Saturday, November 27, 2010

How to remove Clickpotato adware (Uninstall Guide)

Clickpotato is an adware program that may display advertisements and pop-ups on the computer based on your browsing habits. The authors of this will say that their program is not malware, and they have opt outs, clearly written Terms of Use and EULA, uninstallation instructions. That's true. However, we constantly receive complains about PCs being infected with Clickpotato adware. They say that Click Potato starts when computer starts. There are icons on Windows task bar and shortcuts on an Internet Explorer toolbar. Clickpotato may also display an icon on a user's Desktop. Users also say that their programs are freezing and shutting down. And, of course, that they see a constant barrage of non-related advertisements. Without a doubt, that's not what you would expect from such program.

Once installed, ClickPotato can be seen as a shortcut on an Internet Explorer toolbar, as seen in the image below:


ClickPotato may also display an icon on a user's taskbar, as seen in the image below:


Adware.Clickpotato can be downloaded form clickpotato.com or clickpotato.tv.


However, Clickpotato comes bundled with other adware too, e.g. Hotbar, Zango, Adware.FLVPlayer.


Some AV vendors detect Clickpotato as adware: Adware.Clickpotato [Symantec], Pinball [Sunbelt Software], ADSPY/AdSpy.Gen2 [Avira], Adware:Win32/ClickPotato [Microsoft].

You can remove Clickpotato adware manually or using legitimate anti-malware software. Please follow the removal instructions below. Also, don't forget to uninstall add-on from Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox (if you have it on your computer). Finally, if you have any questions or additional information about Clickpotato, please leave a comment. Good luck and be safe online!


Clickpotato adware removal instructions:

1. Go to: Start->Control Panel
2. Double click on Add/Remove programs (Programs and Features icon in Windows Vista)
3. In the list of currently installed software find "Clickpotato" and click on Change/Remove (Uninstall in Windows Vista) to uninstall it.
4. Open Internet Explorer. Click on the Tools menu and select Manage Add-ons. The Add-ons window will appear.


Disable/Uninstall all Clickpotato adware Add-ons (if exist).

If you use Mozilla Firefox then click on the Tools menu and select Add-ons. The Add-ons window will appear.


5. Scan your computer with recommend anti-malware software (STOPzilla) to remove the leftovers of this adware from your computer.

It's possible that an infection is blocking STOPzilla from properly installing. Before saving the selected program onto your computer, you may have to rename the installer to iexplore.exe or winlogon.exe. Don't forget to update the installed program before scanning.

.Alternate anti-malware software:
NOTE: With all of these tools, if running Windows 7 or Vista they MUST be run as Auto Infoistrator. Launch the program and follow the prompts. Don't forget to update the installed program before scanning.


Clickpotato adware associated files and registry values:

Files:
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ClickPotatoLiteSA\ClickPotatoLiteSA.dat
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ClickPotatoLiteSA\ClickPotatoLiteSAAbout.mht
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ClickPotatoLiteSA\ClickPotatoLiteSAau_update.dat
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ClickPotatoLiteSA\ClickPotatoLiteSAEULA.mht
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ClickPotatoLiteSA\ClickPotatoLiteSA_kyf_update.dat
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ClickPotato\About Us.lnk
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ClickPotato\ClickPotato Customer Support.lnk
  • C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ClickPotato\ClickPotato Uninstall Instructions.lnk
  • %ProgramFiles%\Mozilla Firefox\plugins\npclntax_ClickPotatoLiteSA.dll
  • %ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\ClickPotatoLiteSA.exe
  • %ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\ClickPotatoLiteSAAX.dll
  • %ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\ClickPotatoLiteSABHO.dll
  • %ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\ClickPotatoLiteSAHook.dll
  • %ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\ClickPotatoLiteUninstaller.exe
  • %ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\firefox\extensions\install.rdf
  • %ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\firefox\extensions\plugins\npclntax_ClickPotatoLiteSA.dll
%ProgramFiles% refers to: C:\Program Files\

Registry values:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Mozilla\Firefox\Extensions\"ClickPotatoLite@ClickPotatoLite.com" = "%ProgramFiles%\ClickPotatoLite\bin\[VERSION NUMBER]\firefox\extensions"
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppID\MenuButtonIE.DLL
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\AppID\{11C27351-716B-4052-9361-E3B0A3F8221C}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{1602F07D-8BF3-4c08-BDD6-DDDB1C48AEDC}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{7A3D6D17-9DD5-4C60-8076-D1784DABAF8C}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{AC6D819E-AA8F-4418-A3BB-D165C1B18BB5}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{30B15818-E110-4527-9C05-46ACE5A3460D}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{419EDA30-6DFF-432C-B534-E15D899ABEE4}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{618AAD04-921F-44C2-BE38-C0818AF69861}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{B5D2ED96-62F9-4C2C-956D-E425B1F67337}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Interface\{D3A412E8-1E4B-47D2-9B12-F88291F5AFBB}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{814BAA91-DC22-4350-87D6-0C86E93F7F08}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\TypeLib\{C55CA95C-324B-451C-B2D2-6E895AA75FEC}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ClickPotatoLiteAx.Info
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ClickPotatoLiteAx.Info.1
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ClickPotatoLiteAX.UserProfiles
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\ClickPotatoLiteAX.UserProfiles.1
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\MenuButtonIE.ButtonIE
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\MenuButtonIE.ButtonIE.1
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions\{B58926D6-CFB0-45d2-9C28-4B5A0F0368AE}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Low Rights\ElevationPolicy\{A078F691-9C07-4AF2-BF43-35E79EECF8B7}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\PreApproved\{1602F07D-8BF3-4c08-BDD6-DDDB1C48AEDC}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\PreApproved\{69725738-CD68-4f36-8D02-8C43722EE5DA}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\PreApproved\{AC6D819E-AA8F-4418-A3BB-D165C1B18BB5}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Ext\PreApproved\{B58926D6-CFB0-45D2-9C28-4B5A0F0368AE}
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ClickPotatoLiteSA
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ClickPotatoLite
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\clickpotatolitesa
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