Edge Frozen with Virus Warning Popup

Anonymous

After navigating to a web page, a popup hijacked the Edge browser.

The popup is a false virus warning, with audio, that repeats endlessly.

I used Task Manager to close Edge browser, but after re-opening, it returns to the hijacked page. There is no time to open another tab, or reach settings. How can this be cleared.

First I tried searching for /user/appdata for Edge entries, and only found a couple, deleted them, but no effect.

I launched msconfig, and set to boot to Safe Mode, minimal. I tried launching Edge in Safe, but you get a warning saying Edge will not launch using the built in administrator account. IE still ran, but no network (as you might expect). I cleared history in IE. But then was unable to relaunch msconfig! Pressing Start flashed a start menu but it disappeared. Selecting the search box wound not search. I ended up launching Control Panel using win+x, and finding System Configuration that way.

When I returned to normal Windows, Edge was set back to its home page.

Clearly this is not a good work around. I can't imagine explaining it to my little niece or grandmother.

Please suggest something more rational.

[Moved from Windows]

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Answer accepted by question author

Anonymous

When this happened to me, I closed Microsoft Edge using the Task Manager.

Then in the search bar next to the Windows 10 logo on the bottom off the screen (I call it the "Cortana Search"), I typed in google.com and hit enter.

Microsoft Edge opened up with a new tab for Google. You can see the offending site still opens in a tab that doesn't have focus. Click the "X" to close Edge. Do not click on the offending site tab or it will get focus again.

When Edge closes nicely, I won't "Restore" the sessions and the offending site tab will be gone.

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Anonymous

This did not work. It closed the offending page, but when I re-opened Edge it popped back up again.

It's a common scam. Click the OK button at the bottom of the popup. You should then see a box Do not allow this site to create new messages. Check it and then close the window.

If that doesn't work, for Edge, follow the instructions by Scott_Ki here:

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_other-protect_scanning/edge-frozen-with-virus-warning-popup/7212a393-90ad-48d0-ab55-4ffe1f21a554?page=2&msgId=7618ae67-bf16-4155-bf90-d8a7405ee199

For all other browsers, use the Task Manager to exit the browser. Reboot and see if the pop-up goes away.

How to Use the New Task Manager.

http://www.wikihow.com/Open-Windows-Task-Manager

If the problem persists, for any browser:

Remove Tech Support Scam pop-up (Call For Support Scam)

http://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-tech-support-scam-popups/

Please read:

PSA: Tech Support Scams Pop-Ups on the Rise

https://blog.malwarebytes.org/fraud-scam/2014/11/psa-tech-support-scams-pop-ups-on-the-rise/

Breaking down a notably sophisticated tech support scam M.O.

https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/mmpc/2017/03/02/breaking-down-a-notably-sophisticated-tech-support-scam-m-o/

For more information, see this post by GreginMich

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/protect/forum/protect_other-protect_scanning/1-888-2361-scam/0990122e-61a9-431b-947e-a904c202fa7c?msgId=8d26f1a8-041a-4351-9c24-a222fb305cbd

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195 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-06-01T05:19:30+00:00

After navigating to a web page, a popup hijacked the Edge browser.

The popup is a false virus warning, with audio, that repeats endlessly.

I used Task Manager to close Edge browser, but after re-opening, it returns to the hijacked page. There is no time to open another tab, or reach settings. How can this be cleared.

First I tried searching for /user/appdata for Edge entries, and only found a couple, deleted them, but no effect.

I launched msconfig, and set to boot to Safe Mode, minimal. I tried launching Edge in Safe, but you get a warning saying Edge will not launch using the built in administrator account. IE still ran, but no network (as you might expect). I cleared history in IE. But then was unable to relaunch msconfig! Pressing Start flashed a start menu but it disappeared. Selecting the search box wound not search. I ended up launching Control Panel using win+x, and finding System Configuration that way.

When I returned to normal Windows, Edge was set back to its home page.

Clearly this is not a good work around. I can't imagine explaining it to my little niece or grandmother.

Please suggest something more rational.

[Moved from Windows]

you have to delete the history and cookies in
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Anonymous

2016-05-31T20:46:37+00:00

Like everybody else, I tried both scans recommended by Niranjan Manijhi and neither turned up any issue. The method described by Scott_ki worked fine. I see this malware fairly frequently and it used to be easier to cancel the web page and make it disappear. Apparently it's getting a little smarter and more difficult to cancel. This new method should work for a while.
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Anonymous

2016-05-16T04:46:19+00:00

The problem with this virus is that it prevents edge from closing.

I use Ccleaner and when that program scans for temporary files to delete, its first response asks to close down certain programs. It sees that edge is still running even though I have done everything in task manager as well as reboot.

Ccleaner forces edge to shutdown down and cleans the cookies etc...problem solved
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