Read this article to learn how to detect The Coupon PUP and remove it completely from your computer.
Applications like The Coupon cause redirects, display advertisements and may collect information via third-party sites they advertise. Sine some of those third-party websites may even be malicious, it is strongly recommended to remove Shop Time from your computer completely.
What Types of Adware are There?
Usually most hackers who are behind suspicious adware programs, like The Coupon Adware aim to make it as difficult as possible to remove their program. But they often give away it’s name by stating it in the pop-ups displayed, for example “Ads by The Coupon” on one of the sides of the pop-up or banner or if you drag your mouse over the advertisement.
Another way by which you may detect if you are about to have adware on your computer is to catch it while being installed. Adware programs like _ are usually being spread via third-party programs. The third-party software’s installers can be with included programs that are advertised as free bonus software or other seemingly useful code. However, the The Coupon Adware can present a potential harm to your computer and this is why experts often recommend to remove programs like it immediately.
How Does The Coupon Work
The Coupon was created by developers who also are a brand of the some of the most famous PUA(Potentially Unwanted Application) maker groups. The ad-supported character of this software makes it to often be categorized by users as adware, which is not far from the truth. However, because the application is not malicious and is also classified as a low-level type of threat many antivirus programs tend to skip it.If it is active on your computer, some of the signs to notice it are:
- Seeing “Ads by The Coupon” or “A The Coupon Ad” or any similarly caption advertisements showing as pop-ups, banners, etc.
- Noticing phishing web pages or browser redirects to third-party search engines, besides the original one used by default on your web browser.
- Sluggish performance of your computer.
In addition to this general activity of The Coupon, the add-supported program may also perform multiple different types of advertisements that link to various third-party websites. And this is not good, because those programs may collect certain specific information from your computer using:
- Pixels.
- Flash cookies.
- Tags.
- Web cookies.
- Others.
Such technology can be used to obtain your:
- IP address.
- Search history.
- Mouse clicking history.
- Tracking of your search history.
- Browser history.
This data may then be used to display targeted advertisements or for other purposes that have nothing to do with your interest. Some third-party websites which may be linked either via The Coupon or it’s advertised entities, may redirect you to a malicious web link that may prompt you to download a fake installer or a malicious web link. Such malicious objects can even infect your computer with different malware:
- Ransomware.
- Worms.
- Trojans.
- DDoS software./span>
- BitCoin miners.
- Banking malware.
- Keyloggers.
What Does The Coupon Adware Do on My Computer?
Adware or ad-supported software is a category of programs which are created to show different types of advertised content on your computer system. This content includes displaying pop-ups, redirecting tabs from your web browser to web pages that are unfamiliar and may cause your PC harm.
Other side effects of having adware programs such as The Coupon on your computer is that the software begins to collect your data without your approval. Usually most adware programs do not notify that they collect data and these software are often deemed to be malicious.
How Bad Does The Coupon Adware Affect You?
Besides it’s primary goal – do show you various types of adverts and collect your information, _ adware does not aim to show you that it’s there. There may usually be several signs that the program is installed on your computer and these signs may be the:
- Name of the program on the displayed advertisements.
- The Coupon installed as a suspicious browser extension, that pretends to be legitimate.
- If it is situated on your Windows Programs and Features.
Since detection of the The Coupon Adware program can be a tricky process, because most of the files it creates are concealed in different Windows locations, removal of it may be a tricky process. You can try to locate it’s suspicious web browser extensions on your Chrome, Firefox, Explorer or other browser and you can try to uninstall it from the Programs and Features menu in Windows. However, this does not guarantee that the program won’t be back after this, like it usually happens with such software. This is the main reason why an adware-specific removal program should be used to scan for and delete all of the objects related to The Coupon Adware from your computer system.
Eliminate The Coupon‘s Harmful Registries
For most Windows variants:
1) Hold Windows Button and R.
2) In the “Run” box type “Regedit” and hit “Enter”.
3) Hold CTRL+F keys and type The Coupon or the file name of the malicious executable of the virus which is usually located in %AppData%, %Temp%, %Local%, %Roaming% or %SystemDrive%.
4) After having located malicious registry objects, some of which are usually in the Run and RunOnce subkeys delete them ermanently and restart your computer. Here is how to find and delete keys for different versions.
For Windows 7: Open the Start Menu and in the search type and type regedit –> Open it. –> Hold CTRL + F buttons –> Type The Coupon Virus in the search field.
Win 8/10 users: Start Button –> Choose Run –> type regedit –> Hit Enter -> Press CTRL + F buttons. Type The Coupon in the search field.