Notepad Pro
The Notepad Pro software from h[tt]p://notepadpro[.]co is presented to Web surfers as a program that improves the new tab experience for Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox users by adding note-taking features. The Notepad Pro application can be installed to Chrome, Firefox and IE for free thanks to the support of advertisers that work with the software publishers, Polarity Technologies Ltd (h[tt]p://www.polarity.com[.]cy). Notepad Pro is an ad-supported suite of extensions that change the user’s new tab, default search provider, and homepage to domains managed by Polarity. You can find the Terms of Use Agreement at h[tt]p://notepadpro[.]co/Legal/Terms and the Privacy Policy at h[tt]p://notepadpro[.]co/Legal/Privacy.
The Notepad Pro extension asks for the following permissions on Google Chrome:
- Read and change all your data on the websites you visit.
- Manage your apps, extensions and themes.
- Replace the page you see when opening a new tab.
- Change your search settings to search.hnotepadpro.co.
The Notepad Pro add-on asks for the following permissions on Mozilla Firefox:
- Access your data for all websites.
- Exchange messages with programs other than Firefox.
- Access browser tabs.
- Access browser activity during navigation.
- Monitor extension usage and manage themes.
The Notepad Pro add-on shows the following notification in IE when you download its installer:
“By continuing with the installation, you agree to:
Set your home page, new tab page and default search to hnotepadpro.co powered by Yahoo!”
The Notepad Pro software is designed to record the user’s Internet history, search terms entered on Google, Yahoo and Bing. Also, the user’s Windows version, installed software, browser type and recently downloaded content may be collected as Internet usage statistics by Polarity for marketing purposes. The Notepad Pro New Tab includes a search bar powered by Yahoo and links to sites that offer free online note-taking services such as h[tt]ps://www.rapidtables[.]com/tools/notepad, h[tt]ps://www.memonotepad[.]com and h[tt]ps://pinup[.]com. You should note that rapidtables[.]com, memonotepad[.]com and pinup[.]com don’t require the users to install the Notepad Pro New Tab replacement to have access to their services. Many users may not appreciate the monetization methods used by Polarity and want to remove the Notepad Pro software with the help of a credible anti-spyware scanner. AV engines are known to alert the users of the files associated with Notepad Pro and flag them as:
- Adware.Spigot.145
- Application.Toolbar (A)
- PUA.Gen.4
- PUA:Win32/WinWrapper
- Win32.Application.SpringTech.A
