How to Remove Adware.Win32.Gamevance

The Adware.Win32.Gamevance, also known as the AWD_GAMEVANCE or just Gamevance, is a moderate security threat that users actually sign themselves up for, albeit usually unknowingly. For the security of your computer and privacy, it is best to remove Adware.Win32.Gamevance from your PC with antivirus software.

About Adware.Win32.Gamevance

The only way your computer can become infected with this virus of sorts is through the website Gamevance.com, and you actually have to agree to allow the virus onto your computer. The Gamevance website is tricky, they claim to give users free online gaming access so long as they agree to Gamevance’s privacy policy and end user license agreement. However, the end user license agreement is buried in the privacy policy and you have to click on a separate link just to view it. If you view the end user license agreement, you would see that you're essentially agreeing to allow the Adware.Win32.Gamevance software onto your computer, which is primarily adware and spyware.

Gamevance’s end user license agreement does at least explicitly state most of the terms. In exchange for free gaming services, you agree to receive advertisements through the Adware.Win32.Gamevance software in the form of text links, banners and pop-ups. The ads may pop up either in front of or behind your browser and are usually identified as Gamevance ads. The chosen ads are based on your web browsing history and are relevant to your interests as determined by the websites you visit most frequently.

However, there is some verbiage in the end user license agreement that is not so clear. The agreement says, "An average of four ads will be shown based on the web content viewed." This could mean as many as four ads could be shown for every website you visit, which is a bombardment of advertisements while casually surfing the web. The end-user license agreement also states that Gamevance only collects "non-personally identifying information" to provide ads that are more relevant. This essentially means that the Adware.Win32.Gamevance software is monitoring your computing activities, saving them and then forwarding the information to Gamevance. However, we don't know explicitly what information Adware.Win32.Gamevance collects, and this is concerning since we have no idea who is viewing this information and whether there is a way in which users' identities could be linked to the data obtained from the software.

How to Remove Adware.Win32.Gamevance

Even if you really like online gaming, you should remove Adware.Win32.Gamevance. Most users report that they are more than ready to get rid of this software as soon as it is installed on their computers, since the number of ads it shows is astronomical. Many users also become outraged, saying that the software neglects to provide them with a way to unsubscribe and remove it from their PCs.

However, Adware.Win32.Gamevance can easily be removed. While the Gamevance ad interface does not offer a way to unsubscribe or remove the software, you can remove it using the Windows Add/Remove software tool. This is actually even stated in that sneaky end-user license agreement that seems to slip past almost everyone.

Some viruses and other types of malware are so malicious that they cannot possibly be extricated simply with the Windows Add/Remove software tool. Removing these infections requires the help of anti-virus software, but removing the Gamevance application can be done with your existing Windows tools and does not require the use of anti-virus software.

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