Remove “Severe Weather Alerts” pop-up virus (Removal Guide)

“Severe Weather Alerts” is an adware program that displays pop-up ads, advertisement banners and sponsored links within Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome.

Unfortunately, some free downloads do not adequately disclose that other software will also be installed and you may find that you have installed Severe Weather Alerts without your knowledge. Severe Weather Alerts is advertised as a program that displays information about the latest weather changes. Though this may sound like a useful service, the program can be intrusive and will display ads whether you want them to or not.

The Severe Weather Alerts adware infection is designed specifically to make money. It generates web traffic, collects sales leads for other dubious sites, and will display advertisements and sponsored links within your web browser.
Severe Weather Alerts it’s technically not a virus, but it does exhibit plenty of malicious traits, such as rootkit capabilities to hook deep into the operating system, browser hijacking, and in general just interfering with the user experience. The industry generally refers to it as a “PUP,” or potentially unwanted program.

Severe Weather Alerts is an ad-supported (users may see additional banner, search, pop-up, pop-under, interstitial and in-text link advertisements) cross web browser plugin for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome, and distributed through various monetization platforms during installation. Severe Weather Alerts is typically added when you install another free software (video recording/streaming, download-managers or PDF creators) that had bundled into their installation this adware program. When you install these free programs, they will also install Severe Weather Alerts as well. Some of the programs that are known to bundle Severe Weather Alerts include “Youtube Downloader HD”, “Fast Free Converter”, “Video Media Player 1.1” and “DVDX Player 3.2”. Very often users have no idea where did it come from, so it’s not surprising at all that most of them assume that Severe Weather Alerts is a virus.

The Severe Weather Alerts installer software bundles various potentially unwanted software such as toolbar and web browser extensions using the Tuguu DomalQ download manager. Once installed the software will display popup adds that are designed to look like the browser window but will display malvertising type ads warning you that certain software (such as Internet Explorer) is out of date and requires an update. If the user attempts to download the update it will install numerous adware toolbars as well as other potentially unwanted utilities.

Severe Weather Alerts starts automatically when you start your computer, runs in the background on your computer, and will periodically display advertisments in the form of pop-up windows or sliding boxes.

Severe Weather Alerts will also display advertising banners on the webpages that you are visiting, and as you browse Internet, it will show coupons and other deals available on different websites.

You should always pay attention when installing software because often, a software installer includes optional installs, such as this Severe Weather Alerts adware. Be very careful what you agree to install.
Always opt for the custom installation and deselect anything that is not familiar, especially optional software that you never wanted to download and install in the first place. It goes without saying that you should not install software that you don’t trust.

How to remove Severe Weather Alerts (Virus Removal Guide)

This page is a comprehensive guide, which will remove Severe Weather Alerts from your computer, and any other adware program that may have been installed during the setup process.
Please perform all the steps in the correct order. If you have any questions or doubt at any point, STOP and ask for our assistance.
STEP 1: Uninstall Severe Weather Alerts program from your computer
STEP 2: Remove Severe Weather Alerts adware with AdwCleaner
STEP 3: Remove Severe Weather Alerts potentially unwanted programs with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free
STEP 4: Double-check for the Severe Weather Alerts infection with HitmanPro

STEP 1 : Uninstall Severe Weather Alerts programs from your computer

In this first step, we will try to identify and remove any malicious program that might be installed on your computer.

1. To uninstall the Severe Weather Alerts program from Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, click the Start button, then click on the Control Panel menu option.
   
   If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for “control panel” .Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control Panel from there.
   
2. When the Control Panel window opens click on the Uninstall a program option under Programs category. This option is shown by the arrow in the image below. If you are using the Classic View of the Control Panel, then you would double-click on the Programs and Features icon instead.
   
3. When the Programs and Features or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and uninstall Severe Weather Alerts and any other recently installed or unknown programs from your computer.
   To view the most recently installed programs, you can click on the “Installed On” column to sort your programs by the installation date. Scroll through the list, and uninstall any unwanted or unknown programs.
   If you are having issues while trying to uninstall the Severe Weather Alerts program, you can use Revo Uninstaller to completly remove the unwated programs from your machine.

STEP 2: Remove Severe Weather Alerts adware from your computer with AdwCleaner

The AdwCleaner utility will scan your computer and web browser for the “Severe Weather Alerts” malicious files, browser extensions and registry keys, that may have been installed on your computer without your knowledge.

1. You can download AdwCleaner utility from the below link.
   ADWCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will automatically download AdwCleaner on your computer)
2. Before starting AdwCleaner, close all open programs and internet browsers, then double-click on the AdwCleaner icon.
   
   If Windows prompts you as to whether or not you wish to run AdwCleaner, please allow it to run.
3. When the AdwCleaner program will open, click on the “Scan” button as shown below.
   
   AdwCleaner will now start to search for the “Severe Weather Alerts” malicious files that may be installed on your computer.
4. To remove the “Severe Weather Alerts” malicious files that were detected in the previous step, please click on the “Clean” button.
   
5. AdwCleaner will now prompt you to save any open files or documents, as the program will need to reboot the computer. Please do so and then click on the OK button.
   

STEP 3: Remove Severe Weather Alerts potentially unwanted programs with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free uses industry-leading technology to detect and remove all traces of malware, including worms, Trojans, rootkits, rogues, dialers, spyware, and more.
It is important to note that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware works well and should run alongside antivirus software without conflicts.

1. You can download download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from the below link.
   MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free)
2. Once downloaded, close all programs, then double-click on the icon on your desktop named “mbam-setup-consumer-2.00.xx” to start the installation of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.
   
   You may be presented with a User Account Control dialog asking you if you want to run this file. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
3. When the installation begins, you will see the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Setup Wizard which will guide you through the installation process.
   
   To install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware on your machine, keep following the prompts by clicking the “Next” button.
   
4. Once installed, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program, and that a scan has never been run on your system. To start a system scan you can click on the “Fix Now” button.
   
   Alternatively, you can click on the “Scan” tab and select “Threat Scan“, then click on the “Scan Now” button.
   
5. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now check for updates, and if there are any, you will need to click on the “Update Now” button.
   
6. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for the Severe Weather Alerts virus. When Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is scanning it will look like the image below.
   
7. When the scan has completed, you will now be presented with a screen showing you the malware infections that Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has detected. To remove the malicious programs that Malwarebytes Anti-malware has found, click on the “Quarantine All” button, and then click on the “Apply Now” button.
   
   Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.
8. Malwarebytes Anti-Malware will now quarantine all the malicious files and registry keys that it has found. When removing the files, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot your computer, please allow it to do so.
   
   After your computer will restart, you should open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and perform another “Threat Scan” scan to verify that there are no remaining threats

STEP 4: Double-check for the Severe Weather Alerts infection with HitmanPro

HitmanPro is a second opinion scanner, designed to rescue your computer from malware (viruses, trojans, rootkits, etc.) that have infected your computer despite all the security measures you have taken (such as anti-virus software, firewalls, etc.). HitmanPro is designed to work alongside existing security programs without any conflicts. It scans the computer quickly (less than 5 minutes) and does not slow down the computer.

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. Double-click on the file named “HitmanPro.exe” (for 32-bit versions of Windows) or “HitmanPro_x64.exe” (for 64-bit versions of Windows). When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below.
   
   Click on the “Next” button, to install HitmanPro on your computer.
   
3. HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for Severe Weather Alerts malicious files.
   
4. 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 Severe Weather Alerts virus.
   
5. Click on the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   

If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove Severe Weather Alerts adware from your machine, please start a new thread in our Malware Removal Assistance forum.