Abrasive is a potentially unwanted application (PUA) developed by Softology. It is an application solely for Windows computers. Regretfully, it is identified by many anti-virus utilities on VirusTotal.com as extremely dangerous. The detailed research of Abrasive on VirusTotal points to the fact that it should be detected by every anti-virus software available on the particular PC. Nevertheless, sometimes the detection might not take place due to outdated anti-malware databases or some other factors.
The developers of Abrasive promote it as some excellent cleanup utility that will enhance the performance of your system and will fix all available registry issues. They also promise to “turbocharge” your PC’s functionality. Well, this is a new term, but the reality reveals that there is no substantial improvement in the system performance after Abrasive is installed.
The real goal of Abrasive is to force the customers into paying the money for its so-called licensed version. In other words, the program tells you need to buy its license to get the troubles fixed. In reality, the problems that Abrasive reports are totally fabricated. The scan results by Abrasive contain a lot of false positives that you should not ever trust!
You need to deal with Abrasive with extreme caution. For instance, Abrasive claims that it can help your computer running faster by repairing certain registry items. However, getting rid of some registry items will not enhance the speed of your workstation. Instead, accidentally deleting certain items from the registry may cause considerable problems. Thus, we strongly advise you to get rid of Abrasive as soon as possible. Please follow the remainder of the article for more details.
STEP 1. Uninstalling unwanted software regularly (via the Control Panel).
In order to get rid of Abrasive from your system, locate the “Uninstall a program” feature in your PC depending on the version of your Windows operating system:
For Windows 8/10: Right-click on Start – Quick Access Menu – Control Panel – Uninstall a program. You may check the list of applications and utilities installed on your PC. Find suspicious software that may cause aua1man.net problem, then right-click on it and select “Uninstall“.
For Windows 7: Click on Start – Control Panel – Uninstall a program. Check the list of programs and software available in your PC that might cause Abrasive problem, then press “Uninstall“.
For Windows XP: Click on Start – Control Panel – Add/Remove Programs. You will find the list of available programs in your PC. Right-click on suspicious software that may cause Abrasive problem and select “Uninstall“.
Here is the detailed process with screenshots on how to uninstall unwanted software manually.
Right-click on Windows logo in the bottom-left section of the screen, then select “Control Panel“:
In “Programs” section, click on “Uninstall a program“:
Right-click on specific unwanted application, the select “Uninstall“:
Warning! Some unwanted programs may be active (running) while you attempt to uninstall them. It might be necessary for you to end their task via the Task Manager application. Here is how you can do that:
Right-click on Windows taskbar, then select “Task Manager“:
Select specific task related to unwanted program, then right-click on it and choose the option “End Task“:
Warning! Manual malware removal as described above is often a very time-consuming undertaking. It requires a lot of technical skills and does not guarantee absolute repair of your system. We recommend you to select our fully automatic solution to fix your PC on a professional basis.
STEP 2. Fixing your browser home page and search engine settings.
Instructions to fix Google Chrome home page and search engine settings manually.
Click on Google Chrome menu in the form of three vertical dots, then select “Settings“:
Scroll down through Google Chrome Settings until you reach “On Startup” section. Select “Open a specific page or set pages“. Find suspicious unwanted home page, then clock on “Remove“:
In Google Chrome Settings find “Search Engine” section. Select your preferred search engine to be enabled if your search settings are messed up (amended) by adware or browser hijacker:
Click on “Manage search engines“.
Find specific search engine that you do not want to be your default one, then click on “Remove from list“:
Instructions to restore Mozilla Firefox home page and search engine settings manually.
In Mozilla Firefox, click on its menu in the form of three horizontal lines, then select “Options“:
In “General” section, check home page settings. Remove unwanted parameters, or click on “Restore to Default“:
In the “Search” section of Mozilla Firefox, select your preferred search engine:
You may as well remove unwanted search engine completely from Mozilla Firefox by clicking on the “Remove” button next to it:
Instructions to repair Internet Explorer home page and search engine settings manually.
In Internet Explorer, click on its settings menu in the form of a gear-wheel, then select “Internet Options“:
Click on the “General” tab, then check home page settings. Remove unwanted home page from the field, or click on “Use new tab“. Click on “Apply” to save changes:
In Internet Explorer, click on its settings menu in the form of a gear-wheel, then select “Manage add-ons“:
Click on “Search Providers“, then select unwanted search engine and click on “Remove” button related to it:
Instructions to change Opera home page and search engine settings manually.
Click on Opera menu in the form of “Opera” button, then select “Settings“:
Click on “Browser” section, then select “Set pages“:
Find unwanted start page of Opera, then click on “X” next to it to remove it:
In the “Search” section, click on “Manage search engines…“:
Click on “Make default” to select your preferred default search engine, then click on “Done“:
STEP 3. Removing unwanted extensions from browsers.
Deleting unwanted extensions from Google Chrome.
Click on Google Chrome menu in the form of three vertical dots, then select “Settings“:
Click on “Settings” in the left menu (in the form of three horizontal lines), then select “Extensions“:
Find unwanted extension, then click on “Remove” button next to it:
Removing unwanted add-ons from Mozilla Firefox.
In Mozilla Firefox, click on its menu in the form of three horizontal lines, then select “Add-ons“:
Click on the “Extensions” item. If you see suspicious add-ons, disable and then delete them:
Getting rid of unwanted addons from Internet Explorer.
In Internet Explorer, click on its settings menu in the form of a gear-wheel, then select “Manage add-ons“:
In the section called “Toolbars and Extensions“, find specific unwanted add-on, then click on “Disable” button related to it:
Cleaning unwanted extensions from Opera.
Click on Opera menu in the form of “Opera” button, then select “Extensions“:
Find specific unwanted extension, then click on “Disable” button associated with it:
STEP 4. Disabling push notifications from browsers.
Disabling push notifications from Google Chrome.
Click on Google Chrome menu in the form of three vertical dots, then select “Settings“:
Scroll down to the bottom of the page, then click on “Advanced“:
In “Privacy and Security” section, click on “Content Settings“:
Click on “Notifications“:
Find specific site that is displaying unwanted push notifications, click on its options in the form of three vertical dots, then click on “Remove“:
Disabling push notifications from Mozilla Firefox.
In Mozilla Firefox, click on its menu in the form of three horizontal lines, then select “Options“:
Scroll down to “Privacy & Security” section, then find “Notifications“, click on “Settings” button related to it:
Find unwanted sites that keep displaying unwanted notifications, then change the status from “Allow” to “Block“. Additionally, check the box “Block new requests asking to allow notifications“. Then click on “Save changes“:
STEP 5. Full reset of browsers either manually or automatically (video guides).
Important notice! Trying to fix your browsers manually after malware attack is definitely not easy, requires more skills and time, even with detailed description as above. We recommend you to try our absolutely free feature provided by GridinSoft Anti-Malware to reset your browsers automatically within just a couple of mouse clicks!
Andrew Nail
Cybersecurity journalist from Montreal, Canada. Studied communication sciences at Universite de Montreal. I was not sure if a journalist job is what I want to do in my life, but in conjunction with technical sciences, it is exactly what I like to do. My job is to catch the most current trends in the cybersecurity world and help people to deal with malware they have on their PCs.