And just like a nip from one of our four legged friends, these PUPs can be just as nasty. "Wait a moment!" I hear you say, what on earth are you talking about? I'm talking about Potentially Unwanted Programs – most commonly shortened to PUPs. A type of computer software program which sneaks its way on to your computer or laptop then displays a number of extremely irritating characteristics like never ending Unisales adverts.
Some Potentially Unwanted Programs are already loaded on your new computer when you buy it however the majority of them are installed when you download some software – usually free software. The Unisales will come as a bundle with the program that you are installing - and it takes some keen powers of observation to spot it and stop it in its tracks.
It really doesn't matter how reputable the software you are downloading is; like you, it too can be an unwitting victim of a Potentially Unwanted Program like Unisales.
So that's our first problem right there. We all download software on a regular basis – some of us more often than others, but all of us leaving ourselves open to risk whenever we do so. Therefore you need to know what to look out for – even if you do trust the publishers or website you are downloading from.
One important thing to do is to add an extra line of defense to your operating system by making sure you have the most up to date security patches from Microsoft installed on your PC as these offer very good protection against malware that has been installed in a 'drive by' installation.
Of course ensuring that your anti-virus and anti-malware software is current and running efficiently is also crucial. Having a really good anti-virus is important however, as many PUPs don't get picked up by lower end security software thanks to the Unisales's ability to create a desktop shortcut that fools some anti-viruses into thinking that you downloaded it yourself.
Don't forget, too, to ensure that any other software programs that you have installed on your computer are up to date as this will help plug any vulnerabilities.
One other vital thing you really need to do is to read the wording in End User License Agreements carefully when you're downloading software as the Unisales will normally be mentioned here. You may need to check or uncheck boxes that have been checked/unchecked in favor of the PUP so do watch for that too.
The good news is that most Potentially Unwanted Programs are fairly easy to remove and you can do this quickly and simply through the Windows 'remove' or 'uninstall' functions. However, Unisales is a bit more aggressive and it may be quite difficult to if from your computer completely. It re-installs bogus extensions and it hides its presence of the system to avoid removal. To remove this malware from your computer, please follow the steps in the removal guide below.
If you have any questions, please leave a comment down below. Good luck – and try not to get bitten!
Written by Michael Kaur, http://delmalware.blogspot.com
Unisales 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 Unisales 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:
- Unisales
- Coupon Clicker
- 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 Unisales related extensions from Google Chrome:
1. Click on Chrome menu button. Go to Tools → Extensions.
2. Click on the trashcan icon to remove Unisaales 2.0, Coupon Clicker, 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 Unisales related extensions from Mozilla Firefox:
1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Go to Tools → Add-ons.
2. Select Extensions. Click Remove button to remove Unisaales 2.0, Coupon Clicker, HD-Plus 3.5 and other extensions that you do not recognize.
Remove Unisales 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.