Albireo

What is Albireo?

Albireo is a useless program that has nothing to do with astronomy apart from its misleading name. It has much more to do with displaying annoying and potentially unreliable third-party ads, including banner, pop-up, and coupon commercials. Therefore, our malware researchers at Anti-Spyware-101.com have categorized this infection as an adware program. The presence of this adware can turn your web browsing into a nightmare. And not only that; clicking on the advertisements this program shows you may lead you to unsafe websites. Although a lot of computer users do not consider adware applications and their ads as dangerous, we must tell you that these commercials may connect you with cyber criminals and their vicious websites. Therefore, if you do not remove Albireo, you may put your system security at risk, not to mention your privacy. Please continue reading our article to understand more about this malware and how you can step up and protect your computer from this and similar threats.

Where does Albireo come from?

According to our researchers, this adware comes from a group of ad-supported programs that strangely have astronomical names, such as CoronaBorealis, Capricornus, and Canopus. Obviously, these programs have nothing to do with stars and constellations, let alone astrology; although they may appear on your computer as fast as a shooting star crosses the sky. Most likely you do not even have an idea how this application entered your computer. Let us tell you a possible version.

Our research shows that this application can emerge on your system mainly through your clicking on third-party ads. So, actually, if you can stop clicking on random or even relevant-looking advertisements, it is possible that you can avoid most malware infections. But it is also worth knowing where these ads may come from. There are mostly two sources for them to appear on your screen. First, it is possible that there is already at least one adware or other malware program on your computer that is capable of showing third-party ads. These ads can come up while you are surfing the web and you simply click on one. This one click can be enough for this adware to download onto your computer. However, it is quite likely that you will not download only this program but a whole bundle of malware threats. Second, you may also be exposed to such unsafe third-party ads if you visit or accidentally land on questionable and unfamiliar P2P websites, including shareware, torrent, and pornographic sites. Therefore, if you have visited such sites lately, you should delete Albireo right away and make sure that no other infections remain on board either.

How does Albireo work?

Our experts say that this adware uses the same engine as Daugava and Groover. Once this application is installed it makes changes to your DNS settings and the dnsapi.dll file to be able to display ads on your screen. It also makes sure that it autostarts with Windows every time you reboot your computer. So do not even dream about getting rid of the annoying ads after a quick restart. The advertisements and coupons this adware shows you may be unreliable because anyone can be behind the third parties, even criminals and schemers. Since this adware may be able to spy on you and collect data about your online behavior, it is possible that criminals can target you with tailored advertisements. There is a much higher chance that you click on an ad if it draws your attention. That is the trick behind it. But this is a nasty trick and you may pay a steep price for one single click if it is on the wrong ad. It is possible that you get redirected to a fake website or you may simply download a bundle of threats. But you may also get scammed out of your money in a short time. Therefore, it is important that you delete Albireo as soon as you can.

How to delete Albireo

This mission requires a bit of attention because it cannot be done in a single step unfortunately. Even the easiest option consists of three main steps. First, you need to run the uninstaller of this program through Control Panel. Then, you need to restore the dnsapi.dll file. Finally, you must restore your DNS settings. If this sounds a bit complicated, please try to follow our guide below. If you are an inexperienced computer user and even our instructions seem a bit Greek to you, we suggest that you use a professional malware removal application. Also, it is important that you remember to keep all your programs and drivers (Java, Adobe Flash) updated so that the number of their security holes decrease.

Remove Albireo from Windows

Windows XP

1. Open the Start menu and go to Control Panel.
2. Select Add or Remove Programs.
3. Click on the application and click Remove.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

1. Press Win+R and type in Control Panel. Press OK.
2. Open Uninstall a program.
3. Click on the application and click Uninstall.

Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10

1. Press Win+Q and type in Uninstall a program. Press the Enter key.
2. Click on the application and click Uninstall.

How to restore dnsapi.dll

1. Press Win+R and enter cmd. Click OK.
2. Enter “sfc /scanfile=C:\Windows\system32\dnsapi.dll” at the command prompt and hit the Enter key.
3. If your system is 64-bit, enter “sfc /scanfile=C:\Windows\syswow64\dnsapi.dll” and hit the Enter key.
4. Exit the Command Window.

How to restore your DNS settings

Windows XP

1. Click the Start button and access Control Panel.
2. Open Network Connections.
3. Right-click on the active connection and select Properties.
4. Mark Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) on the Local Area Connection Properties panel.
5. Press Properties and choose “Obtain DNS server address automatically”.
6. Click OK.

Windows Vista and Windows 7

1. Press the Windows button on the Taskbar and go to Control Panel.
2. Access Network and Internet and choose Network and Sharing Center.
3. Select your connection type.
4. Click Properties and select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
5. Click Properties and mark “Obtain DNS Server address automatically”.
6. Click OK.
7. Select Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).
8. Click Properties and mark “Obtain DNS Server address automatically”.
9. Click OK and click OK again.
10. Press Close.

Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10

1. Press Win+I and open Control Panel.
2. Choose Network and Internet and access Network and Sharing Center.
3. Select the active connection and choose Properties.
4. Pick Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) from the item list and press Properties.
5. Select the “Obtain DNS server address automatically” option and press OK.
6. Pick Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) in the item list box and click Properties.
7. Select the “Obtain DNS server address automatically” option and press OK.
8. Click OK and click Close. Download Removal Tool100% FREE spyware scan and
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