Coolasearch.com Redirect (Mac)

What is coolasearch.com?

Identical to chumsearch.com, coolasearch.com is a fake Internet search engine that falsely claims to enhance the web browsing experience by generating improved results.

These claims often trick users into believing that coolasearch.com is legitimate and useful, however, developers promote this site by employing rogue download/installation set-ups that hijack web browsers and stealthily modify various options. Furthermore, coolasearch.com continually records various information relating to users' Internet browsing activity.

Rogue set-ups target Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. Following infiltration, set-ups assign the new tab URL, default search engine, and homepage options to coolasearch.com. Third party applications/browser plug-ins called "helper objects" are then stealthily installed.

These apps and add-ons automatically reassign web browser settings when attempts are made to change them. Therefore, users are unable to return browsers to their previous states and continually encounter unwanted redirects to coolasearch.com. This significantly diminishes the web browsing experience. Another downside is information tracking.

Helper objects and coolasearch.com continually record various data that might be personally identifiable including IP addresses, URLs visited, pages viewed, and other similar information that is shared with third parties (potentially, cyber criminals) who misuse private details to generate revenue.

Therefore, information tracking can lead to serious privacy issues or even identity theft. If you encounter unwanted redirects to coolasearch.com, uninstall all suspicious apps/browser plug-ins and never visit this rogue site again.

Research shows that coolasearch.com has very similar characteristics to hundreds of other fake search engines, such as search.logicwhatever.com, search.mysafesearch.net, obifind.com, and blasearch.com. 

As with coolasearch.com, these websites also falsely claim to generate improved search results, however, the only purpose of fake search engines is to generate revenue for the developers, whilst regular users receive no value. Fake search engines cause unwanted redirects and collect private information.

Some even generate results leading to malicious websites. Therefore, using them can result in high-risk computer infections.

How did coolasearch.com install on my computer?

To promote coolasearch.com, developers employ a deceptive marketing method called "bundling" and hide details of browser modifications within the "Custom" or "Advanced" options of the download/installation processes. Rushing these procedures and skipping steps inadvertently grants set-ups permission to modify various browser settings. Furthermore, they expose their systems to risk of various infections and compromise their privacy.

How to avoid installation of potentially unwanted applications?

There are two simple steps you should take to prevent this situation. Firstly, never rush when downloading and installing software - select the "Custom/Advanced" settings and closely analyze each step. Secondly, decline offers to download/install additional applications and never allow set-ups modify settings irrelevant to the installation.

coolasearch.com website "About" page:

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Quick menu:

• What is coolasearch.com?
• STEP 1. Remove coolasearch.com related files and folders from OSX.
• STEP 2. Remove coolasearch.com redirect from Safari.
• STEP 3. Remove coolasearch.com browser hijacker from Google Chrome.
• STEP 4. Remove coolasearch.com homepage and default search engine from Mozilla Firefox.

Video showing how to remove adware and browser hijackers from a Mac computer:

coolasearch.com redirect removal:

Remove coolasearch.com-related potentially unwanted applications from your "Applications" folder:

Click the Finder icon. In the Finder window, select “Applications”. In the applications folder, look for “MPlayerX”,“NicePlayer”, or other suspicious applications and drag them to the Trash. After removing the potentially unwanted application(s) that cause online ads, scan your Mac for any remaining unwanted components.

Remove browser hijacker-related files and folders

Click the Finder icon from the menu bar. Choose Go, and click Go to Folder...

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: /Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/Application Support/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/Application Support/

In the "Application Support" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious folders. For example, "MplayerX" or "NicePlayer", and move these folders to the Trash.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the ~/Library/LaunchAgents/ folder:

In the Go to Folder... bar, type: ~/Library/LaunchAgents/

In the "LaunchAgents" folder, look for any recently-added suspicious files and move them to the Trash. Examples of files generated by browser hijackers - "installmac.AppRemoval.plist", "myppes.download.plist", "mykotlerino.ltvbit.plist", "kuklorest.update.plist", etc. Browser hijacker commonly installs several files with the exact same string.

Check for browser hijacker generated files in the /Library/LaunchDaemons/ folder:

In the "Go to Folder..." bar, type: /Library/LaunchDaemons/

In the "LaunchDaemons" folder, look for recently-added suspicious files. For example "com.aoudad.net-preferences.plist", "com.myppes.net-preferences.plist", "com.kuklorest.net-preferences.plist", "com.avickUpd.plist", etc., and move them to the Trash.

Scan your Mac with Combo Cleaner:

If you have followed all the steps correctly, your Mac should be clean of infections. To ensure your system is not infected, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus. Download it HERE. After downloading the file, double click combocleaner.dmg installer. In the opened window, drag and drop the Combo Cleaner icon on top of the Applications icon. Now open your launchpad and click on the Combo Cleaner icon. Wait until Combo Cleaner updates its virus definition database and click the "Start Combo Scan" button.

Combo Cleaner will scan your Mac for malware infections. If the antivirus scan displays "no threats found" - this means that you can continue with the removal guide; otherwise, it's recommended to remove any found infections before continuing.

After removing files and folders generated by the browser hijackers, continue to remove rogue extensions from your Internet browsers.

Remove browser hijackers from Internet browsers

Remove Safari browser hijackers:

Open the Safari browser, from the menu bar, select "Safari" and click "Preferences...".

In the preferences window, select "Extensions" and look for any recently-installed suspicious extensions. When located, click the "Uninstall" button next to it/them. Note that you can safely uninstall all extensions from your Safari browser - none are crucial for regular browser operation.

Change your homepage:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "General" tab. To set your homepage, type the preferred website URL (for example: www.google.com) in the Homepage field. You can also click the "Set to Current Page" button if you wish to set your homepage to the website you are currently visiting.

Change your default search engine:

In the "Preferences" window, select the "Search" tab. Here you will find a drop-down menu labeled "Search engine:" Simply select your preferred search engine from the drop-down list.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Safari.

Remove Google Chrome browser hijackers:

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "More Tools" and click "Extensions". Locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, select these entries and click "Remove".

Change your homepage

Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome) and select "Settings". In the "On startup" section, disable the malicious extension (if present), look for a browser hijacker URL below the "Open a specific or set of pages" option. If present, click on the three vertical dots icon and select "Remove".

Change your default search engine:

To change your default search engine in Google Chrome: Click the Chrome menu icon (at the top right corner of Google Chrome), select "Settings", in the "Search engine" section, click "Manage search engines...", in the opened list look for a browser hijacker URL, when located click the three vertical dots near this URL and select "Delete".

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Google Chrome.

Remove malicious extensions from Mozilla Firefox:

Click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window) and select "Add-ons and themes". Click "Extensions", in the opened window locate all recently-installed suspicious extensions, click on the three dots and then click "Remove".

Change your homepage

To reset your homepage, click the Firefox menu (at the top right corner of the main window), then select "Settings", in the opened window disable malicious extension (if present), remove the browser hijacker URL and enter your preferred domain, which will open each time you start Mozilla Firefox.

Change your default search engine:

In the URL address bar, type "about:config" and press Enter. Click "Accept the Risk and Continue".

In the search filter at the top, type: "extensionControlled". Set both results to "false" by either double-clicking each entry or clicking the button.

• If you continue to have problems with browser redirects and unwanted advertisements - Reset Mozilla Firefox.

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