What is Zip Cruncher?
Zip Cruncher is a potentially unwanted program or a PUP in short. This category is for applications that users could install willingly, but later on regret such decision as they may discover unwanted qualities. In other words, such tools are of doubtful reliability, and usually, researchers recommend against their usage. Further, in this article, we will explain why Zip Cruncher might not deserve your trust and why we considered it to be rather useless. At the end of the article, we will also talk about the ways to eliminate this application without leaving any data belonging to it behind. Moreover, just a bit below the text we will add step by step instructions showing how to get rid of this PUP manually. Of course, if you need more assistance or have any questions about the software you can leave us a comment at the end of this page too.
Where does Zip Cruncher come from?
The program is promoted on a website named zipcruncher.com. According to its Privacy Policy and End User, License Agreement statements a company called Meme Ltd developed the tool. Our researchers at Anti-spyware-101.com tried to look for any information about this company, but there does not seem to be any. Even the “Learn more” button located on Zip Cruncher’s web page (zipcruncher.com) does not provide any information. Usually, we do not recommend using software that comes from unknown developers and knowing this application is considered to be a PUP we would not advise trusting it either.
How does Zip Cruncher work?
During the installation, we noticed Zip Cruncher might create a folder not in Program Files, but in %APPDATA% instead. Also, it seems the PUP may name the folder not according to its title as our researchers report it was called “AppMaster.” The contents of this directory should be AppMaster.exe, AppMaster.exe.config, ZipCruncher.ico, apps.txt, and pref.txt. The executable file is used to launch the application, and most of the other data does not seem to be suspicious either. However, the file called AppMaster.exe.config might have a Google analytic script name and API URL address to http://rest.zipcruncher.com, which could be used for communication with this server and the program in question. Given the software’s Privacy Policy says it may gather user’s information we think the described file could be used for it.
Furthermore, as the mentioned document says user information might be needed for offering “other products” or “services,” we think Zip Cruncher could show third-party advertisements. Our researchers also found out the application has a search engine as well. It did not hijack the browser, but since we are dealing with a PUP, there is a chance such function could be added later on, although we cannot be sure. If this happens, the possible advertising content might be injected into the search results. Another thing you should know the ads could come from third parties and might be unreliable, so it would be best to be cautious.
Lastly, in our opinion the tool has too little functionality as even some of the online archive converters have even more options and functions to offer. All it does is places data in a ZIP archive and extracts files from either ZIP or RAR archives. It does not even let you choose where to place extracted files or to name the folder with such data. Therefore, we think it would be easier to pick a reliable online converter or just install a more reliable tool from trustworthy creators.
How to remove Zip Cruncher?
To erase this PUP manually, the user should locate its created folder and delete it along with all data inside of it. If you do not know how to do this, you should take a look at the instructions located below as they will explain the process step by step. The second option is to acquire a legitimate antimalware tool and let it eliminate Zip Cruncher for you.
Get rid of Zip Cruncher
- Tap Windows key+E.
- Find this folder %APPDATA%
- Locate a directory titled AppMaster, right-click it and press Delete.
- Exit your File Explorer.
- Empty Recycle Bin.
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Stop these Zip Cruncher Processes:
AppMaster.exe
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