Remove Cobalten.com Redirect (HIJACK.COBALTEN.COM)

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

A hijacker infiltrated your system. And, since it did so via slyness and finesse, you had no idea. The display of the Cobalten.com page is your clue. Consider it the infection’s way of revealing its presence to you. It’s its grand announcement. And, you best not ignore it, but heed it. To discard the website popping up, is a colossal mistake. Hijackers are atrocious cyber threats. They turn to trickery, and sneak in undetected. Then, once inside, wreak havoc throughout your PC, for as long as they remain. And, the longer they stay, the worse the issues you encounter, get. For example, at first you face persistent, and rather obnoxious, online interference. But, as time goes by, that inconvenience grows. You suffer through lagging and screen freezes. System crashes, and a slower PC performance. And, to top it all off, a security risk. That’s right. A security risk. You face a plethora of problems, when stuck with a hijacker. Do NOT stand idly by, and experience them! Do yourself a favor, and act against the nasty infection, the first chance you get. The sooner you get rid of it, the better. Its prompt removal ensures your privacy stays private. Heed experts’ advice, and don’t waste time. Find the exact hiding place of the hijacker, behind Cobalten.com. Then, delete it. Don’t delay! Delays have repercussions. There aren’t enough ways to stress that.

How did I get infected with?

Cobalten.com appears, because of the hijacker, using it as a front. The tool makes sure to force it on you, at every turn. But what about the program itself? How did it find a way into your system? How did you end up with a hijacker? Do you recall installing it? Well, odds are, you don’t. But you must have. Hijackers cannot access a PC, without the user’s consent. These applications must ask if you agree to install them, and proceed with the process, only if you do. No permission, no admission. It’s as simple as that. With that, in mind, do you remember the exchange? Again, the odds are not in your favor. But don’t beat yourself up too hard, though. Yes, there is an exchange. But it’s not as straightforward as you may imagine. Yes, the hijacker seeks your consent on its entry. But it does it in the sneakiest way possible. It turns to freeware, spam emails, fake updates. There’s a myriad of methods, it can turn to. Methods, which would ease its covert infiltration. Ultimately, its success is up to you. The infection needs your carelessness to succeed. It needs you to give into gullibility, and haste To rush, and skip doing due diligence. To agree to everything, in blind faith. Don’t. Don’t ease the infection’s invasion. Always take the time to be thorough. Choose caution over carelessness. One keeps threats out. The other invites them in. Choose wisely.

Why is this dangerous?

Cobalten.com becomes the bane of your browsing. The hijacker makes sure of it. It doesn’t miss an opportunity to force the page on you. You get redirected at every turn. Open a new tab? Cobalten.com is there to get you. Type a search? Cobalten.com appears among the suggested results. Cobalten.com is even in place of your preferred homepage and search engine. Did you agree to the switch? No. Did you know about its implementation? No. Yet, it’s fact. That’s what you can expect from the hijacker. It’s free to do as it wishes throughout your PC. It has free rein. For example, if it so chooses, it can install malware. Yes, it can approve the admission of countless malicious programs. Ans, how long do you think your system will lat, should that happen? How long until it cannot take it anymore, and chooses to give up? How long until it waves the blue flag? Yes, The Blue Screen of death is an actual possibility. Granted, it’s a rather minuscule one. But that doesn’t dismiss it. Minuscule is not the same as non-existent. So, as insignificant as the odds may be, are you prepared to take them? Or, would you prefer, to protect yourself from the dangers that the cyber menace presents? Make the right choice. Act against the malicious infection, as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Don’t take chances! The appearance of the Cobalten.com page is your sign of action. Heed it. Find where the hijacker lurks, and delete it. The sooner, the better.

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.