Wednesday, December 24, 2014

How to Remove Cdn.downloadcoast.com Browser Hijacker?

Hi there. So, I found out yesterday that my laptop has been infected with the Cdn.downloadcoast.com pop-up ‘virus’ and I’ve been spending my morning searching all around to get answers of how to get rid of it. I’ve tried scanning the computer with Malwarebytes and AVG but the pop up is still there after I removed some threats detected. I searched the web and it said this hijacker should be removed manually. So, I tried going into Task Manager to delete it from there. But strangely I cannot find anything related to this program. Is there another way I can do myself? I really need this annoying thing gone. Please help.

Cdn.downloadcoast.com Pop-up Ads Description:

Cdn.downloadcoast.com pop up is usually displayed by adware or potentially unwanted programs that get on your computer as an extension/ add-on and then attach onto the target browser like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer without your knowledge. If you keep getting a new tab or a new window from this page opened itself whenever you are browsing online, it is likely that your computer is already infected. People will find it annoying and disturbing because this unwanted pop-up can come in all kinds of forms such as pop-up, pop-under, in-text, banner and contextual advertisements. Moreover, new tab and window can be opened on your web browser without your approval as well. The pop up offers fake messages and completely interrupts your browsing activities that should be deleted as soon as possible.

Once installed and executed, Cdn.downloadcoast.com pop up can help modify your browser settings and add unwanted toolbar to your browser, therefore you will find your homepage has been changed to a site that you’ve never seen before. Also it can change your proxy settings to block your Internet access. During your browsing session, it always gives you constant pop-ups about various deals, coupons and commercial offers that won’t let you stop. The most irritating feature of this pop up is that it will keep redirecting you to various harmful websites against your will. If you try to search something from Google, Bing or other search page as your preferred, you will be redirected to other sponsored pages filled with endless ads. In a word, adware can cause an immense problem to the functioning of a computer system so you have to get rid of Cdn.downloadcoast.com ads without any delay.

How Do You Know Your Browser Is Hijacked?

If you open your browser window (includes IE, Firefox, Safari and Google Chrome etc.) and notice immediately that your home page has been changed to a page you do not recognize, then your browser may have been hijacked by adware. For this type of adware, it can keep giving you Cdn.downloadcoast.com pop-up ads. Other malicious activities can be shown on your computer after hijacked are listed below:
1. It can not only change your web pages, but also alter other settings to add toolbars, pop-up advertisements, and bookmarks that you did not create.
2. It can modify the homepage settings of your web browser, more commonly by reducing your internet security options. And the worse thing is it prevents you from changing them back.
3. New toolbars or Favorites are installed that give you icons and links to web pages that you don’t want.
4. It may block you from visiting certain website you’d like to visit and show an error page instead.
5. It will display constant pop-up ads, sometimes in such large amounts that you are not able to close neither the ads nor the browser.

Cdn.downloadcoast.com Browser Hijacker Manual Removal Guides:

Cdn.downloadcoast.com pop up hijacks your browser to redirect your web search results and changes the homepage and browser settings. To completely uninstall it from an infected system, manual removal is the first choice because sometimes antivirus software cannot pick up the exact computer threat timely or remove it permanently. Now most browser hijackers are quite similar to spyware and adware threats and therefore cannot be removed with the help of popular antivirus products. Users can follow the manual guide here to get rid of this browser hijacker completely.

1. Clear all the cookies of your affected browsers.

Since this tricky hijacker virus has the ability to use cookies for tracing and tracking the internet activity of users, it is suggested users delete all the cookies before a complete removal.

Google Chrome:

Click on the “Tools” menu and click the “Clear browsing data” button.
Select “Delete cookies and other site data” to delete all cookies from the list.

clear browser data

Internet Explorer:
Open Internet explorer window
Click the “Tools” button
Point to “safety” and then click “delete browsing history”
Tick the “cookies” box, then click “delete”

delete browsing history

Mozilla Firefox:

Click on Tools, then Options, select Privacy
Click “Remove individual cookies”
In the Cookies panel, click on “Show Cookies”
To remove a single cookie click on the entry in the list and click on the “Remove Cookie”
To remove all cookies click on the “Remove All Cookies” button

Remove All Cookie

2. End the malicious process from Task Manager.

Once Cdn.downloadcoast.com adware is installed, computer user may notice that CPU usage randomly jumps to 100 percent. At any time Windows always has many running processes. A process is an individual task that the computer runs. In general, the more processes, the more work the computer has to do and the slower it will run. If your system’s CPU spike is constant and remain at a constant 90-95%, users should check from Task Manager and see if there is a suspicious process occupying the system resources and then end it immediately.

(The name of the virus process can be random.)

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to quickly bring up Task Manager Window:

task manager

3. Show hidden files and folders.

Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.

Click the View tab.

Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click OK.

show-hidden-files

4. Remove all the malicious files related to Cdn.downloadcoast.com ads hijacker manually.

%AppData%Local[random].exe
C:\Documents and Settings\LocalService\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\*.exe

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main StartPage
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Cdn.downloadcoast.com pop-up works as browser add-on that can be added to all most popular web browsers, such as Safari, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer. It is extremely annoying because it automatically loads each time you open your web browser. Once inside, it will display various advertisements, such as pop-up, pop-under, in-text, contextual or banner advertisements. This pop up is designed by cyber-criminals who intent to make money by forcing users to visit malicious ads sites to further rip off unsuspecting victims and steal their sensitive personal information. It usually comes bundled with legitimate freeware programs as an additional add-on or plug-in downloaded from the Internet. Therefore, you should be really careful during the installation of freebies. Don’t skip any steps and always opt out for a custom or advanced install mode.

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