OFFER*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Captcha Cool Now
Captcha Cool Now is a browser hijacker that can alter the settings of popular browsing apps without a user’s approval. Typically, Captcha Cool Now reroutes the user’s searches to sponsored URLs that contains pay-per-click ads.
If a browser hijacker named Captcha Cool Now has invaded your Chrome, Firefox, or Safari browser, we’re going to help you fix this issue in no time. Our article discusses the impact of such software on your system, as well as the methods you can use to safely remove it. So, if you’ve landed Captcha Cool Now without wanting it and have just found that the program has installed a new homepage or has replaced the default search engine with another one that is now redirecting you to various unwanted sites, stay with us. Below, we have prepared a comprehensive removal guide to help you locate and uninstall the browser hijacker safely and effectively. What is more, if you follow the instructions, all the changes that have been imposed on your browser without your approval will also get removed and you will be able to reset your previous settings.
The CaptchaCoolNow Virus
To most users, the presence of the CaptchaCoolNow virus in their system usually comes as a total surprise. Most of the time, they’re not even sure what the CaptchaCoolNow virus is and typically assume that they are faced with a virus.
Fortunately, this is not the case because the browser hijackers are essentially legitimate programs that function as online advertising tools. They are used to promote different products, services, and websites by displaying related ads, banners, pop-ups, and redirect links that lead to the promoted pages. Programs like Captcha Cool Now and Your Captcha Now are very lucrative advertising tools as they are able to make money based on the number of clicks the generated ads get. This simple fact should explain the intrusiveness of the pop-ups, banners, box messages, pop-under, and redirect links you are constantly getting bombarded with – all of them are part of the remuneration scheme which is known under the name of Pay-Per-Click. In addition to their big numbers, the sponsored ads are typically deliberately placed all over the screen and especially on top of the navigation buttons so that they cannot be avoided or ignored by the users. Of course, this is in the best interest of the hijackers’ developers who hope to land more clicks.
Clicking on all sorts of web ads that randomly get displayed on your web browser, however, may hide some security risks. Criminals may sometimes infect such random ads with real viruses, including Ransomware and Trojans, and may distribute them along with the regular ads that every browser hijacker may display. This is known as malvertising and is an increasingly popular method of distribution for all sorts of computer threats. If you click on one of these malvertisements by mistake, you may either get redirected to an infected website, or you may end up directly downloading the malware. And the chances are you may not even know it until any major damage is done to your system. That’s why we must highlight the importance of avoiding any close interaction with all types of advertisements you see online while you still have the hijacker since the safety of your computer is not worth risking. Besides, uninstalling malware from the ranks of Ransomware or Trojans is far more complex than staying away from the ads and their source. Removing a hijacker, on the other hand, isn’t that difficult, especially if you use our removal instructions present below.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Captcha Cool Now |
| Type | Browser Hijacker |
| Detection Tool |
We tested that SpyHunter successfully removes parasite* and we recommend downloading it. Manual removal may take hours, it can harm your system if you re not careful, and parasite may reinstall itself at the end if you don't delete its core files. |
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Remove Captcha Cool Now virus
It may take a lot of time and effort to successfully remove a browser hijacker like Captcha Cool Now from the system. Some users, however, may be able to save themselves that time and effort with the help of the quick instructions below:
- Open the hijacked browser, click on its main menu icon, and from the options that are available, select More Tools (or Add-ons).
- Once you do that, you should be able to see the Extensions tab on the left. Select it.
- Then, search for extensions that are clearly related to Captcha Cool Now, as well as other extensions you believe could be part of the hijacking problem, and remove them all. No extension is essential for the normal operation of your OS.
- Do a browser restart after you remove the potentially unwanted extensions to see if there are any signs of browser hijacking.
If the instructions above solve the issue, then you may not need to do anything else. If Captcha Cool Now is still disturbing you with nagging pop-ups and auto redirects after you complete the instructions, though, you will need to use the more detailed Captcha Cool Now removal steps in the guide that you can find below.
The successful removal of Captcha Cool Now requires some basic preparation. That’s why in this first step we will ask you to first, Bookmark this page with removal instructions (so you can get back to it quickly) and then Reboot the system in Safe Mode by carefully repeating the steps from the link. After the computer reboots, get back to this page that you have bookmarked and continue with the next steps.
WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Start the Windows Task Manager by pressing together CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys from the keyboard.
Click on the Processes Tab (the “Details” Tab on Win 8 and 10) and try to figure out which of the listed precesse sthere don’t look legitimate and could be operated by Captcha Cool Now.
Right-click on the process that you think is linked to the problematic browser hijacker and select Open File Location. Next, scan the files stored in that location with the free online virus scanner below. The results from the scan will give you information if the files and the process related to them have a dangerous code and needs to be stopped.
If danger is detected, end the process that is linked to the flagged files and delete their folders from the File Location.
Launch a Run box on the screen by pressing together the Start and R keys from the keyboard.
Type appwiz.cpl in the Run box and click OK.
A Control Panel window will appear on the screen that will show you a list of all apps that are presently installed on the computer.
Search for apps that have been recently installed somewhere near the time Captcha Cool Now appeared on the system, or apps that you suspect could have introduced the hijacked and as soon as you find any, uninstall them.
Next, open the System Configuration by typing msconfig in the windows search field and clicking OK.
Quickly click on the Startup tab at the top of the window and remove the checkmark from any Startup Items that you are sure are related to Captcha Cool Now. This will disable them. Once you are done with that, click OK to save the changes.
*Source of claim SH can remove it.
Open a new Run window with the Start and R key combination. Then, copy and paste this in the text field of the Run box:
notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts
Click OK to run the command.
The Hosts file will immediately open on the screen. Under the Localhost section of the file, check for IP addresses that look questionable or suspicious. To get a visual idea of what might not be quite right, see the image below:
If anything suspicious grabs your attention under “Localhost“, write to us in the comments with a copy of the questionable IPs. Once we take a look at them, we will tell you if they represent a danger or not.
Next, head to Network Connections from the Start menu and follow the instructions below to remove any changes that Captcha Cool Now might have made to the DNS settings.
- Right-click on your main Network Adapter and select Properties.
- Scroll until you find Internet Protocol Version 4 (ICP/IP) and select it. Then click on Properties at the bottom.
- Select the Obtain DNS server automatically option and after that, click on Advanced.
- Next, in the Advanced window, click on the DNS tab and remove any rogue DNS that you find in the field.
- Before you close the window, make sure you click OK to ave the changes.
Browser hijackers like Captcha Cool Now may reappear if not removed correctly from all system locations and all browsers. That’s why with the instructions below we will explain to you how to remove Captcha Cool Now from all major browsers that you might have installed on your computer. If you are using another browser that is not explained, know that the instructions shouldn’t be very different, thus, if you use simple logic, you will be able to successfully apply them there too.
Do a Right-click on the browser’s shortcut icond and select Properties from the options that appear.
Next, in Properties, select the Shortcut tab from the top and go to Target.
Check if anything has been added after .exe and if it is, remove it, then click OK.
Remove Captcha Cool Now from Internet Explorer:
The browser-specific instructions for Internet Explorer go as follows:
- Open Internet Explorer, head to the top right and click
- Next, select Manage Add-ons.
- Search for add-ons or extensions related to Captcha Cool Now and if you detect any, Disable them.
- After that, go to and select Internet Options. In case that you notice that Captcha Cool Now has hijacked your homepage, change the homepage URL with another one of your choice and click on Apply.
Remove Captcha Cool Now from Firefox:
The browser-specific instructions for Firefox aren’t very different by have their specifics:
- Open Firefox, head to the top right corner, and click
- Then, select Add-ons, and then click on the Extensions tab on the left.
- Similar to what you did in IE, remove any extensions that seem to be problematic or potentially unwanted from the list.
Remove Captcha Cool Now from Chrome:
Close Google Chrome and go here:
C:/Users/!!!!USER NAME!!!!/AppData/Local/Google/Chrome/User Data.
A folder called “Default” should be found there. Select it.
Rename the selected folder to Backup Default and once you are done with that, restart Chrome to see if the browser hijacking problem has been resolved.
One last but very important step before you close this removal guide is to search the Registry Editor for Captcha Cool Now-related entries and remove them, if they are any.
To open the Registry Editor, type Regedit in the windows search field and press Enter.
Next, press CTRL and F keyboard keys together to open a Find window inside the Registry Editor.
Type the browser hijacker’s Name in the Find window and click on Find Next.
Right-click on every result that is found with that or a similar name and delete it. Don’t hesitate to repeat the search until no more results with the browser hijacker’s name are found in the Registry.
To ensure that Captcha Cool Now is removed completely, it is a good idea to manually search each of the directories listed below for suspicious or hijacker-related entries and delete/uninstall anything that you strongly believe is part of the problem:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—–Random Directory.
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—-Windows—CurrentVersion—Run– Random
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER—-Software—Microsoft—Internet Explorer—-Main—- Random
In case you can’t decern what needs to be deleted, or you simply want to fix the Captcha Cool Now issue as quick as possible, know that the professional removal tool listed on this page will save you tons of time and effort, as well as help you avoid the risk of deleting something important that may affect the stability and the performance of your system.
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