84,488,480 programs installed

Should I remove Apps Hat Madness?

What percent of users and experts removed it?
79% remove it21% keep it
Overall Sentiment
Bad
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Reach 0.0002%

Versions

VersionDistribution
1.32.153.0 100.00%

Other programs by Bright circle investments

Apps Hat Madness

What is Apps Hat Madness?

Apps Hat Madness is a web browser extension that injects display advertising in the user's browser. Ads are displayed in the form of banners and contextual text-links and are both injected in white space areas of the HTML page or over existing ads of the underlying web site. These ads are typically for PC optimization utilities, other bundled malware or other types of malvertising.

Overview

During setup, the program registers itself to launch on boot through a Windows Schedule Task in order to automatically start-up (this is typically done to avoid any UAC prompts). It adds a Browser Helper Object (BHO) to Internet Explorer. Once installed, it will add an extension to both the Firefox and Chrome web browsers. The main program executable is Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil.dll. Typically most users end up uninstalling this just after a few days. The software installer includes 16 files and is usually about 2.94 MB (3,085,126 bytes). Apps Hat Madness-updater.exe is the automatic update component of the software designed to download and apply new updates should new versions be released.

The program is built using the Crossrider framework, a cross browser monetization platform used to deploy a toolbar and extension for modern web browsers with monetization features including browser search and homepage redirection, contextual coupons and in-line text advertising. Crossrider extensions include background processes to monitor, update and automatically download new features/code without direct user interaction.
  • Possible malware installed by this program
  • Starts automatically
  • Runs in the Firefox, Chrome and Firefox web browsers
  • Built on the Crossrider toolbar platform and potentially unwanted
  • May inject ads in the web browser
  • 'Offers' to modify the browser's home and search pages by default
  • Installed as part of a co-bundle
  • The wisdom of the crowd agrees, you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in Apps Hat Madness.
Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil.dll (277d60c38f804f975cce42566908c4e8) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareVersionDetection
Sophos 4.97 AppRider
VIPRE Antivirus 26298 Crossrider (fs)
Apps Hat Madness-bho64.dll (5768e4c9d6eb1186e2c3c4bb6e203e42) has been flagged by the following 9 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareSoftware versionDetection
Agnitum Outpost 5.5.1.3 PUA.Toolbar.Crossrider!
AVware 1.5.0.21 Crossrider (fs)
Baidu-International 3.5.1.41473 Adware.Win64.Crossrider.BC
Dr.Web 7.0.10.8210 Adware.Toolbar.232
ESET-NOD32 10620 a variant of Win64/Toolbar.Crossrider.B
G Data 24 Win64.Adware.Crossrider.Q
Malwarebytes 1.75.0.1 PUP.Optional.AppsHat.A
Symantec 20141.1.0.330 WS.Reputation.1
VIPRE Antivirus 34248 Crossrider (fs)
Apps Hat Madness has been found to be bundled with 3rd party software. If you have not purposefully installed this, you should be safe uninstalling it.

Program detailsProgram details

Displayed publisher: Nero
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Apps Hat Madness
Uninstaller: C:\Program Files\Apps Hat Madness\Uninstall.exe /fromcontrolpanel=1
Estimated size: 2.94 MB

Program filesFiles installed by Apps Hat Madness

Program module:Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil.dll (Malware detected)
Path:C:\Program Files\Apps Hat Madness\Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil.dll
MD5:277d60c38f804f975cce42566908c4e8
Additional files:
  • Apps Hat Madness-bg.exe (by Nero) - Apps Hat Madness (Apps Hat Madness exe)
  • Apps Hat Madness-bho.dll (by Nero) - Apps Hat Madness BHO
  • (Malware detected) Apps Hat Madness-bho64.dll
  • Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil.exe
  • Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil64.exe
  • Apps Hat Madness-chromeinstaller.exe
  • Apps Hat Madness-codedownloader.exe
  • Apps Hat Madness-firefoxinstaller.exe
  • Apps Hat Madness-updater.exe
  • 48555.crx
  • 48555.xpi
  • (Malware detected) Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil.dll
  • Apps Hat Madness-buttonutil64.dll
  • Apps Hat Madness-helper.exe
  • Uninstall.exe
  • utils.exe

Program behaviorsBehaviors exhibited

2 Internet Explorer BHOs
  • Apps Hat Madness-bho.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a BHO (Browser Helper Object) under the name 'Apps Hat Madness' with the class of {11111111-1111-1111-1111-110411851155} (CrossriderApp0048555).
  • Apps Hat Madness-bho64.dll is installed in Internet Explorer as a BHO (Browser Helper Object) under the name 'Apps Hat Madness' with the class of {11111111-1111-1111-1111-110411851155} (CrossriderApp0048555).
4 Scheduled Tasks (Boot/Login)
  • Apps Hat Madness-updater.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Apps Hat Madness-updater.
  • Apps Hat Madness-firefoxinstaller.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Apps Hat Madness-firefoxinstaller.
  • Apps Hat Madness-codedownloader.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Apps Hat Madness-codedownloader.
  • Apps Hat Madness-chromeinstaller.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Apps Hat Madness-chromeinstaller.

How do I remove Apps Hat Madness?

You can uninstall Apps Hat Madness from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
  1. On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
    • Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
  2. When you find the program Apps Hat Madness, click it, and then do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
    • Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
  3. Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Apps Hat Madness.
  4. If for some reason uninstallation fails, please install Microsoft's uninstall fixer utility which will help fix problems with programs that can't be uninstalled at support.microsoft.com.

How do I reset my web browser?

If your web browser homepage and search settings have been modfied by Apps Hat Madness you can restore them to their previous default settings.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
Mozilla Firefox
Google Chrome

OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 50%
Win 10 50%
 
HOW IT STARTS
Scheduled task? Yes
(Runs on Windows boot)
 
USER ACTIONS
Uninstall it 79%
Keep it 21%

Windows OS versionsWindows

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 50.00%
Windows 10 50.00%
Which OS releases does it run on?
Windows 8 25.00%
Windows 7 Professional 25.00%
Windows 7 Ultimate 25.00%
Windows 8.1 25.00%

Distribution by countryGeography

55.56% of installs come from the United States
Which countries install it?
  United States 55.56%
  Ecuador 11.11%
  New Zealand 11.11%
  Venezuela 11.11%
  Czech Republic 11.11%

OEM distributionPC manufacturers

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Lenovo 33.33%
Hewlett-Packard 33.33%
ASUS 33.33%
Common models
O.E.M O.E.M 33.33%
langchao 12345 33.33%
ASUSTeK X200CA 33.33%

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