Web Companion - How to remove

Web Companion is a free online security tool. It’s supposed to protect internet surfers from malicious websites, data tracking, advertisements, phishing scams, and other dangers.  In 2014, Web Companion replaced Ad-Aware Security Toolbar and has had pretty good success with users.

But right now, Web Companion should not be trusted with your web security. It suffers from dishonest installation, browser hijacking, advertising, and data tracking. Because of these problems, some antivirus vendors consider Web Companion malicious, calling it “Adware” and “Unwanted” (Virustotal.com scan results).

If you got Web Companion on your system, keep reading this article to learn about the problems that Web Companion suffers from and how to best remove this potentially unwanted program.

Short memo on Web Companion’s problems and removal:

Problems with Web Companion	Redirects online, data tracking and sharing with third parties, bloatware installed with Web Companion, slow browser.
Categories	Potentially unwanted software, browser hijacker, adware.
Distribution	Software bundlers, misleading advertisements.
Elimination	Remove Adaware Web Companion manually and related apps, find and delete unwanted items automatically (Spyhunter, Malwarebytes, etc.), review browser settings that might have been changed by the adware.

What is Web Companion?

Web Companion offers security features

Adaware Web Companion is meant to enhance security alongside real antivirus programs. It boasts protection against dangerous websites, checks for email breaches, and ad-blocking, among other features. It works on all ht popular web browsers

Annoyingly, the Web Companion modules, even the most simple ones, need to be downloaded and installed separately, resulting in a bit of bloatware.

Lavasoft, the company behind Web Companion, also has other security products like Adaware Secure Search, Adaware Ad Block, and Adaware Download Companion, that it offers together with Web Companion.

It can be installed without permission

Although you can download and install Web Companion manually, some users discover it on their computers despite never having heard of it before.

Web Companion is adware and a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Program). PUPs are programs that might be installed on your system unnoticed and unwanted.

Lavasoft explains it as accidental detection because of matching malicious file flagging or the competitive nature of all anti-spyware tools, but Lavasoft’s shady behavior is well-known. And besides, Web Companion is flagged pretty consistently, so antivirus vendors are clearly doing it on purpose.

Indeed, the sometimes-unfair installation methods are Web Companion’s biggest problem.

One popular distribution method for PUPs is called bundling. Installers offer you additional software and you may accept or refuse the offer. But bundling is set up to trick people to install programs by accident. Sometimes, the offer is hard to see. It’s always approved by default. Some people have complained that Web Companion was installed despite them rejecting the offer, too.

Before installing a free app, take your time and uncheck Optional/Additional programs during the setup. If possible, download software only from legitimate and official websites.

Is Web Companion dangerous?

After it’s installed, Web Companion makes some unhelpful changes to your browser:

• replace your search engine,
• spy on your browsing activities,
• inject advertisements into the webpages that you visit.

Since ads and privacy don’t go together well, Web Companion is not the best tool to protect your online privacy.

Generally, Web Companion changes your default web service provider to Bing. There’s hardly even a chance to opt out of it. If you managed to avoid it the first time, you’ll be asked to change search settings three more times. The unwanted program tries really hard to make you install Bing.

Back in the day, Lavasoft was found to be using Komodia in their Web Companion. The same feature that was responsible for the Superfish. This software can get around the browser’s security signing web certificates, which enables it to partly compromise the browser and read encrypted (HTTPS) websites and inject them with advertisements and sponsored content. That again is exactly the opposite of what Web Companion should do.

Because Web Companion has access to your browser, it can see a lot of data. Injecting ads is improper behavior for a product that should be protecting you from spyware, but it helps to build ad revenue.

This case is very similar to the ambiguous Avast Secure Browser.

How to terminate the Web Companion

Web Companion should be easy enough to remove from your Control Panel or the Settings app, the Apps and features section.

The problem is that Web Companion might have been installed together with other PUPs.

The easiest way to clean your computer is to use a malware removal tool, such as Spyhunter, Malwarebytes, or others from this list. They can detect threats and unwanted programs that are easy to miss when looking for problems manually.

Automatic Malware removal tools

You can also remove Web Companion manually following the guide below. The primary installation execution file is Lavasoft.AdAware.dll, though it can also be WebCompanion.exe or simply Installer.exe. During installation, a Windows Service is created which runs continuously in the background and creates a Windows registration point to run with every PC restart.

After all the removal steps, if you are still having problems, make sure to check other possible settings that this PUP might have changed. And run a thorough scan with your antivirus program to make sure you’ve got rid of all the malicious files.

Manual removal guide for Adaware Web Companion

How to remove Web Companion using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Ad Aware 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 Web Companion . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Ad Aware 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.

Remove extensions by Adaware Web Companion

Remove extensions by Adaware Web Companion

How to remove Ad Aware using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like Web Companion 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 Ad Aware . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make Web Companion 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.

How to remove Ad Aware from macOS

Delete Web Companion from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the Ad Aware app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to Web Companion 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 Ad Aware, 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 Web Companion 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 Ad Aware. Click on the trash bin icon next to Web Companion 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 Ad Aware, 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.

TopRemoving Web Companion 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 Ad Aware 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 Web Companion, 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.

How to remove Web Companion from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to Ad Aware. Click on the "Remove" icon next to Web Companion 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 Microsoft Edge.

TopRemoving Ad Aware from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the Web Companion. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

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

• Click on the Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari.
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

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