Coupoon is more of an adware than a virus but it does everything that a virus can do.
It will suddenly pop up with ads you are not interested in viewing and if you happen to click on any of these ads you can be redirected to webpages that may contain malicious content and then your entire system or network could get infected.
But how does Coupoon make an entry? It’s usually through what the experts describe as “bundling.”
The difficult part is most people don’t subscribe to the Coupoon virus knowingly. It is done quite deceptively by the software developers that offer you a free program to download and use.
You generally see a green “Download Now” button and click on it.
But hidden somewhere inside the file you downloaded will be the Coupoon virus. You may not even notice it initially. Suddenly, when you open a webpage in your browser, the Coupoon virus will push several ads on your page.
These ads are potential risks and you must avoid clicking on them.
Here are more details on Coupoon and how to remove from your computer.
Coupoon Can Enter Through All Browsers
The other alarming consideration with this virus is that it is browser-neutral, meaning that irrespective of the browser you may be using for accessing webpages, Coupoon can get in as part of the download and then start causing harm to your system.
The removal steps will, therefore, be browser-specific. Here’s a guide:
Via the Control Panel
The best way to quickly get rid of the Coupoon virus is to use the option within Control Panel in a Windows OS-run computer for uninstalling programs.
- Depending on the Windows version, 7 or XP or Windows 10, reach the Control Panel and click/tap on the “Uninstall Programs” option.
- The menu there will show an entry “Coupoon version 1.0.” The moment you select this, it will ask you if you wish to delete the program; say Yes to delete/uninstall the program.
- If you wish to be very sure, run the antivirus so that any remnants of the rouge file in any form are completely removed.
- You can do a restart of the system and continue with your regular activities.
On Individual Browsers
Using Internet Explorer
On IE, it is a simple exercise:
- You must start from the wheel-type gear on top and from there select the Manage Add-ons option from the dropdown menu.
- You will see if there are any recent additions in the list of browser extensions you have given permission to.
- If you have given permission, you can change that by disabling these browser extensions.
But if you have not been able to get rid of the Coupoon virus successfully by this action, you may have to do a “Reset” of Internet Explorer. The process for this will change with the Windows version you are using. Just check the steps needed to do a Reset of IE and follow them. You are then good to go.
The Reset ensures that any personal preferences that you might have selected earlier—and which the virus could exploit—are completely dropped and you start from a clean slate.
Using Google Chrome
On the Chrome browser, the extension containing the offending virus can be removed through the following steps.
- First, click on the sandwich icon with three parallel lines on the top right corner.
- From the dropdown menu, pick More tools.
- Then click on Extensions.
- The programs you have added to this list will be listed there with the remark “Enabled” against each with a tick mark and a trash can alongside.
- Pick the suspicious entries there and click on the trashcan opposite to each.
You should be able to work smoothly on the browser now without being bombarded with popup ads. There is also a Reset option available on Chrome if you want to go ahead and restart the browser from scratch.
Using Mozilla Firefox
The process of removing the Coupoon virus on Firefox is not very different from the steps listed with Chrome above.
- The main menu dropping down from the three parallel lines on the top right corner has an icon that says Add-ons.
- By clicking on it, you will reach the menu where you can find “Extensions.”
- Instead of a trashcan icon here you have two buttons, Disable and Remove, for each of the programs listed as Extensions on the browser.
- From here, “Remove” any programs that appear suspicious.
- You then should be able to restart Firefox and resume browsing.
If your operation was successful, the Coupoon virus would have gone now and you will no longer have those irritating ads popping up on your window. On this browser there is the option to reset and it is called Refresh Firefox. Follow the steps on Mozilla’s corresponding support page to complete the Refresh process and feel confident that the issue stands resolved.
Using Safari
It is hoped that your Apple OS operated systems are more secure; however, if you were to face the adware Coupoon virus issue on the Safari browser, you can remove it in one stroke.
- On the top bar of the interface, click on the Safari button.
- This will open Preferences as one entry.
- Click on it and choose Extensions.
- Remove the programs you don’t want as you did on the other browsers above.
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Final Word
The Coupoon virus may look and sound like a seemingly harmless virus, but if you leave it in your system, it is capable of inflicting a lot of damage apart from leading you to websites you should never enter.
These sites may be full of malicious content and they can rapidly spread their tentacles over your system and before you realize, your computer will be virtually lost for you.
Always be extremely cautious before saying “Yes” to downloading programs, unless you desperately need it.
If the need is temporary, use it and then uninstall and follow the above steps to remove any add-ons or bundled programs that would have tagged along.