Moatads

You cannot possibly not notice when Moatads starts its ad campaign on your computer since your browsing experience will turn to hell. This adware server can litter your screen with very annoying and distracting third-party advertisements that can either be served as redirections to certain third-party pages or in new browser windows using your default browser. These ads can seriously ruin your usual web surfing routine but this is not the only inconvenience about them. It is also possible that you may install unwanted programs and even malware infections if you are not alert enough. What could be even worse, you may end up on websites operated by cyber criminals who cannot wait to scam you and trick you into sharing your personal and banking details, which never end well for the victims as you may think. We believe that it is essential that you remove Moatads and any possibly related malware infections from your computer along with all other potential or malicious threats you may find on board. This is the only way for you to make sure that your virtual world is secure enough for you to experience in.

It is possible that you infected your PC previously and let a whole bundle of threats loose. This can easily happen if you download free programs and updates from questionable file-sharing websites. Such pages mostly promote malicious installers that can pack all kinds of potentially unwanted programs as well as malware infections (adware programs, browser hijackers, Trojans, fake alerts, keyloggers, and more). No wonder why we recommend that you only use official websites and reputable vendor pages to download software. But even then you should do your own research first because schemers can easily set up fake or useless promotional pages that you can filter out this way.

But you can also infect your computer with such a package when you land on suspicious websites that host a lot of third-party content. These gaming, gambling, torrent, and freeware pages can also be dangerous because they may be running scripts in the background that will react to your clicks -- wherever you may click on the page -- and open new tabs or windows with malicious content or simply drop a bundle of threats onto your machine. You may also be introduced to such content when your PC is infected. All in all, it is important that you scan your computer with a proper malware scanner to find all possibly harmful programs after you delete Moatads.

Yet another possibility is that you click on the wrong content while browsing the web. You may end up on a shady website after a web search, for example, and click on a fake button there that will redirect you to this adware server. And, the next thing you know, you see a number of advertisements popping up on your screen, new browser windows open with all kinds of offers, and so on. If your PC is not at all infected, it is enough in this case that you close your browser windows, take a deep breath, and restart your browser to continue with your online experience.

This adware server may not be all malicious since we have found that it does serve legitimate websites as well. Still, your browsing experience can be totally ruined if you are flooded with useless and potentially unreliable third-party advertisements. These can come by opening your default browser, popping up on your screen on websites you visit, or you may be redirected to promotional pages. You could be offered all kinds of software to install or warned that there are serious system errors to fix immediately. It is one thing that you cannot browse the web peacefully anymore once these ads start to flow in and it is another, that clicking on them could pose a threat to your system security. If you do not want to drop other malware infections or end up on malicious websites and being scammed by crooks, we suggest that you remove Moatads right away.

Unfortunately, this threat may modify your hosts file by inserting its IP address and domains. So if you want to restore security on your system, the first thing you need to do is restore your hosts file by deleting any entries related to this adware server. Then, you can reset your browsers to make sure that no browser hijackers or other browser-related threats remain on board that could be responsible for redirecting you to this questionable adware server. Please follow our guide below if you do not mind a bit of manual work. Keep in mind that there could be several threats on your computer, not to mention the future possibilities for them to enter your system. Thus, we advise you to employ a trustworthy malware removal program, such as SpyHunter, to automatically defend your PC against all known threats.

Remove Moatads from your browsers

Mozilla Firefox

1. Tap Alt+H and go to Troubleshooting Information.
2. Click Refresh Firefox and click Refresh Firefox again in the confirmation window.

Google Chrome

1. Tap Alt+F and navigate to Settings.
2. Click Advanced at the bottom.
3. Click Reset at the bottom.
4. Press Reset.

Internet Explorer

1. Press Alt+T and go to Internet Options.
2. On the Advanced tab, press Reset.
3. Select Delete personal settings and then, press Reset.
4. Click Close.

How to restore your hosts file

1. Press Win+E.
2. Locate the "%Windir%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts" file and open it with Notepad.
3. Delete all references to "34.195.153.94 z.moatads.com" (the domain can be a variation of this with the same IP address).
4. Save your hosts file and close it.