Windows Warning Alert

If you find Windows Warning Alert, a warning claiming that malicious software, e.g. Zeus banking Trojan has been detected on your computer and is only one step away from your personal data, do not freak out because the chances are high that you have encountered a scam. To put it differently, the warning you see might be fake. Windows Warning Alert has not been created to warn you about malicious software that has entered your system without your knowledge. Such scams are only used to scare users into contacting the technical support. If the warning you see contains a telephone number too, you should ignore it completely because it is nothing more than a scam. Actually, it is not very likely that your web browser will ever open a genuine warning regarding the successful entrance of malicious software because such warnings are usually shown by security software installed on the system. If it has turned out that you have encountered the scam too, close it immediately. Has your web browser gone full-screen and thus cannot be closed normally? If so, press F11 and kill the main process of your browser (e.g. firefox.exe, chrome.exe, or iexplore.exe) via Task Manager. We cannot promise that the fake Windows Warning Alert will not be opened to you again. It might reappear after a moment if its appearance is a result of the installation of untrustworthy software on your computer. In such a case, you will need to get rid of it to remove Windows Warning Alert from your screen.

Windows Warning Alert calls itself a “critical alert,” and, we have to admit, it looks quite convincing. Luckily, there is no need to worry. Malware it has told you about does not exist on your system. This scam only seeks to convince you to dial the telephone number indicated on the fake window. Do not contact these “technicians” even if you are told that financial data, Facebook logins, credit card details, email account logins, and photos are being stolen from your system. There are several reasons why you should not do that. First, it is unclear whether the telephone number indicated on Windows Warning Alert is really toll-free. It might be a premium-rate telephone number instead. If you dial it, your telephone bill will be huge. Second, if you make a call, the chances are high that cyber criminals will pick up the phone, and this is where all the problems begin. They might ask you to pay money in exchange for the help with the malware removal. Also, they might try to gain remote access to your computer so that they could remove harmful malware (that does not exist on your PC) for you. Last but not least, they might try to convince you to purchase useless software you do not need. Since you do not need to delete malware from your system, you should focus on the removal of the fake alert instead. Closing it once might not be enough to dismiss it. You might need to delete untrustworthy software or a malicious browser extension.

As research conducted by specialists at pcthreat.com has shown, Windows Warning Alert often comes as a redirect. That is, users are taken to the domain containing the fake alert against their will. This usually happens if they enter a malicious website that redirects them further or click on an untrustworthy link. Also, the periodic appearance of Windows Warning Alert on the screen might be an indication that untrustworthy software has been installed on your PC without your knowledge. In most cases, fake alerts are associated with advertising-supported applications (adware). Since they often travel bundled, many users do not even notice when they are installed on their systems. In most cases, it is not so hard to find out about the entrance of adware – check all programs listed in Control Panel and all active browser extensions.

Close Windows Warning Alert immediately (you might need to kill the process of your browser via Task Manager to do that), but if it reappears, you will need to take more serious actions. Resetting browsers should be enough to make the fake alert disappear forever, but you should also check Control Panel and delete all suspicious-looking programs from there because adware might be responsible for its appearance on your screen.

Delete Windows Warning Alert

Remove suspicious applications

Windows XP

1. Click Start.
2. Click Control Panel.
3. Click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Select suspicious software and click Remove to delete it.

Windows 7/Vista/8/8.1/10

1. Launch Run by pressing Win+R simultaneously.
2. Type Control Panel in the box and click OK.
3. Open Uninstall a program.
4. Select untrustworthy software.
5. Click Uninstall.

Reset Internet Explorer/Mozilla Firefox/Google Chrome to default settings

Internet Explorer

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Access the Tools menu by pressing Alt+T.
3. Select Internet Options.
4. Click Advanced.
5. Click Reset.
6. Mark the Delete personal settings box.
7. Click the Reset button.

Mozilla Firefox

1. Launch Mozilla Firefox.
2. Open the Help menu (press Alt+H).
3. Select Troubleshooting information from it.
4. Click Refresh Firefox.
5. Confirm the browser reset.

Google Chrome

1. Open Google Chrome and click the menu button (top-right corner).
2. Select Settings.
3. At the bottom, click Advanced.
4. Click Reset.
5. Confirm the reset.