Have you become that your web-browser randomly displays cottonyqnurmxl.online, instead of the one you want to see? It’s a sign that you have an installed adware (also known as ‘ad-supported’ software) on your computer. The adware is a part of dangerous software that created to display a ton of unwanted advertisements. You need to perform the steps below as soon as possible. It will clear your personal computer from ‘ad-supported’ software that generates a large amount of ads in the internet browser and thereby remove the redirect to cottonyqnurmxl.online web-page.
The ad supported software usually affects only the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge by changing the browser’s settings or installing a dangerous extensions (addons). Moreover, possible situations, when any other web-browsers will be affected too. The ‘ad-supported’ software will perform a scan of the PC system for internet browser shortcuts and modify them without your permission. When it infects the web-browser shortcuts, it will add the argument like ‘http://site.address’ into Target property. So, each time you start the web-browser, you will see an annoying cottonyqnurmxl.online web-page.
The adware is not a virus, but the virus behaves similarly. As a rootkit hides in the system, modifies browser settings and blocks them from changing. Also the ad supported software can install additional web-browser extensions, addons and modules that will inject advertising banners within the Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Edge’s screen. Moreover, the ‘ad-supported’ software may install a browser hijacker that once started, will change the web-browser’s startpage and search engine. And finally, the ad supported software can collect a wide variety of personal information such as what web-sites you are opening, what you are looking for the Net and so on. This information, in the future, may be transferred to third parties.
So, obviously, you need to delete the adware ASAP. Use the free instructions below. This guide will help you clean your PC and thereby uninstall the cottonyqnurmxl.online unwanted pop-ups.
How does cottonyqnurmxl.online ads get installed onto PC
Disregarding the basic computer security practices such as no antivirus software installed, installation of unknown software and free applications which may be bundled with ad-supported software, as well as computer virus infection are the possible causes of a ton of advertisements within the screen of the Chrome, Firefox, IE and MS Edge. Moreover, random visits to an unknown and untrusted pages, when you click on the search results from Google (Yahoo, Bing) or links on the Internet, when the PC is not protected with a program that may block access to malicious sites, it can also lead to the fact that instead of your startpage, the browser will be redirected to cottonyqnurmxl.online or other advertising pages.
How to manually remove cottonyqnurmxl.online ads
This step-by-step guide will help you remove cottonyqnurmxl.online . These cottonyqnurmxl.online removal steps work for the Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge, as well as every version of Windows operating system. Some of the steps may require you to close the web-browser or reboot your computer. So, bookmark or print it for later reference.
- Remove suspicious and unknown software by using Windows Control Panel
- Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove cottonyqnurmxl.online redirect
- Remove cottonyqnurmxl.online popup ads from Chrome
- Remove cottonyqnurmxl.online ads from Firefox
- Remove cottonyqnurmxl.online pop-up ads from IE
- Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Remove suspicious and unknown software by using Windows Control Panel
We recommend that you begin the personal computer cleaning process by checking the list of installed programs and remove all unknown or suspicious software. This is a very important step, as mentioned above, very often the malicious applications such as adware and browser hijackers may be bundled with free programs. Uninstall the unwanted programs may uninstall the unwanted ads or browser redirect to unknown or unwanted sites.
Windows 8, 8.1, 10
Windows XP, Vista, 7
Next, click “Uninstall a program” It will display a list of all programs. Scroll through the all list, and remove any suspicious and unknown applications. To quickly find the latest installed programs, we recommend sort software by date of installation in the Control panel.
Disinfect the browser’s shortcuts to remove cottonyqnurmxl.online redirect
Now you need to clean up the browser shortcuts. Check that the shortcut referring to the right exe-file of the browser, and not on any unknown file. Right click to a desktop shortcut for your browser. Choose the “Properties” option.
It will open the Properties window. Select the “Shortcut” tab here, after that, look at the “Target” field. The adware can change it. If you are seeing something such as “…exe http://web.site.address” then you need to remove “http…” and leave only, depending on the browser you are using:
- Google Chrome: chrome.exe
- Opera: opera.exe
- Firefox: firefox.exe
- Internet Explorer: iexplore.exe
Look at the example on the screen below.
Once is finished, click the “OK” button to save the changes. Please repeat this step for internet browser shortcuts which redirects to an annoying web sites. When you have completed, go to next step.
Remove cottonyqnurmxl.online popup ads from Chrome
Reset Google Chrome settings is a simple way to delete the malicious and ad-supported extensions, as well as to restore the internet browser’s homepage and search engine by default that have been modified by ad-supported software.
- Open the Google Chrome, then click the Menu icon (icon in the form of three horizontal stripes).
- It will show the Chrome main menu. Click the “Settings” menu.
- Next, press the “Show advanced settings” link, that located at the bottom of the Settings page.
- Further, press the “Reset settings” button, that located at the bottom of the Advanced settings page.
- The Chrome will show the reset settings dialog box as on the image above.
- Confirm the web-browser’s reset by clicking on the “Reset” button.
- To learn more, look the blog post How to reset Chrome settings to default.
Remove cottonyqnurmxl.online ads from Firefox
First, launch the FF. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (). It will show the drop-down menu. Next, click the “Help” button ().
In the Help menu, press the “Troubleshooting Information”. In the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page, press “Refresh Firefox” button.
Confirm your action, click the “Refresh Firefox”.
Remove cottonyqnurmxl.online pop-up ads from IE
First, start the Internet Explorer, then press button. Next, click “Internet Options” like below.
In the “Internet Options” screen select the Advanced tab. Next, click the “Reset” button. The Microsoft Internet Explorer will display the “Reset Internet Explorer” settings prompt. Select the “Delete personal settings” check box and press Reset button.
You will now need to restart your system for the changes to take effect. It will restore the Internet Explorer’s settings like homepage and search engine by default to default state, disable ad-supported internet browser’s extensions and thereby remove the redirect to cottonyqnurmxl.online unwanted web site.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Once installed, the adware can add a task in to the Windows Task Scheduler Library. Due to this, every time when you start your computer, it will open cottonyqnurmxl.online unwanted page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and uninstall all tasks that have been created by ‘ad-supported’ software.
Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard together. It will open a prompt that titled with Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “Task Scheduler Library”, like below.
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be display just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Necessary to look at the text which is written under Details. Found something such as “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address” or “firefox.exe http://site.address”, then you need remove this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it’s a component of the ‘ad-supported’ software, then this task also should be removed.
Further click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as shown on the image below.
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by malicious software. Once is complete, close the Task Scheduler window.
How to remove cottonyqnurmxl.online redirect automatically
Manual removal is not always as effective as you might think. Often, even the most experienced users can not completely remove cottonyqnurmxl.online pop-up ads from the infected computer. This is because the adware can hide its components which are difficult for you to find out and uninstall completely. This may lead to the fact that after some time, the ad-supported software again infect your PC system and it will start to show unwanted cottonyqnurmxl.online advertisements. Moreover, I want to note that it is not always safe to delete ad-supported software manually, if you do not have much experience in setting up and configuring the PC system.
I suggest using the Malwarebytes Free which are completely clean your system. It is an advanced malware removal program developed by (c) Malwarebytes lab. This program uses the world’s most popular anti-malware technology. It’s able to help you remove browser hijackers, malware, adware, toolbars, ransomware and other security threats from your system for free.
Now, click the link below to download Malwarebytes Free on your computer. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.
326382 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
After downloading is finished, close all applications on your computer. Next, start the setup file named mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as shown below, click the Yes button.
It will open the “Setup wizard” that will help you install Malwarebytes on your system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is done successfully, click Finish button. Then Malwarebytes will automatically start and you can see its main screen as shown on the image below.
Now press the “Scan Now” button to start checking your computer for the adware that cause a redirect to cottonyqnurmxl.online. Once the adware or malware is found, the number of the detected objects will change accordingly. Wait until the the scanning is complete. Please be patient.
When it has finished scanning, you can check all threats detected on your computer. Make sure all entries have “checkmark” and click “Quarantine Selected” button. The Malwarebytes will start removing malware and ad-supported software which cause cottonyqnurmxl.online pop-up ads. Once disinfection is complete, you may be prompted to restart your PC.
I suggest you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the Malwarebytes program to remove adware and other malware.
Stop cottonyqnurmxl.online advertisements and other unwanted web pages
To increase your security and protect your system against new annoying ads and malicious web pages, you need to use program that stops access to dangerous advertisements and web-pages. Moreover, the program can block the show of intrusive advertising, which also leads to faster loading of web pages and reduce the consumption of web traffic.
Download AdGuard program from the following link.
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
After downloading is finished, run the file named adguardInstaller. You will see the “Setup Wizard” screen as shown on the screen below.
Follow the prompts. Once the install is complete, you will see a window as shown on the image below.
You can click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or press “Get Started” button to see an quick tutorial which will allow you get to know AdGuard better.
In most cases, the default settings are enough and you do not need to change anything. Each time, when you run your PC, AdGuard will launch automatically and block advertisements, web sites like cottonyqnurmxl.online, as well as other dangerous or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the AdGuard icon, which is located on your Windows desktop.
If the problem with cottonyqnurmxl.online redirect is still remained
If MalwareBytes Anti-malware cannot uninstall cottonyqnurmxl.online pop-up ads, then we suggests to use the AdwCleaner. AdwCleaner is a free removal tool for adware, browser hijackers, PUPs, toolbars.
- Download AdwCleaner using the link below. AdwCleaner download
225259 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
- Double click the AdwCleaner icon. Once the tool is started the main screen will appear as shown on the image above.
- Now, click the “Scan” button . This will begin scanning the whole PC system to find out ad-supported software which generates cottonyqnurmxl.online ads.
- Once the scan is complete, AdwCleaner will show a scan report. Review the report and then click “Clean” button. It will display a prompt, press “OK” button.
The following video explains the step-by-step guide above on how to uninstall ad supported software with AdwCleaner.
Finish words
After completing the steps above, your computer should be free from malware and adware. The Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge will no longer display cottonyqnurmxl.online annoying pop-ups or redirect you to unwanted web sites. Unfortunately, if the steps does not help you, then you have caught a new type of adware, and then the best way – ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.