Erase Ouo.io Ads (Adware/PUP)

What is Ouo.io Ads? And how does it work?

Ouo.io is a questionable site that displays different kinds of ads. It claims to shorten URLs and helps users earn money by getting paid for every other user who visits the URL. It may look like a comfortable way to earn money online but don’t let it’s too good to be true advertisement fool you for it’s actually an ad-supported program or adware and a potentially unwanted program.
Ouo.io is mostly known as Ouo.io Ads and sometimes Ouo.io virus because of the amount of intrusive ads it delivers to users. Once this program is installed, it will modify the settings of the browsers installed in the system so users won’t have any choice but to use Ouo.io whenever they browse the web. Aside from that, this unwanted program can also monitor users’ activities over the web to gather information that includes their search queries, ads clicked, websites they often visit and other similar information. The information it obtains are used to produce more targeted and customized ads to lure users into clicking them which adds to the profit they get via pay-per-click marketing.
How does Ouo.io Ads spread over the web?
Ouo.io Ads, like any other adware, is distributed via software bundles found on free sharing sites. It is added as one of the optional programs in the package that are hidden unless you use the Custom or Advanced setup. To avoid adware programs like Ouo.io Ads from invading your system, it’s best if you use the aforementioned setup every time you install any freeware or shareware. It is also recommended that you read documents like EULA or Privacy Policy before you install any program.
Make sure to erase Ouo.io Ads from your browser and computer with the help of the removal guide provided below.
Step 1: Start by opening the Task Manager by simply pressing the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys.
Step 2: Next, go to Processes and look for dubious processes that could be related to Ouo.io Ads and then right click on each one of them and select End Process or End Task to kill their processes.

Step 3: Then open the Control Panel. To do so, tap the Windows key + R, then type in appwiz.cpl and then click OK or press Enter.
Step 4: Look for any suspicious program that could be the one that triggers the Ouo.io Ads and then Uninstall it.
Step 5: Close all the browsers affected by Ouo.io Ads. If you’re having a hard time closing them, you can close them using the Task Manager just tap on Ctrl + Shift + Esc.

Step 6: After you open the Task Manager, go to the Processes tab and look for the infected browser’s process and end it.
Step 7: Edit your Hosts File

Tap the Win + R keys to open then type in %WinDir% and then click OK.
Go to System32/drivers/etc.
Open the hosts file using Notepad.
Delete all the entries containing Ouo.io Ads.
After that, save the changes you’ve made and close the file.

Step 8: Reset all your browsers to default to their default state.
Google Chrome

Launch Google Chrome, press Alt + F, move to More tools, and click Extensions.
Look for Ouo.io Ads or any other unwanted add-ons, click the Recycle Bin button, and choose Remove.
Restart Google Chrome, then tap Alt + F, and select Settings.
Navigate to the On Startup section at the bottom.
Select “Open a specific page or set of pages”.
Click the More actions button next to the hijacker and click Remove.

Mozilla Firefox

Open the browser and tap Ctrl + Shift + A to access the Add-ons Manager.
In the Extensions menu Remove the unwanted extension.
Restart the browser and tap keys Alt + T.
Select Options and then move to the General menu.
Overwrite the URL in the Home Page section and then restart the browser.

Internet Explorer

Launch Internet Explorer.
Tap Alt + T and select Internet options.
Click the General tab and then overwrite the URL under the homepage section.
Click OK to save the changes.

Step 9: Hold down Windows + E keys simultaneously to open File Explorer.
Step 10: Navigate to the following directories and look for suspicious files associated to Ouo.io Ads and delete it/them.

%USERPROFILE%\Downloads
%USERPROFILE%\Desktop
%TEMP%

Step 11: Close the File Explorer.
Step 12: Empty the Recycle Bin.
Step 13: Afterwards, you have to flush the DNS cache. To do that, just, right click on the Start button and click on Command Prompt (administrator). From there, type the “ipconfig /flushdns” command and hit Enter to flush the DNS.
Follow the advanced instructions below to ensure the removal of Ouo.io Ads using [product-name] as well as all the file residues it left behind.
Perform a full system scan using [product-code]. To do so, follow these steps:

Turn on your computer. If it’s already on, you have to reboot it.
After that, the BIOS screen will be displayed, but if Windows pops up instead, reboot your computer and try again. Once you’re on the BIOS screen, repeat pressing F8, by doing so the Advanced Option shows up.

To navigate the Advanced Option use the arrow keys and select Safe Mode with Networking then hit
Windows will now load the Safe Mode with Networking.
Press and hold both R key and Windows key.

If done correctly, the Windows Run Box will show up.
Type in the URL address, [product-url] in the Run dialog box and then tap Enter or click OK.
After that, it will download the program. Wait for the download to finish and then open the launcher to install the program.
Once the installation process is completed, run [product-code] to perform a full system scan.