Highlighted Words Counter is a deceptive browser extension for Chrome. Highlighted Words Counter modifies web browser settings (displays intrusive worthless advertisements) and collects various information relating to the user’s internet browsing activity. For these specific deceptive reasons, Highlighted Words Counter is categorized as adware.
Many favorite download websites that offer download managers monetize their free software and internet traffic through download-managers. It’s these download managers that use deceptive and dangerous adware deployments and start displaying advertisements on favorite websites with hyperlinks underlined as “ad by Highlighted Words Counter.”
Once the Highlighted Words Counter adware application has infected the computer, the Highlighted Words Counter collect’s browser’s Internet Explorer, Google Chrome or Firefox preferences. This deceptive technique will load Highlighted Words Counter’s adware browser extension each time the browser is started. These malicious browser extensions are known to overwhelm computer users with intrusive advertisements within the browser.
Highlighted Words Counter adware advertisement
The advertisements shown by Highlighted Words Counter are not random, the ads are based on user’s internet activity, the content of the website user is of were visiting and user-based interests. Highlighted Words Counter advertisements are to be distinguished by underlined text or new pop-up window redirects.
How did Highlighted Words Counter install on my PC?
Danger:
Distribution: Download managers, deceptive pop-up redirects
Also known as: Highlighted Words Counter virus, Highlighted Words Counter adware
Type: Adware
Highlighted Words Counter is known for all kinds of suspicious and deceptive advertisements within the search results. These in-text, or pop-up ads may cause more harm to your computer as they might link to malware and adware download managers.
Highlighted Words Counter is all about in-text advertisements, website traffic, and suspicious links, browser extensions, and browser redirects. Adware such as Highlighted Words Counter, often claims to have no control over the users’ advertisements. In our experience, many of these in-text links lead to suspicious websites, technical support scam services, download managers and pay per click advertisements.
How to avoid Highlighted Words Counter?
If you install software downloaded from the internet, take notice there are no additional offers or useful enhancements installed on your computer. Some download managers do not adequately disclose that adware or pups, such as this Highlighted Words Counter will also be installed on your computer. When installing software on your computer, you should overview the End User License Agreements (EULA) or their Terms of Agreement before downloading and installing software onto your computer.
Do not click too fast through the installation process using a Quick Install of Next button; this would prevent Highlighted Words Counter in the future. Either way, it is often the computer user itself which allowed the Highlighted Words Counter adware browser extension infect the browser.
How to remove Highlighted Words Counter
Use this quick menu to quickly follow the steps to successfully clean your computer from Highlighted Words Counter, adware, potentially unwanted programs, any viruses, and spyware. This instruction includes both manual removal steps and malware removal tools to remove the Highlighted Words Counter malware leftovers.
Remove Highlighted Words Counter, complete the steps below
- Remove Highlighted Words Counter from Windows manually without software
- Uninstall recently installed adware using Windows Control Panel – Uninstall a program
- Remove Highlighted Words Counter browser extension and ads from Google Chrome
- Remove Highlighted Words Counter Browser Helper Object redirects from Internet Explorer
- Remove Highlighted Words Counter browser extension, ads, and redirects from Firefox
- Scan your computer for malware with free anti-malware software to detect and remove Highlighted Words Counter files
Windows 7 users: Click the Start button in the left bottom corner, select Control Panel, select “Programs and Features”.
Windows 8 and Windows 10 users: Right-click the Windows logo in the bottom left corner, select Control Panel, select “Programs and Features”.
Check the programs list for Highlighted Words Counter and select the entry and click “Uninstall” or “Remove“.
Click the column “Installed On” to sort installed software by date, this makes it easier to detect recently installed software.
If you don’t know what to look for, Goto Removal Tools
Check the installed applications list for recently installed malware applications.
Below you will find a summary of recently known adware and potentially unwanted programs for Windows 10, Windows 8 and Windows 7.
SearchAwesome, MultiTimer version 1.0, ShutdownTime version 1.0, PC Speed UP Pro, System Healer, BlockAdsPro, FolderShare, ProxyGate, MiniCalc, Runbooster, Shadowsocks version 1.0, VidSquare, S5M, AnonymizerGadget, Toolbars (Mindspark, MyWay), Lightning, La Cie Public version 1.0, 1.0.0.1, Internet Speed Tester, WebDiscover Browser, NativeDesktopMediaService, System Table, Betterworld, SmartApp 1.00, PC Optimizer, PC Speedup 2018, PC Speedup 2017, Yeadesktop, Maxi Buy, One Sytem Care, YoutubeAdBlock, Yandex, Up Pro verified, Premieropinion, HDWallpaper, Chameleon Explorer Pro, WhiteClick, GeoSmartDNS, SuperSearch, {random-name} version 1.5
Select the software application from the list and click the Uninstall button.
Click the column "Installed On" to sort recently installed software applications by date, sorting the software applications by installation date makes it easier for you to detect recently installed applications.
If you don't know what to look or need help to remove the malicious software,
Remove Highlighted Words Counter browser extension from Internet Explorer, Chrome or Firefox
In this first step, we show you how to manually remove Highlighted Words Counter adware from your browser and how to reset the browser homepage and search engine to default settings.
If after this step, there are still problems with a hijacked homepage, adware, ads or redirects in your browser, perform a malware scan with our recommended malware removal tools.
- Internet Explorer
- Google Chrome
- Firefox
- Microsoft Edge
In this first step for Internet Explorer, you have to verify if internet explorer is infected with a malicious add-on.
choose the wrench button, and from the menu click Manage add-ons.
Check the add-on list for any suspicious add-on in Internet Explorer, click disable or remove to delete the add-on.
Continue to the next step.
Reset your default Homepage and Search engine for Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer has the possibility to reset to default, an Internet Explorer reset will affect your saved bookmarks and passwords.
pick the wrench button and from the menu click Internet Options.
Choose the Advanced tab, click the Reset button.
Check Delete personal settings and click the Reset button.
Restart Internet Explorer to complete the reset.
Good, Internet Explorer is reset to the default configuration, it is important to know there are virus remnants on your computer. We recommend to scan and remove the virus files from your computer. Make sure the virus does not reinstall, and all remnants are removed from your PC.
In this first step for Chrome, you need to identify and remove any browser extension.
If you didn't install any browser extension at all, remove all browser extensions from Chrome.
Click the menu button, from the Chrome menu click More tools and then Extensions.
Identify browser extension(s) from the list and click the Remove button to remove the extension.
If you are unsure if the extension is malicious, click the slider and disable the extension first. Continue to the next step.
Reset the Google Chrome profile sync
Google Chrome synchronizes the browsers user-profile with the Google Cloud services. If the Google Chrome browser is infected with adware, this adware, usually browser extensions, the homepage and search engine settings are synced with Google's servers.
It is important to clean this synchronized cache. If the user doesn't clear the synchronized settings, the adware, browser extension and settings keep coming back on any devices the Chrome user profile is synchronized with.
Open the Google Dashboard (opens in a new browser window). Click the Reset sync button to clear all of your synced data on Google's server, confirm with OK.
Continue to the next step.
Reset the Google Chrome homepage and search engine settings
Chrome has the option to reset to default settings, a Chrome browser reset will not affect your saved bookmarks and passwords.
Click the menu button, from the drop-down menu click Settings.
Scroll down to Advanced and again scroll down to Reset settings.
Click the Reset button to reset Google Chrome.
Confirm the reset of the Chrome web-browser by clicking the Reset button.
Restart Google Chrome for the changes to take effect.
Google Chrome is reset to default settings, it is important to know there are remnants of malware on your computer. We recommend to scan and remove malware files from your computer to make sure the malware does not reinstall and the malware is entirely removed from your PC.
In this first step for Firefox, you need to identify and remove any Firefox add-on that is unknown to you.
If you didn't install any add-on at all, remove all add-ons from Firefox.
Click the Firefox menu button, from the drop-down menu click Add-ons.
Click extensions from the left menu. Identify any unknown Firefox browser extension.
Click the Remove button to delete the extension.
Reset the Firefox homepage and search engine settings
Firefox has the option to reset to default settings, this will reset Firefox completely.
Click the menu button, from the menu, select Help ? (the question mark icon, at the end of the menu).
Click on Troubleshooting information from the Help menu.
select the Refresh Firefox button, confirm the reset and restart Firefox.
The Firefox browser is reset to default settings, it is important to know there are remnants of malware on your computer. We recommend to scan and remove malware files from your computer to make sure the malware does not reinstall and the malware is entirely removed from the Firefox web-browser and PC.
If you encounter problems with Microsoft Edge, follow these instructions.
Right-click the start button in Windows 10, from the start menu top click Apps and Features.
Scroll down through the right Apps and Features list till you see Microsoft Edge, click Advanced options.
Click on the Reset button to reset Microsoft Edge to default settings. Microsoft Edge reset will clear the browsing history, cookies, and settings. Not the Microsoft Edge favorites web pages.
The Microsoft Edge web-browser is reset to default settings, it is important to know there are remnants of malware on your computer. We recommend to scan and remove malware files from your computer to make sure the malware does not reinstall and the malware is entirely removed from the Microsoft Edge web-browser and PC.
1. Automatically detect and remove the Highlighted Words Counter adware with Malwarebytes Free (recommended)
Download Malwarebytes to remove the malware from your PC. We have run many malware removal tests on infected PCs including adware, potentially unwanted programs, and spyware. Malwarebytes is by far the best malware removal tool available today to get rid of malware. Malwarebytes is always free to remove any malware. Malwarebytes works great alongside antivirus software.
Remove the threat with Malwarebytes and see the results for yourself!
Start the Malwarebytes installation setup file. Click here for detailed Malwarebytes installation instructions.
Click Scan Now to start searching for malware on your PC.
Malwarebytes will start searching for malware on your PC.
Wait for Malwarebytes to finish the malware scan. The Malwarebytes malware scan usually takes between 2 to 5 minutes to complete.
Once the malware scan is completed, Malwarebytes will display the results of the malware scan.
Remove the malware found by Malwarebytes using the Quarantine Selected button.
Wait for Malwarebytes to move all malware found on your PC to quarantine.
Malwarebytes needs to perform a system reboot to complete the malware removal process.
Save and close any working documents or open web pages and click Yes to reboot your PC.
After the system reboot, your PC is clean from malware. Stay protected with Malwarebytes against future threats. Malwarebytes stops adware, potentially unwanted programs, malicious web pages, suspicious downloads, viruses, spyware and ransomware from infecting your machine.
2. Remove Highlighted Words Counter with Zemana Anti-Malware free, restore your browser
Zemana Anti-Malware is an second opinion anti-malware scanner which uses Cloud technology for malware detection. Zemana is the fastest, smallest and most proactively malware scanner available. Zemana is its best in addition to a primary virus scanner or malware scanner such as Malwarebytes.
Open the Zemana anti-malware setup file.
Install Zemana anti-malware using the default settings, after successful installation Zemana anti-malware will update itself to the latest version.
Select the Scan button to perform a malware scan, wait for the scan to finish, this usually takes a few minutes.
Click the Next button to remove the malware found by Zemana on your computer.
Wait a couple of seconds for Zemana to remove the malware from your PC.
Your PC is successfully cleaned by Zemana. Zemana is an excellent protection for people searching for a lightweight malware detection and removal tool. Zemana is its best in addition to a more comprehensive antivirus or anti-malware security application such as Malwarebytes.
3. Delete Highlighted Words Counter adware files with AdwCleaner Free
Download AdwCleaner
Malwarebytes adwcleaner searches for adware, browser hijackers, malware files and removes the malware files for free.The Malwarebytes adwcleaner removal tool will individually scan for malicious windows services, malware folders, malware files, shortcuts hijacked by adware, malware registry keys, windows scheduled tasks and malicious browser extensions. Best of all, adwcleaner is completely free.
- Right-click the AdwCleaner executable you just downloaded and select "Run as Administrator" this is important.
- Select the Scan Now button.
- Wait for the adware & malware scan to finish.
- Click the Clean & Repair button to remove the adware and malware from your PC.
- Wait for AdwCleaner to remove the adware and malware from your PC.
- Click the Clean & Restart Now button to finish the malware removal process.
- After the reboot, AdwCleaner shows a summary of the detected and removed malware files.
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