How to Remove Kotcatk.com Virus

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

The Kotcatk.com website is a questionable search platform. If it has replaced your preferable homepage without your explicit approval, you have a reason to worry. This website is also the face of a nasty browser hijacker. The furtive parasite enters your computer unnoticed and infects all installed browsers. Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox. Microsoft Edge. There is no immune browser. The hijacker adds its malicious extension to them and wreaks havoc. This parasite is programmed to generate revenue via pay-per-click scheme. It injects various advertisements on every website you open. But don’t imagine an ad or two. The Kotcatk.com hijacker covers your screen with advertisements. Pop-ups, pop-unders, banners, hyperlinks, in-text ads. You name it. To top it all off, the hijacker can also redirect your browser to sponsored websites. You will hate the experience. Websites that used to be ad-free are now heavy on coupons and discounts. Your browser will struggle to display the numerous ads correctly. It might start to freeze and crash frequently. The hijacker will force you to reboot your system repeatedly. But a simple computer restart won’t fix your problem. To restore your preferred browser settings, you must remove the hijacker. Luckily, we can help. We have prepared a manual removal guide below this article. You can also download a trustworthy anti-malware program. You have options. Choose your removal method and act. The sooner you clean your computer, the better!

How did I get infected with?

The Kotcatk.com hijacker did not materialize out of thin air. It was you the one who allowed its installation. Not intentionally, of course. The Kotcatk.com hijacker uses a lot of trickery to steal your permission. It usually hitches a ride with other software. Freeware and shareware often become hosts of such parasites. When you start the installation wizard of a free program, opt for the Advanced option. Software developers often attach extra programs to the payload files of their apps. Under the Advanced Setup, you will be presented with a list of all extras that are about to be installed. Examine the list carefully. These third-party apps, more often than not, are malicious. Deselect all suspicious apps. Bear in mind that you can deselect all extras and still install the program you originally planned to set up. This is your computer. You decide what to be installed on it. Don’t let others make this decision for you. Other malware distribution methods you should keep an eye out for are the good old spam emails, torrents, and fake software updates. Only your caution can prevent these methods from succeeding. So, don’t be lazy. Always do your due diligence!

Why is this dangerous?

The Kotcatk.com hijacker is extremely annoying. It has modified your browser settings and prevents you from restoring your preferences. On top of that, it bombards you with numerous advertisements. Your PC seems to be slower than usual. No, you are not imagining these issues. The hijacker is causing your device to underperform. Unfortunately, as irritating as these issues are, they are not your biggest problem. The nasty hijacker does something much darker behind your back. This pest is actually spying on you. It monitors your browsing-related data and uses the information to target you with customized marketing campaigns. Thus, if you enter “sneakers” into a search engine, the hijacker will display adverts for sports shoes. It sounds good, but the displayed ads are not to be trusted. The Kotcatk.com utility has no security mechanism. All sorts of crooks use it to spread misleading content. If an offer looks too good to be true, it probably isn’t. The crooks know what you like and use this information against you. They use the hijacker to redirect their potential victims to numerous online scams. With the Kotcatk.com hijacker on board, you are far more likely to be redirected to a bogus website than to a legitimate one. The crooks target your wallet. They will do anything to get your money. Protect yourself! Remove the nasty hijacker as soon as possible!

How to Remove Kotcatk.com virus

The Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.com related processes in the computer memory

STEP 2: Locate Kotcatk.com startup location

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

STEP 4: Undo the damage done by the virus

STEP 1: Track down Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.com traces from Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer

• Open Google Chrome

• In the Main Menu, select Tools then Extensions
• Remove the Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.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 Kotcatk.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.