popup on steam store client

[JoPe]

Bonjour / hello !

I have since 4 days a problems with my Steam client:
I get popups that open - which then redirects to different pubs / spam ... all in a Steam window and only on the store via the client. (On the store via my browser, no worries, and all other parts of Steam (communities, profiles, friends, library etc ...) anything either ...).
I already tried the last 3 days of solutions, so I went through all the anti-malware / spyware / possible AV:
Avast (nothing found), Spybot (nothing found), Malwarebyte (nothing found), Microsoft Defender (nothing found) ... And yet it is the only solution that I found on forums ... (" it is a malware that affects browsers, you got the bar or install add-on is a free program that you forgot to uncheck "... NOOOP ! I am aware of that, and I've never installed questionable appz in recent months ... the problem has four days only.
I updated Steam, reinstalled, rebooted the PC, updated Windows, etc etc etc ...
and I still have these constant popups whenever I click on the thumbnail of a game, a screenshot on the store page of the game, "add to basket" ... it drives me crazy !!

illustration : http://i.imgur.com/6KkQRXY.jpg

HEEEELP !
PS : Steam ticket running, but no anwser yet...

JoPe

[Silicon Vampire]

Support isn't responsible for cleaning the crud you've let in to your computer.

Cancel the support ticket please. There is no reason to add to the support queue for something that is not related to them.


Clean your computer. You might be best off reformatting and reinstalling the OS.

[JoPe]

nop, i'm sorry my computer is clean (have you read, i already used every malware/spyware/AV appz possible, without any positive found ?), and i know how to manage my OS to get every bit of perf from it, so sorry, it's steam related, the ticket stays.

[[Squirrel]]

Sorry but I have to agree. This is not Steam related.

Even if you used all the apps available, a virus can still persist and stay.

The safest way to clean a computer is a full format... ask any (good) technician.

[JoPe]

i will not format, i want to clean just this little anoing thing. my PC is clean, i choose wisely every apps i use/download, and i'm 40yo, i use compter since the good ol' DOS days blablabla, don't need to justify myself here, i just want a solution, i've identified the website, explained what happen, i'm sure there is just some registry entry in windows, or some .hosts to delete... i will not format my damn computer, i've got 10 To of games and i work every day with it to pay my bills, i cannot loose a full day just for that, and the rest of my computer runs just fine, without any single hicups...

[JoPe]

if there is no solution i'll just use my browser (chrome) to go on the steam store... where i can do exactly the same (browse/buy game/launch the DL) than in the browser integrated in the steam client... (wich i presume was IE since the beggining, but when i search with this hint... i found on google it is no more IE but a internal browser from valve... and it's just THIS one which is "infected"...).
I've also read it may be a proxy/DNS hijacking, but i've tried with others DNS, and with another router/connexion, same thing...

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Then take it to a tech and have it properly cleaned; obviously the anti-virus/security software u using isn't doing the job. If u learn to properly use a Windows PC and not run as the Admin, u can avoid this sort of thing.

Steam doesn't have any kinds of popups/ads on the site or client; so it's a malicous infection in your system.

Steam uses Chromium for the Client browser, as that is open-source.

[JoPe]

i know, i've allready try all the tuto out there to clean chromium... and i'm using a secondary windows acount to play, wich is not in admin mode... to make it short : i'm not a begginer...
and the tech we've got here in France, where i live are less instructed as i am in the hardware/software knowledge... so, it will cost me money, and i'm sure they'll drop a simple "mmmh you need to format." like you did there...
So, i'll continue to ask/search for a solution, and during this time, i'll use the store via Chrome. The rest of the steam parts are clean. (community for ex, and forums, are also displayed on a chromium frame inside steam... with lot's of URL... but these ones don't create popups. only the front store and the detailed page of every game. that's also another clue...

[JoPe]

Update : another one tried : SUPER Anti-Spyware - full scan - done => didn't find any single infection on the whole computer... so, it may prove that i'm very careful about that...

[JoPe]

(and i've also 3 "real time protection" running on the background... and not any seems to react when a popup appears...)

[[Squirrel]]

Originally posted by JoPe:

i will not format, i want to clean just this little anoing thing. my PC is clean, i choose wisely every apps i use/download, and i'm 40yo, i use compter since the good ol' DOS days blablabla, don't need to justify myself here, i just want a solution, i've identified the website, explained what happen, i'm sure there is just some registry entry in windows, or some .hosts to delete... i will not format my damn computer, i've got 10 To of games and i work every day with it to pay my bills, i cannot loose a full day just for that, and the rest of my computer runs just fine, without any single hicups...

I understand it's a pain in the a** to format, but as you mentionned, maybe there's a single file that need to be destroyed in order to fix this, but which file... how could we know? You think that your PC is clean because your AV is telling you that everything is ok, but you understand too that there's still a little piece somewhere that need to be deleted, so it's technically wrong to say that your PC is fully clean.

Also, I assume that you splitted your hard drive in two parts, one for your OS and the other for your games and applications? That way, you shouldn't have 10 To of game to download again?

This kind of debugging will take you as long as a format, maybe even longer. (i'm just thinking out loud here) I understand too why you want to fix it that way. I'm just trying to help you think about all the possibilities you got.

If you fix it, let us know, I would like to know what helped you and it may help others too. :)

[JoPe]

Thanks Squirrel ;) that was the first nice answer i read today :p
yeah, you're 100% true... but i was hoping some random guy would have found a solution, and posted that on a forum, for someone like me who ask :)
i'll try to clean it/search the file/trace of infection for some days... and if not, when i'll get my second 980 to make a SLI, it may be the good time to format... yeah. And also, you're right about the 2 partitions, i'll not need to download every game again. Just the programs i've installed on the C: (SSD) to get with the fast OS... (and some games, like Witcher 3, GTA5, Dying Light, for the same reason... speeeed ! :p). So, finaly, it may become heavier then i think ! (with the size of modern games... 50-60 Go :// )

but yeah i'll keep in touch with you in this thread if i found something, or if i format !

thanks for the kind words, appreciate ! ++

JoPe

[JoPe]

Update : Hitman Pro 3.7.9 full scan : DONE => found 2 Chrome cookie only on the <whole computer/every hard drives, listed "not risky / ignore" but still erased them. rebooted... still the same popups :(

[crunchyfrog]

All I'lll add is that this commonly crops up on here, and it IS malware. Many wrongyl attribute it to Steam because Steam triggers it, but that's obviously not true.

I'd personally recommend downloading and running Malwarebytes Antimalware - that is pretty damned good at getting those little adware and other files that escape basic antivirus.

I'd also have a look at your browser's options pane - in Chrome, for example, the malware that does this you'll see under "extensions". If you then look under Windows control panel you can simply uninstall it from there.

But Malwarebytes Antimalware should do the trick in any case.

[JoPe]

"I already tried the last 3 days of solutions, so I went through all the anti-malware / spyware / possible AV:
Avast (nothing found), Spybot (nothing found), Malwarebyte (nothing found), Microsoft Defender (nothing found) .."

"Update : another one tried : SUPER Anti-Spyware - full scan - done => didn't find any single infection on the whole computer... so, it may prove that i'm very careful about that..."

"(and i've also 3 "real time protection" running on the background... and not any seems to react when a popup appears...)"

"Update : Hitman Pro 3.7.9 full scan : DONE => found 2 Chrome cookie only on the <whole computer/every hard drives, listed "not risky / ignore" but still erased them. rebooted... still the same popups :("

[JoPe]

windows control pannel / add/delete programs / checked, only legit ones
+ Chrome / IE (not used but checked in case of...) / Chromium / Extensions checked : not any single extension showed