How to remove Chrome Weather adware (Virus Removal Guide)

Chrome Weather (by chromeweather.net) is a malicious Google Chrome extension which may hijack your default search engine or display pop-up ads and unwanted advertisements on web pages that you visit.

The Chrome Weather “Installed by enterprise policy” extension got on your PC after you have installed a freeware software that had bundled into their installation this program. Unfortunately, some free downloads do not adequately disclose that other software will also be installed and you may find that you have installed Chrome Weather Chrome extension without your knowledge.

The Chrome Weather extension is forcefully installed into Chrome through the use of Windows group policies. This makes the Chrome Weather extension very difficult to remove because when a user tries to right-click on the extension to remove it, the normal “Remove” option will not be available and instead the user will see a message that states “Installed by your administrator” or “Installed by enterprise policy“.

Chrome Weather is advertised as a program that “locates and displays your current weather, hourly and 5 day forecast”. Though this may sound like a useful service, the Chrome Weather Chrome extension can be intrusive and will display advertisements whether you want them to or not. The Chrome Weather advertisements that are displayed by adware will typically be shown in the header in strange positions or overlaying the content of the web page.

A typical behavior for the Chrome Weather “Installed by enterprise policy” malicious extensions is:

• Advertising banners are injected with the web pages that you are visiting.
• Random web page text is turned into hyperlinks.
• Browser popups appear which recommend fake updates or other software.
• Your browser homepage and default search may be changed
• Your browser search queries are being redirected or tracked

How to remove Chrome Weather “Enterprise Policy” Extension (Virus Help Guide)

• STEP 1: Reset the Group Policy to remove Chrome Weather Enterprise Policy
• STEP 2: Reset Google Chrome to the default settings
• STEP 3: Use Malwarebytes to remove the Chrome Weather Chrome Extension
• STEP 4: Use HitmanPro to Scan for Malware and Unwanted Programs

STEP 1: Reset the Group Policy to remove Chrome Weather Enterprise Policy

1. Open the Command Prompt by pressing “Windows Key + X”, and click on “Command Prompt (Admin)” to open it in Administrator mode.
   
   You can easily open the command prompt by typing “cmd” into the search box (Win + S), then right-click and choose Run as Administrator

   

2. In the Command prompt type (or copy/paste) the following commands:
   1. Type:
      rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicyUsers"
      Press Enter.
   2. Type:
      rd /S /Q "%WinDir%\System32\GroupPolicy"
      Press Enter.
   3. Type:
      gpupdate /force
      Press Enter.

   

   You should see the following notifications after the commands been run:
   User Policy update has completed successfully.
   Computer Policy update has completed successfully
   
3. The “Installed by enterprise policy” permissions will now be removed from Chrome, and you should be able to remove the Chrome Weather extension.

STEP 2: Reset Google Chrome to the default settings

Google Chrome has an option that will reset itself to its default settings. Resetting your browser settings will reset the unwanted changes caused by installing other programs. However, your saved bookmarks and passwords will not be cleared or changed.

1. Click on Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three horizontal lines. When the drop-down menu appears, select the option labeled Settings.
   
2. Chrome’s Settings should now be displayed in a new tab or window, depending on your configuration. Next, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Advanced link (as seen in the below example).
   
3. Chrome’s advanced Settings should now be displayed. Scroll down until the Reset browser settings section is visible, as shown in the example below. Next, click on the Reset settings button.
   
4. A confirmation dialog should now be displayed, detailing the components that will be restored to their default state should you continue on with the reset process. To complete the restoration process, click on the Reset button.
   

STEP 3: Use Malwarebytes to remove the Chrome Weather Chrome Extension

Malwarebytes is a powerful on-demand scanner which should remove the adware responsible for the Chrome Weather redirect. It is important to note that Malwarebytes will run alongside antivirus software without conflicts.

1. You can download download Malwarebytes from the below link.
   MALWAREBYTES DOWNLOAD LINK (This link open a new page from where you can download “Malwarebytes”)
2. When Malwarebytes has finished downloading, double-click on the “mb3-setup-consumer” file to install Malwarebytes on your computer.
   
   You may be presented with an User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow Malwarebytes to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   
3. When the Malwarebytes installation begins, you will see the Malwarebytes Setup Wizard which will guide you through the installation process.
   
   To install Malwarebytes on your machine, keep following the prompts by clicking the “Next” button.
   
4. Once installed, Malwarebytes will automatically start and update the antivirus database. To start a system scan you can click on the “Scan Now” button.
   
5. Malwarebytes will now start scanning your computer for malicious programs.
   This process can take a few minutes, so we suggest you do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan to see when it is finished.
   
6. When the scan has completed, you will be presented with a screen showing the malware infections that Malwarebytes has detected.
   To remove the malicious programs that Malwarebytes has found, click on the “Quarantine Selected” button.
   
7. Malwarebytes will now quarantine all the malicious files and registry keys that it has found.
   To complete the malware removal process, Malwarebytes may ask you to restart your computer.
   
   When the malware removal process is complete, you can close Malwarebytes and continue with the rest of the instructions.

STEP 4: Use HitmanPro to Scan for Malware and Unwanted Programs

HitmanPro can find and remove malware, adware, bots, and other threats that even the best antivirus suite can oftentimes miss. HitmanPro is designed to run alongside your antivirus suite, firewall, and other security tools.

1. You can download HitmanPro from the below link:
   HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “HitmanPro”)
2. When HitmanPro has finished downloading, double-click on the “hitmanpro” file to install this program on your computer.
   
   You may be presented with an User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow HitmanPro to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   
3. When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below. Now click on the Next button to continue with the scan process.
   
4. HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for malware.
   
5. When it has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found as shown in the image below. Click on the “Next” button, to remove malware.
   
6. Click on the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   
   When the process is complete, you can close HitmanPro and continue with the rest of the instructions.