustotal.com). Some consider FreeVPN slightly problematic. One of the reasons is that Freevpn.win sometimes promotes Tweakbit PC Repair Kit ([App.any.run), which is another potentially unwanted program. Also, FreeVPN might offer you to install Search Awesome, a browser hijacker.

FreeVPN might be considered potentially unwanted and riskware – not dangerous, but potentially risky to use. For advertising potentially unwanted programs, but also for the inherent risks of using a VPN. For one, when using a VPN, you’re giving the operators of the VPN the control and access to your information that your ISP used to have. VPNs can abuse this power to, for example, show you ads. So, it makes sense for some anti-malware programs to warn their users.

As an example, Pirate Chick VPN was distributing a Trojan, VPNTop was charging users unfairly, and then there are many fleeceware apps that promise VPN services only to fail to provide them while charging excessive fees.

How Freevpn.win spreads

FreeVPN was made by Keen Internet Technologies Ltd, the same company that’s also released Keenow VPN for iOS. Keen has also made Nomorespy.com, an alternative search engine that redirects to Yahoo, and Topshape.me, an app that was supposed to warn you about needed software updates. So, FreeVPN is associated with more than one potentially unwanted program.

Unsurprisingly, FreeVPN is advertised on pirating sites. It is advertised on 4movierulz, 1337x.to, and other movie streaming (and pirating) andfile hosting sites. It makes sense for a VPN service to be advertised on pirating sites, since people often use VPNs to access geographically restricted media.

This – encountering FreeVPN on a pirating site – made me initially suspicious of it, even though FreeVPN is not dangerous after all. After all, a lot of the ads on pirating websites do lead to harmful software and scam sites.

In addition, Freevpn.win uses the usual VPN advertising cliches, like claiming that you’re “not protected” when you’re not using their service and claiming that VPNs are about privacy (I recommend this video about VPNs and about their slightly misleading advertising). Though, to be fair, most popular VPNs use the same advertising tricks.

Here are a couple of examples of ads that can be found on Freevpn.win. They look familiar to me, as similar ads are used to promote various apps both safe and potentially unwanted.

How to remove FreeVPN and other potentially unwanted programs

FreeVPN can be uninstalled manually like any other program, from your Control Panel or the Settings app. Initially, FreeVPN does leave behind its executable and other files in the Program Files (x86) folder, but these files go away when you reboot your computer.

In case FreeVPN promoted another program, you might want to remove that, too.

It might be worth it to scan your computer with an anti-malware tool like Spyhunter or Malwarebytes, to see if there are any suspicious items on your computer. Especially if you regularly use pirating sites and find yourself exposed to obnoxious ads and redirects.

You could use ad blockers and anti-malware programs that offer web filters to block malicious sites and reduce the number of unwanted ads that you see. Of course, Freevpn.win is not malicious, but many sites promoted aggressively online are – and you need to protect yourself from them.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove Freevpn.win PUP using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Freevpn.win PUP 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 Freevpn.win PUP . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Freevpn.win PUP 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.