How to find out if your Lenovo is infected with the Superfish adware and remove it

How to find out if your Lenovo is infected with the Superfish adware and remove it

There's no need to panic. It's a relatively simple process to remove Lenovo's "Superfish" adware. Here's what you need to know.

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Users on Lenovo's forums have discovered that the Chinese company has been preloading some consumer PC models with a software called Superfish Visual Discovery. In short, the software tracks your searches and browsing habits (even on secure sites) and uses this information to place additional advertisements on the sites you visit. It's unclear what models have come preloaded with the software, although users have reported finding it on Lenovo Y50, Z40, Z50, G50 and Yoga 2 Pro models.

Ideally this is the screen you will see.Screenshot by Dan Graziano/CNET

LastPass has created a Web tool that makes it easy to check to see if your computer is infected. You can check by simply clicking on this link. To manually check for the Superfish adware and uninstall it, head to the Windows Control Panel, select Programs and click Uninstall a Program. Search the list forVisualDiscovery. If it is there, click the program and select Uninstall.

Screenshot by Rob Graham

You're not finished yet, though, there is one more step. You must also uninstall the Superfish certificates. Start by clicking the Windows Start button and typing certmgr.msc in the search box. Launch the certmgr.msc program, click on Trusted Root Certification Authorities, followed byCertificates. Search through the certificates for anything mentioning Superfish Inc. Once you have found the certificates, right-click them and select Delete.