How to Remove Cobalten.com Pop-ups

Can’t Remove Cobalten.com hijacker virus? This page includes detailed Cobalten.com Removal instructions!

Cobalten.com is a malicious website that’s trouble. To see it, is bad news. That’s because, the page’s display indicates that there’s an infection on your computer. One that belongs to the hijacker family. Acknowledge the website as the cyber threat’s way of announcing itself. It’s its grand reveal. Heed its warning, and take immediate action. Hijackers are dangerous and damaging. So, the sooner you get rid of it, the more issues you’ll avoid. These types of threats are not to be underestimated. They bombard you with grievances, on a daily basis. You face incessant online interference. Lagging and frequent crashes become a part of your routine. Your system’s performance deteriorates. Do yourself a favor, and remove the hijacker as soon as you can. That way, you’ll avoid a plethora of problems. As well as, earn the gratitude of your future self. Do what’s best, and heed the warning that is Cobalten.com.

How did I get infected with?

The tool, behind Cobalten.com, tricks you. It fools you into installing it, while keeping you oblivious. That’s right. The hijacker manages to sneak into your PC undetected. Despite having to ask for your consent. It may seem confusing, so let’s explain. No hijacker can enter a PC without the user’s permission. The tool has to ask whether you, the user, agree to allow it in. Only if you do, can it continue with installation. That’s why, hijackers do their best to be covert, and trick you. They prey on your carelessness, and use the old but gold invasive methods. They have their pick of tricks. Hijackers can hide behind corrupted links, sites, or torrents. Or, freeware and spam emails. And, they can even pose as bogus updates, like Java or Adobe Flash Player. Neither method can prove successful, unless you provide carelessness. The tool’s sneaky infiltration rests on your distraction, haste, and gullibility. So, make sure not to provide them! Do the opposite. Always be thorough, and do your due diligence. Read terms and conditions, look for the fine print, and double-check everything. Even a little extra attention can save you a ton of issues. Don’t forget that. Choose caution over the lack thereof. One helps to keep an infection-free PC. And, the other leads to your screen getting flooded with Cobalten.com.

Why is this dangerous?

Hijackers make for terrible companions. The one, using Cobalten.com as a front, is no exception. As soon as it settles on your system, you suffer the consequences of its stay. Every move you make, the hijacker intrudes. Open a new tab? You get redirected to Cobalten.com. Type a search? Cobalten.com appears among the results. And, all the while, you get flooded with ads ‘Powered by Cobalten.com.‘ These incessant disruptions don’t go without consequences. Your computer’s performance slows down to a crawl. And, your system crashes all the time. But these are only the minor inconveniences you face. There are worse ones. For one, the hijacker has free rein on your PC. It’s free to force a variety of reshuffles on you. And, all, without bothering to clue you in, or seek your consent. Let that sink in. It means that, if the tool decides to, it can fill your system to the brim with malware. And, how long do you think your PC will last should that happen? Do yourself a favor, and don’t wait around to find out. Get rid of the nasty threat the first chance you get. That way, you’ll also avoid the worst part of having a hijacker on board. You’ll ensure your privacy stays private. That’s right. The absolute worst issue, courtesy of the hijacker, concerns your privacy. The infection has instructions to monitor your every online move, and record it. Then, once it gets a hold of enough data, to send it. The hijacker steals information from you, and then exposes it. To whom? Well, to the cyber criminals that published it. Don’t allow that. Don’t let strangers with agendas get access to your sensitive details.

How to Remove Cobalten.com virus

The Cobalten.com infection is specifically designed to make money to its creators one way or another. The specialists from various antivirus companies like Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Norton, Avast, ESET, etc. advise that there is no harmless virus.

If you perform exactly the steps below you should be able to remove the Cobalten.com infection. Please, follow the procedures in the exact order. Please, consider to print this guide or have another computer at your disposal. You will NOT need any USB sticks or CDs.

STEP 1: Track down Cobalten.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Cobalten.com startup location

STEP 3: Delete Cobalten.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Cobalten.com related processes in the computer memory

• Open your Task Manager by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+ESC keys simultaneously
• Carefully review all processes and stop the suspicious ones.

• Write down the file location for later reference.

Step 2: Locate Cobalten.com startup location

Reveal Hidden Files

• Open any folder
• Click on “Organize” button
  
• Choose “Folder and Search Options”
• Select the “View” tab
• Select “Show hidden files and folders” option
• Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files”
• Click “Apply” and “OK” button

Clean Cobalten.com virus from the windows registry

• Once the operating system loads press simultaneously the Windows Logo Button and the R key.

• A dialog box should open. Type “Regedit”

• WARNING! be very careful when editing the Microsoft Windows Registry as this may render the system broken.

Depending on your OS (x86 or x64) navigate to:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run] or
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

• and delete the display Name: [RANDOM]

• Then open your explorer and navigate to: %appdata% folder and delete the malicious executable.

Clean your HOSTS file to avoid unwanted browser redirection

Navigate to %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/host

If you are hacked, there will be foreign IPs addresses connected to you at the bottom. Take a look below:

STEP 3 : Clean Cobalten.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Cobalten.com by clicking on the little recycle bin
• Reset Google Chrome by Deleting the current user to make sure nothing is left behind

• Open Mozilla Firefox

• Press simultaneously Ctrl+Shift+A
• Disable the unwanted Extension
• Go to Help
• Then Troubleshoot information
• Click on Reset Firefox

• Open Internet Explorer

• On the Upper Right Corner Click on the Gear Icon
• Click on Internet options
• go to Toolbars and Extensions and disable the unknown extensions
• Select the Advanced tab and click on Reset

• Restart Internet Explorer

Step 4: Undo the damage done by Cobalten.com

This particular Virus may alter your DNS settings.

Attention! this can break your internet connection. Before you change your DNS settings to use Google Public DNS for Cobalten.com, be sure to write down the current server addresses on a piece of paper.

To fix the damage done by the virus you need to do the following.

• Click the Windows Start button to open the Start Menu, type control panel in the search box and select Control Panel in the results displayed above.
• go to Network and Internet
• then Network and Sharing Center
• then Change Adapter Settings
• Right-click on your active internet connection and click properties. Under the Networking tab, find Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4). Left click on it and then click on properties. Both options should be automatic! By default it should be set to “Obtain an IP address automatically” and the second one to “Obtain DNS server address automatically!” If they are not just change them, however if you are part of a domain network you should contact your Domain Administrator to set these settings, otherwise the internet connection will break!!!

You must clean all your browser shortcuts as well. To do that you need to

• Right click on the shortcut of your favorite browser and then select properties.

• in the target field remove Cobalten.com argument and then apply the changes.
• Repeat that with the shortcuts of your other browsers.
• Check your scheduled tasks to make sure the virus will not download itself again.

How to Permanently Remove Cobalten.com Virus (automatic) Removal Guide

Please, have in mind that once you are infected with a single virus, it compromises your whole system or network and let all doors wide open for many other infections. To make sure manual removal is successful, we recommend to use a free scanner of any professional antimalware program to identify possible registry leftovers or temporary files.