How to Identify & Eliminate Tracking Cookies Caused by Adware

Adware or advertising-based software are special programs that are specifically designed for marketing purposes. They can be used in both malicious and non-malicious ways. However, in any form, they can be irritating and a nuisance for the users. Cybercriminals can exploit adware to spread malicious programs like browser hijackers , trojans , and more.

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To display ads to the users, the advertisers use various ways to collect their information for targeting them with relevant ads based on their browser search. One of the popular methods to gather the browsing details of the users is through browser cookies. Some cookies come along with adware programs to help them secretly accumulate data, known as Adware Tracking Cookies.

In this post, we will know what these adware tracking cookies are and how to remove them.

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What are Cookies?

Cookies are the small files that are saved by the browsers on your computer whenever you visit a website. They are designed to store the browsing information, such as which websites the user has visited, how many times a website is visited, and more. Cookies are primarily meant for making the browsing experience better and convenient. With cookies, websites can keep you signed in, remember your site preferences, and give you locally relevant content. Through cookies, sites can analyze your browsing pattern, and you will be shown content based on your interest.

However, modern cookies are sophisticated. Now the website can not only collect the user data from their site but also from the other sites visited by the users. For example, if you are searching for fishing rods on eBay, even Amazon can show you fishing rod suggestions by accessing the cookies of eBay.

Cookies are of two types:

• The first-party cookies: these are created by the site that you visit.
• The third-party cookies: these are created by other sites whose ads you see on the webpages in the form of photos, banners, etc.

Generally, third-party cookies are the ones that can infiltrate your privacy by storing sensitive information.

What are Adware Tracking Cookies?

As mentioned, though cookies are primarily meant for user convenience and making browsing better, their functionalities can be exploited by advertisers and cybercriminals. Cybercriminals infiltrate adware programs in computers to bombard browsers with irrelevant ads. To gather users’ browsing information, the adware uses cookies known as Adware Tracking Cookies.

Adware tracking cookies can be dangerous as they can invade your privacy by storing and sharing sensitive data. Unlike, regular cookies which either notify you or take permission to allow cookies, most adware tracking cookies work silently and store browsing data.

Are Adware Tracking Cookies harmful?

Because of their dubious nature, adware tracking cookies can be a significant threat to your system. You never know the sensitive personal data stored by the adware tracking cookies can be used in what ways by the advertisers and infiltrators. If you have multiple devices connected to the same network, the adware tracking cookies can be a security threat for all of them. It is because of such behavior most security programs raise red flags against the cookies.

Where are Cookies stored?

Cookies are stored locally on your computer in the form of text files. The text files are created by the browsers, and different browser stores cookies at different locations. The Browser cookies are stored in the Temporary Internet Files folder. The folder is hidden and specific for each user account of the computer. To view this folder, enable the View Hidden Folders and navigate to the following address on your device: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows. Replace the username with your username in the above path.

How to remove Adware Tracking Cookies?

Adware Tracking Cookies are a security and privacy threat for you. If your system is a victim of their infiltration, it is best to remove them from the system as soon as possible.

Adware tracking cookies can be deleted using the following ways:

Delete Adware Tracking Cookies through Browser

You can directly delete cookies from your web browsers. Here is how to do that on different browsers.

Google ChromeMozilla FirefoxMicrosoft Edge

Remove Cookies from Google Chrome Browser

1. Launch Google Chrome, click on the three vertical dots at the top-right corner.
2. From the menu, select Settings.
   
3. On the Settings page, click on Privacy and security on the left pane.
   
4. Under Privacy and security, select Clear browsing data.

5. On the Clear browsing data pop-up window, select time range, ensure to choose Cookies and other site data, and then click on Clear data.

Remove Cookies from Mozilla Firefox Browser

1. Open Firefox, click on the menu button at the top-right, and select Settings.

2. Click on the Privacy & Security on the left pane.

3. Scroll down and under Cookies and Site Data, click on Clear Data.

4. Under Clear Data, click on the Clear button. Before that, ensure that you have checked the Cookies and Site Data checkbox.

Remove Cookies from Microsoft Edge

1. Launch Microsoft Edge browser, and click on three vertical dots to select Settings.
2. Click on the Privacy, search, and services under settings on the left pane.

3. Scroll down and under Clear browsing data, click on Choose what to clear.
4. On the pop-up, select Time range, ensure to tick mark the Cookies and other site data option, and finally click the Clear now button.

Delete Cookies Folder

To remove the Adware Tracking Cookies, you can delete the folder containing them. For that, follow these instructions:

1. Close all the browsers before beginning.
2. Enable viewing the hidden items from the File Explorer menu.
3. Navigate to the following path on your computer: C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows. Replace the username with your username in the address.
4. Look for the Folder named Temporary Internet Files and delete it.

Uninstall the suspicious Applications

The Adware Tracking Cookies are associated with the adware programs. So, it is important to uninstall the adware from the system to ensure that the tracking cookies do not get reactivated. Here is how you can uninstall the apps on Windows 10 and Windows 11 computers.

Windows 10Windows 11

Uninstall Suspicious Apps on Windows 10

1. Right-click on the taskbar and select the Task Manager.
   

2. Watch out for the applications that are consuming the system memory even though you did not install or launch them.

3. Right-click on the suspicious application and open its file location.
   

4. Delete the file from its root location.

5. Open Control Panel and click on Uninstall a program and check for suspicious apps. One by one, select and uninstall them.

Uninstall Suspicious Apps on Windows 11

1. Right-click on the Start button and select Task Manager from the list.

2. Look out for the applications which are unnecessarily consuming the system resources without actively running.

3. Right-click on such applications and open their file location.

4. Delete all files from the targeted folder. Some files won’t be deleted as the application is still active.

5. Open Control Panel and click on Uninstall a program.

6. Check for suspicious apps. One by one, select and uninstall them.

Use Malware Cleaners

Malware cleaners are designed to search malicious programs and files and remove them from the system.

Keep Malware at bay with MalwareFox

Download MalwareFox

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Manually removing adware can be a tedious task, and it takes a lot of time and effort on our part. In the case of adware, the hidden files might reactivate it, so you have to manually find out those files and eradicate them. Sometimes, it may get irritated for you if you are not much into the technology. There is no need to worry, MalwareFox will scan for malware and remove it.

How to Remove Adware from Android Phone?

How to keep Adware Tracking Cookies away from the system?

Adware Tracking Cookies can be devastating. Here are some preventive tips to keep them away from your device:

1. Don’t allow suspicious websites to install Cookies on your device.
2. If possible, try to use the internet in incognito mode when searching or doing something sensitive.
3. Regularly monitor the browser cookies and keep clearing them.
4. Use browser cleaner extensions to delete cookies automatically.
5. Most modern browsers come with in-built options to control Cookies. Configure browser settings to protect your privacy.
6. Keep installed a robust security program such as MalwareFox on your device to stay protected from adware and other dangerous malware.

Why are these cookies being flagged by antivirus software?

Even the most harmless cookies store personal data. And this is why antivirus software often shows threats when they are downloaded. This generally happens with third-party cookies.

Do Adware Tracking Cookies make your Computer slow?

Every computer program needs memory to run. Because adware is also a computer program that enters into your system due to adware tracking cookies, it also consumes some memory. The presence of many adware makes your system run slow.

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