How to Remove Pass and Play Ads

What Is Pass and Play?

Pass and Play is an adware program that supposedly helps you to find better deals on the Internet. What this really means is that Pass and Play adds banners and ads to the web-pages you visit. It is usually installed with free apps from the Internet: when users download freeware or shareware, they often rush through the installation and don’t notice that more programs are installed together with the chosen one. If you wish to get rid of Pass and Play, read the tutorial below.

Is Pass and Play Safe?

Pass and Play is not a malicious program in itself; however, it does display some objectionable behavior. Pass and Play sneakily installs itself on the computer and shows advertisements when the user browse the web. Clicking on these ads, on purpose or by accident, might take the user on an untrustworthy website that can infect his computer with malware. Pass and Play collects information on the user, such as his IP-address, frequently visited pages, search queries and so on, that is used for generating customized ads.

How to Remove Pass and Play

The simplest method to uninstall Pass and Play is to run an anti-malware program capable of detecting browser adware in general and Pass and Play in particular. Norton Security is one of such tools; it finds and removes all files, folders and registry entries left by Pass and Play.

Download SpyHunter

You can also try to remove Pass and Play by hand using the following instructions.

Remove Pass and Play From Programs and Features

Go to Programs and Features, uninstall Pass and Play if you can find it there. Uninstall also any suspicious programs, programs you don’t remember installing, or programs you installed just before Pass and Play appeared on your computer. If you are not sure if the program is safe, look for the answer on the Internet.

Windows XP:

1. Click Start.
2. In the Start menu select Setings => Control Panel.
3. Find and click Add or Remove Programs.
4. Look for Newsearch123.com in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
5. Click Remove.

Windows Vista:

1. Click Start.
2. In the Start menu select Control Panel.
3. Find and click Uninstall a program.
4. Look for Newsearch123.com in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
5. Click Uninstall.

Windows 7:

1. Click Start.
2. In the Start menu select Control Panel.
3. Find and select Programs and Features or Uninstall a program.
4. Look for Newsearch123.com in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
5. Click Uninstall.

Windows 8 / Windows 8.1:

1. Press and hold Windows key and hit X key.
2. Select Programs and Features from the menu.
3. Look for Newsearch123.com in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
4. Click Uninstall.

Windows 10:

1. Press and hold Windows key and hit X key.
2. Select Programs and Features from the menu.
3. Look for Newsearch123.com in the list. If you find the app, highlight it.
4. Click Uninstall.

Remove Pass and Play From Browsers

To get rid of Pass and Play, either reset browsers’ settings or remove Pass and Play and any suspicious extensions from browsers.

Reset Google Chrome Settings:

Note: This will disable your extensions and themes, clear cookies and site data, as well as change content settings, start page, new tab page and search engine to default.

1. Open a new tab.
2. Copy and paste into the address bar: chrome://settings/resetProfileSettings
3. Press Enter.
4. In the dialog box click Reset.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of Pass and Play in Google Chrome:

1. Click menu button .
2. Select More tools ⇒ Extensions.
3. To remove an extension, click on a trashcan to the right of it.
4. Click Remove in the dialog box.

Reset Mozilla Firefox Settings:

Note: Extensions and themes, website permissions, modified preferences, added search engines, download history, DOM storage, security certificate and device settings, download actions, plugin settings, toolbar customizations, user styles and social features will be removed.

1. Click on menu button .
2. Click on help button and select Troubleshooting Information.
3. Click Refresh Firefox… in the top-right corner.
4. In the dialog box click Refresh Firefox.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of Pass and Play in Mozilla Firefox:

1. Click on menu button and select Add-ons.
2. Go to Extensions tab.
3. To uninstall an add-on, click on Remove button next to it.
   Note: If the extension is impossible to delete, click on => => Restart with Add-ons Disabled…. In the dialog boxes click Restart => Start in Safe Mode. Restart Firefox in normal mode after you are finished.

Reset Internet Explorer Settings:

Note: This will remove most of your saved browser data, including extensions, passwords and the majority of browser settings.

1. Click Tools button in the top-right corner.
2. Select Internet options.
3. Go to Advanced tab.
4. Click Reset… button.
5. Put checkmark in Delete personal settings checkbox.
6. Click Reset.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of Pass and Play in Internet Explorer:

1. Click Tools button in the top-right corner.
2. Select Manage add-ons.
3. In the drop-down menu under Show: select All add-ons.
4. To delete an add-on, double-click it, in the new window click Remove.

Reset Opera Settings:

Note: This will delete all saved data including bookmarks and passwords and return the browser to freshly installed state.

1. Exit Opera browser.
2. Open File Explorer.
3. Go to C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Opera\Opera, where username is the name of your Windows account.
4. Find and delete Operapref.ini file.

Alternative Way to Get Rid of Pass and Play in Opera:

1. Press Ctrl +Shift + E keys to open extensions manager.
2. To remove the add-on, click on the x button next to it.
3. Click OK when asked to confirm.

Delete Files, Folders and Registry Keys Left by Pass and Play

Delete These Folders:

%PROGRAMFILES%\Pass and Play\

Delete These Files:

27ad2ddd-f568-4517-92ad-22f69316bc62.dll
7za.exe
firefox@www.passandplaysoftware.com.xpi

Delete These Registry Keys and Values:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{A16372CF-B955-4A03-9711-56BA44DE5C66}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{A16372CF-B955-4A03-9711-56BA44DE5C66}\ProxyStubClsid32
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{A16372CF-B955-4A03-9711-56BA44DE5C66}\TypeLib]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{81C52541-0668-4A74-BC0A-0819643308FB}\1.0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{81C52541-0668-4A74-BC0A-0819643308FB}\1.0\0\win32
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{81C52541-0668-4A74-BC0A-0819643308FB}\1.0\FLAGS
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{81C52541-0668-4A74-BC0A-0819643308FB}\1.0\HELPDIR
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{27ad2ddd-f568-4517-92ad-22f69316bc62}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{27ad2ddd-f568-4517-92ad-22f69316bc62}\InprocServer32
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{27ad2ddd-f568-4517-92ad-22f69316bc62}\Programmable
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{27ad2ddd-f568-4517-92ad-22f69316bc62}\TypeLib
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{27ad2ddd-f568-4517-92ad-22f69316bc62}\Version
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{B853E835-9F24-4F4B-B55C-E554D15CCCD2}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\CLSID\{F83D1872-D9FF-47F8-B5A0-49CC51E24EE8}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Interface\{A16372CF-B955-4A03-9711-56BA44DE5C66}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Interface\{A16372CF-B955-4A03-9711-56BA44DE5C66}\ProxyStubClsid32
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Wow6432Node\Interface\{A16372CF-B955-4A03-9711-56BA44DE5C66}\TypeLib
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkList\Profiles\{7983BF1F-9B44-43E8-A696-A7B7FF3046FF}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{27ad2ddd-f568-4517-92ad-22f69316bc62}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Pass and Play
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\PassandPlay

How to Protect Your PC From Pass and Play and Other Adware

• Get a powerful anti-malware software, capable of detecting and eliminating PUPs. Having several on-demand scanners would be a good idea too.
• Keep Windows firewall enabled or get a third-party one.
• Keep your OS, browsers and security utilities updated. Malware creators find new browser and OS vulnerabilities to exploit alll the time. Software writers, in turn, release patches and updates to get rid of the known vulnerabilities and lesser the chance of malware penetration. Antivirus program’s signature databases get updated every day and even more often to include new virus signatures.
• Adjust your browsers’ settings to block pop-ups and to load plug-ins only when clicked.
• Don’t turn off User Account Control and don’t use an administrator account in Windows Vista and newer Windows. Malware can do much less damage on guest accounts than otherwise.
• Download and use Adblock, Adblock Plus, uBlock or one of the similar trustworthy extensions for blocking third-party advertisements on web-sites.
• Don’t just click on any link you see while browsing the web. That applies particularly to links in comments, on forums, or in instant messengers. Pretty often these are spam links. Sometimes they are used for increasing the traffic to websites, but often enough they will land you on pages that will try to execute a malicious code and infect your computer. Links from your friends are suspect too: the person who shares a cute video might not know that the page contains threatening script.
• Don’t download software from unverified web-sites. You can easily download a trojan (a malware that pretends to be a useful application); or some unwanted programs could get installed along with the app.
• When installing freeware or shareware, be sensible and don’t rush through the process. Choose Custom or Advanced installation mode, look for checkboxes that ask for your permission to install third-party apps and uncheck them, read End User Licence Agreement to make sure nothing else is going to get installed. You can make exceptions for the apps you know and trust, of course. If declining from installing unwanted programs is not possible, we advise you to cancel the installation completely.
• Don’t open attachments in emails from people you don’t know; these can easily turn out to be malicious. In fact, even if you get an email from a friend and there is an attachment you didn’t expect, better make sure your friend really sent it, before clicking on the attached file.