Advertising Supported Software, let's call it by its more common name shall we; adware, is a type of software that is able to download or display online advertising on your computer or handheld device when you're connected to the Internet. These adverts come in an array of formats. Some of them are links, some are banners, some are traditional square boxes, and some are highly irritating pop-up or pop-under windows. Coolncheap uses web browser extensions to underline certain works on websites and make them active links. Ads usually show up when you hover those words. But this adware can also display banner and redirect you to web page filled with other forms of advertising.
As already covered, they are usually advertising a product or service that you've recently being contemplating splashing out on. Of course, ads sometimes can be completely random and unrelated. At first you might not even notice, when you do you might brush it off as a mere coincidence, but when it starts to happen time and time again, you come to realize that almost anything you've spent any amount of time looking at is now being displayed to you on subsequent websites that you visit in the form of advertising.
To understand this, it's helpful to know how and why Coolncheap is created. It is normally bundled with another software program, a game or a file download – usually a free one. Thus this adware is simply a way for the developer of that program or download website to recoup some of the cost of creating, and giving something away, for free.
Some people don't actually mind adware like Coolncheap, or at least they put up with it – after all, if you download a lot of freebies, then you may see adware purely as something that is a necessary evil if you want to enjoy free games, TV shows or software. However many other people see the methods that adware uses to show you targeted adverting as an invasion of their privacy. And that's all down to the way in which adware know what adverts to show you.
What is more, Coolncheap is designed to monitor your Internet usage. It looks at which websites you visit – in particular what you are looking at on those websites, logs that data and sends it back to the programmer. They are then able to show you custom adverts based on the data received.
Love it (surely nobody loves it?), hate it, or don't really mind it, one thing to remember is that this adware can leave your system vulnerable to abuse from more malicious software by weakening your security. Therefore, installing anti-malware software is strongly recommended.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment down below. Good luck and be safe online!
Written by Michael Kaur, http://delmalware.blogspot.com
Coolncheap Ads Removal Guide:
1. First of all, download anti-malware software and run a full system scan. It will detect and remove this infection from your computer. You may then follow the manual removal instructions below to remove the leftover traces of this malware. Hopefully you won't have to do that.
2. Remove Zombie News related programs from your computer using the Add/Remove Programs control panel (Windows XP) or Uninstall a program control panel (Windows 7 and Windows 8).
Go to the Start Menu. Select Control Panel → Add/Remove Programs.
If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, select Control Panel → Uninstall a Program.
If you are using Windows 8, simply drag your mouse pointer to the right edge of the screen, select Search from the list and search for "control panel".
Or you can right-click on a bottom left hot corner (formerly known as the Start button) and select Control panel from there.
3. When the Add/Remove Programs or the Uninstall a Program screen is displayed, scroll through the list of currently installed programs and remove the following:
- Coolncheap
- GoSave
- deals4me
- SaveNewaAppz
- and any other recently installed application
Simply select each application and click Remove. If you are using Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, click Uninstall up near the top of that window. When you're done, please close the Control Panel screen.
Remove Coolncheap related extensions from Google Chrome:
1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.
2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove Coolncheap, MediaPlayerV1, Gosave, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.
If the removal option is grayed out then read how to remove extensions installed by enterprise policy.
Remove Coolncheap related extensions from Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.
2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to remove Coolncheap, Gosave, MediaPlayerV1, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.
Remove Coolncheap related add-ons from Internet Explorer:
1. Open Internet Explorer. Go to Tools → Manage Add-ons. If you have the latest version, simply click on the Settings button.
2. Select Toolbars and Extensions. Click Remove/Disable button to remove the browser add-ons listed above.