FolderShare

FolderShare might seem like a great tool at first, but our research team warns that some versions of this seemingly beneficial application can be unreliable. It appears that the tool could come bundled with elements that enable advertising. Due to this, random pages representing advertisements would show up whenever the program is installed. Do you want to have to deal with constant ads? Of course, you do not, and that is exactly why the suspicious app is classified as a potentially unwanted program (PUP). Unfortunately, that is not all that we need to discuss in this report. It was found that the suspicious tool does not have an official installer, which means that it might be spread in all kinds of other ways. If you do not realize it, you could be in trouble because, in many cases, PUPs come bundled with other unreliable programs or malware. If you want to learn how to check if your operating system is infected with malware that must be deleted, and you are interested in removing FolderShare, you need to continue reading.

It is not that surprising that some users find the service of FolderShare interesting. It allows sharing folders, and someone is bound to be intrigued by that. Of course, since this service is free, it is not surprising that not everything is right either. When you install this program, it is created in the %PROGRAMFILES(x86)% or %PROGRAMFILES% folder. Besides that, however, additional elements are dropped to a folder with a unique name. This folder could be created in the same directory as the PUP itself or in %APPDATA%. In the samples we tested, adware was dropped to %PROGRAMFILES%\40W8I2OLPJ and %APPDATA%\reuiddxwtbf folders. In the first case, five different files were created (40W8I2OLP.exe, 40W8I2OLP.exe.config, cast.config, uninstaller.exe, and uninstaller.exe.config), and in the second case, two files were created (mjtgitgcuj5.exe and mjtgitgcuj5.exe.config). Both the names of the folders and the names of the components can be random, and if you cannot find folders with the names mentioned, that does not mean that you do not need to delete FolderShare-related adware. If you are having trouble identifying malicious components, we strongly advice using a legitimate malware scanner, and it will let you know if you need to delete malware.

Using a strong malware scanner is also very important to check if third-party malware exists on your system. As mentioned before, FolderShare is not promoted in an official manner, which means that this PUP might be distributed by random installers and that it could be spread attached to other programs. Even if you do not think that malicious threats exist, you MUST scan your system to look for silent or hidden infections. Hopefully, they do not exist, and you can dedicate your time to learning about and deleting FolderShare, but if other potentially unwanted programs or malicious infections are found, you must not hesitate to remove them from your operating system. The only bad thing about the PUP discussed in this report is that it comes bundled with adware and, potentially, malware, but it itself is not malicious. Other threats, on the other hand, could be seriously dangerous, and so you must not ignore them. If you cannot eliminate undesirable programs yourself, do not worry about it because there are other ways to achieve it.

Do not rush to uninstall FolderShare from your operating system via the Control Panel because you will not get rid of the added adware in this way. Of course, you can uninstall the app, and this will be the end of it, but you must not forget about the adware components. We propose a guide that shows how to eliminate both PUP and adware components from your Windows operating system in a manual manner. As you can see, there are not many steps, and even if you are inexperienced, we believe you can follow them. Now, if other PUPs or malware exist, you will need to add steps for their removal too. Alternatively, you can take only one step of installing anti-malware software, which will automatically erase all existing threats at once. Even better, it will continue protecting your operating system in the future, and that is extremely useful and important if your system is not protected, and if you are at risk of attracting other security threats.

N.B. The advertisements shown by the adware installed along with FolderShare could be misleading, and interacting with them is not recommended.

FolderShare Removal

1. Launch RUN by tapping keys Win+R.
2. Enter regedit.exe and click OK to access Registry Editor.
3. Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\.
4. Right-click and Delete the key named Foldershare.
5. Move to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ and then follow step 4.
6. Launch Explorer by tapping Win+E keys.
7. Enter %PROGRAMFILES(x86)% into the bar at the top (or %PROGRAMFILES%).
8. Right-click and Delete the folder named foldershare.
9. Right-click and Delete the folder with a random name (e.g., 40W8I2OLPJ) that hosts adware components.
10. Enter %APPDATA% into the bar at the top.
11. Right-click and Delete the folder with a random name (e.g., reuiddxwtbf) that hosts adware components.
12. Move to the Desktop and Delete the file named foldershare.lnk.
13. Empty Recycle Bin and then run a system scan to check if you have succeeded at removing the PUP and adware.