Malware Categories: PUP

OptiSpeed is a potentially unwanted program made by Auslogics, the same company that released Tweakerbit Registry Optimizer. Auslogics specializes in making PC optimizers that are meant to help computers run better, faster, and smoother. Its products, especially OptiSpeed, are considered to be dishonest and suspicious by antivirus experts. For those who have used at least … Continued

Outfox TV is a free (ad-supported) TV Service. It installs a windows sidebar on your PC and allows watching various TV channels. There is nothing wrong with the service they offer. Outfox pays money to people who distribute the program thus it is used by malware makers to earn some cash. I rate OutFox TV … Continued

PC Booster Pro might look like it could be a useful PC optimizer, unfortunately,  it’s considered to be unsafe and deceptive by some very reputable cybersecurity sources. While, unlike the similarly named PCBooster, it is not known to try to hijack your device though Remote Desktop or to secretly mine cryptocurrencies, it does still have some … Continued

PC Cleanup 2018 is described as useful application that can help you to clean your computer from malicious and unwanted files, as well as increase the speed and overall performance. However, that’s just a nice and misleading description – in reality, this application is categorised as PUP (potentially unwanted program). There are more than enough … Continued

PC Cure Pro is a PC optimizer. It offers to “increase Windows performance” and “speed up PC”. But instead of helping users, PC Cure Pro deceives them by showing made-up programs and exaggerating issues.  PC Cure Pro is flagged by antivirus programs as a “deceptor”, “misleading”, and “malware” (). Despite being detected by antivirus tools, PC Cure … Continued

PC Gold Optimizer is a PC “optimizer” that ought to be avoided. It is detected by some antivirus scanners because of a few problems with its behavior. Though PC Gold Optimizer is not malware, it might be best to avoid it. It can still cause problems by misrepresenting the severity of the issues it detects, making … Continued

PC Health Aid is a rogue anti-spyware which is supposed to help you detect/remove malware viruses and fix errors in Windows Registry keys. However, it won’t achieve maximum PC health and it is not the best tool on earth. Even though creators of this program indicate that their product has been thoroughly analyzed by security … Continued

PC HelpSoft Driver Updater is a program that offers to help you update your device drivers. It can be considered a potentially unwanted program. A few anti-malware programs flag it as being unwanted or even malicious and warn you about it. However, PC HelpSoft Driver Updater is not dangerous or harmful, so there’s no need … Continued

The majority of PC optimizers are not really useful nowadays, but they continue to be marketed as if they are. For example, PC Mechanic Plus does almost nothing that you couldn’t do without it, so to appear more useful, it finds problems where there are none. At the same time, it’s terrible at finding real … Continued

PC OptiClean is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that users can accidentally download from the Internet. In addition to this, it is a rogue system optimizer which is presented as a tool, allowing users to keep their PCs at their optimal peak performance. Nevertheless, its free version can show false positives and urge people to … Continued

PC Optimizer Pro (or PCOptimizerPro) is a commercial registry cleaner and a potentially unwanted program. It scans and detects PC registry and “privacy” issues and then asks for payment – like all commercial registry cleaners do. There is a great number of various PC optimizers, so it can be easy to confuse the ones with … Continued

PC Power Booster, not associated with any power adapters, is an optimizer and a registry cleaner that promises to help your PC run better than before. It’s terrible but PC Power Booster doesn’t need to be good to make money for its developers. The program will find dozens of issues on your computer and then … Continued

PC Power Speed is a registry cleaner that is installed without good enough explanation what it does and why it is installed. This makes PC Power Speed a “PUP” – a program, that potentially deceives user into using it. In some cases people might be unaware that they got this program installed and wonder why … Continued

PC Purifier is one of many system optimisers ofered in today’s market. As its official website states, the application should optimize and improve your PC’s performance. It asks you to scan your PC after which a list of registry errors will be detected. The creators of PC Purifier, Gold Application Development, naming themselves a partner … Continued

PC Reg Boost is advertised as a leading security product, transforming idle and sluggish devices into efficient and quick. The program could be classified among other PC optimizers that are allegedly developed to provide a number of features. Users that download or purchase PC Reg Boost expect it to manage old files and settings that … Continued

PC Registry Shield is a system optimizer that can be installed to computers using deceptive methods. It was noticed to come bundled with various free programs from the Internet and users don’t always detect it until the software settles down in their computers. PC Registry Shield is often found on a computer after downloading free music … Continued

PC Reviver is a PC optimizer that is flagged by a few antivirus scanners. Despite being an optimizer, which is a risky category to be in, it does not appear to be malicious. It has a lot of redundant features, though. Despite PC Reviver not being dangerous, it can still be considered a potentially unwanted program. … Continued

PC Smart Cleanup is an unreliable tool, promoted as an easy and effective solution to a variety of issues in Windows operating systems. It is categorized as a potentially unwanted program, but also could be referred to as a dubious system optimizer. Features of this tool are very similar to Super PC Cleanup: they fix … Continued

PC SmartCare is a shady PC optimizer by the dubious company AnswersBy. PC SmartCare offers to help optimize and protect your computer. But its developer does not appear to be trustworthy and PC SmartCare itself may be a potentially unwanted program. It is detected as such by a few anti-malware scanners. About PC SmartCare: Type … Continued

PC Speed Clean is a PC optimization tool that is supposed to help computer users to fix all registry problems, get rid of unnecessary files, etc. However, the program has some doubtful features and as it is distributed bundled to other software without properly disclosing about it, it is categorized as a potentially unwanted program. … Continued

PC Speed Up is a system optimizer that is installed to random systems together with various free programs form the Internet, like video players, PDF creators and so on. The program claims that your computer has several issues that can be solved by purchasing a full version of PC Speed Up. In fact the program … Continued

PC SpeedBoost is a questionable computer optimization tool that uses aggressive techniques in order to make computer users purchase its full version. The program can be installed from its official website. However, quite often, it is added together with various free programs, such as music or video players, PDF creators and other tools. Once inside, … Continued

Using the same computer for a few years will probably result in that computer seeming to get slower ad slower. At the same time, new software is being created to require increasingly powerful hardware. PC Speeder Pro promises to “help you boost and protect your PC” by cleaning unwanted files. This optimizer also includes a … Continued

PC SpeedLane, or PCSpeedLane, is a PC optimizer that’s entirely unnecessary, not useful, and even uses deceptive advertising to convince people to download it. This application is not malware, but it does waste hardware resources, present itself dishonestly, and is more likely to be bad for your computer’s performance. PC SpeedLane is a potentially unwanted … Continued

PC Speedup Pro is a system optimizer that is promoted through free downloads. It is an application that claims your computer has some security related issues and tries to convince computer users to purchase its full version. Beware that it is a potentially unwanted program that you should stay away from. To remove PC Speedup … Continued

PC Win Booster is a PC optimizer program and is one of many utility programs released by Soft4Boost. PC Win Booster is one of the more contentious ones. It promises to help you “scan, clean and fix your PC”, but that promise should be taken with a handful of salt. All the time, programs like … Continued

PCActivator is a fake system optimization program. It does not have a fully functional engine to increase the speed of your PC. Instead, it uses intentional false positives to make people think their computers have severe issues. When they try to fix these reported troubles, PCActivator mentions that its full version needs to be purchased … Continued

PCBooster rogue system optimizer might appear as an efficient tool to get for your Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP operating systems. Nevertheless, it is one of those programs which will trigger more security issues than solve. It belongs to the category of potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) and you might remember this group from … Continued

PCMate Free System Care is a Windows utility program that offers a variety of functions, mostly redundant ones, to help you manage your PC. It also bundles unwanted programs and is itself almost useless. PCMate can thus be classified as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) or adware. What PCMate promises PCMate offers a One-stop solution … Continued

Do you notice an unfamiliar red icon, shaped like a letter ‘p’, in your task bar and on your desktop? Pcobserver Registry Cleaner fits the description and this registry cleaner is classified among rogue security tools that are not essential. These deceptive applications aim to convince users that their operating systems are severely damaged and … Continued

PCSpeedCAT says that it can improve your computer’s speed, but it’s more likely to just hog your PC resources while it asks you to buy the paid version. Though it is not a virus, PCSpeedCAT has the ability to harm a computer, weaken its security, and just does not provide useful features. PCSpeedCAT is a … Continued

PCTechHotline is a questionable service that attempts to sell unnecessary and sometimes useless programs, such as registry or PC optimization tools. It is very similar to 24×7 Help. Usually the program appears on computers after installing some freeware or shareware applications. It can be distributed with free players, video streaming or recording tools, PDF creators, … Continued

PCTuner is listed as PUP (potentially unwanted program) due to several malicious actions that it performs. First of all it enters your computer illegally, without you even being informed about that. Secondly, it seeks to gain money from users. And it’s completely useless. For those reasons you should not keep it installed on your computer. … Continued

PDF Opener is a PUP (potentially unwanted program) and a browser extension. When installed, PDF Opener provides quick access to a PDF file converter and changes the search engine so that internet search results come in Bing.com. Advertising is built into PDF Opener, which is understandable but not always welcome. PDF Opener doesn’t need to … Continued

Pdf2docs.com (or PDF2Docs) is a browser add-on that adds a converter between Docs and PDFs to the browser’s new tab page. Upon being installed, PDF2Docs replaces the new tab with Pdf2docs.com and gets access to the browsing history and search history. Although Pdf2docs.com is not harmful and does provide the promised function, its effect on the … Continued

PDFKing is a potentially unwanted program for Mac OS, which can also install as Chrome’s extension on any operating system. This deceitful tool uses the popular demand for file converting software to lure in tons of victims, who right after the set up are bombarded with shady third-party offers, redirects, and even a browser hijacker. … Continued

Photos Exif Editor is a photo metadata editor by Systweak. Although it seems to be a regular program, its installer is flagged by multiple reputable anti-malware scanners. This happens because Photos Exif Editor bundles potentially unwanted programs, among other reasons. If you have Photos Exif Editor installed, you might want to remove it – or at … Continued

Pirate Chick VPN — a program that says that it’s a free-trial VPN tool — has been caught distributing a dangerous Trojan. And though it might not be distributing anything so dangerous at the moment, it’s worth considering using another VPN if you care about keeping your passwords private. Pirate Chick VPN is not much … Continued

Pokki is a desktop organizer and an application store. It claims to provide access to various applications and an easy way to organize them from your status bar. It’s supposed to make the system more convenient for mobile use and to return the look of earlier Windows start menus. However, Pokki is potentially harmful. In most … Continued

  Popular Screensavers Toolbar is a browser plugin that appears on Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome out of nowhere. The program is classified as PUP, as it comes as a bundle together with various freeware and it is installed automatically unless the user change some settings during the installation of the freeware. You … Continued

PowerMyMac is a potentially unwanted program. It promises to clean and optimize your Mac and like most optimizers, requires you to purchase its license. Though it’s not malicious, it may appear on computers unexpectedly. PowerMyMac is detected by some antivirus programs as iMyMac PUP (potentially unwanted program) as you can see on , as well … Continued

Powzip is a potentially unwanted program (PUP) that advertises itself as an archive viewer and file archiver utility. Some users download Powzip because they fall for the false advertising, but most end up with this tool after a careless behavior online. Powzip does perform the promised tasks, yet compared to the other strong competitors, it … Continued

Premier Opinion is a program that tracks your activity online to help advertisers understand how to advertise effectively. It is a desktop program and it runs quietly in the background, collecting a lot of data. On top of that, Premier Opinion might get installed bundled with other software, slipping users’ notice. For these reasons, . … Continued

PrivacyProTech is presented as a privacy-focused anti-malware tool and a password manager. PrivacyProTech is considered to be potentially unsafe by some anti-malware scanners, as are some other products that were released by PrivacyProTech’s developer. PrivacyProTech has the same problems as other PUPS – redundant or not good enough features and misleading presentation. About PrivacyProTech: Type of … Continued

PrivateSearch (Private-searching.net) by Safely (Safely-tools.net) is a potentially unwanted browser extension that changes the default search engine to Yahoo.com. PrivateSearch claims that it can help users avoid being tracked online. But all it does is link privacy and tracking management tools that already exist in web browsers. Because it restricts user choice while failing to offer … Continued

Potentially unwanted program (PUP) is a piece of software that users do not have any intention of installing. However, due to poorly developed skills, people consent to allow such applications to start residing in their computers. We are here to inform you about a new addition to this group, indicated as Product Updater System Service. … Continued

Pronto.com is a shopping-themed search engine that looks very normal and safe at first sight. But when looking at browser hijackers and adware viruses, checking their web analytics, I kept seeing links to Pronto.com out of the corner of my eye. What’s going on? Why do people whose computers are infected or whose browsers are … Continued

ProPcCleaner, also known as Pro PC Cleaner, is officially listed as PUP (potentially unwanted program). It pretends to be a useful free application that can clean your computer from various infections and unwanted files, but it is not true. This third-party Windows program is a generic fake optimizer that is useless at best. In fact, ProPcCleaner … Continued

PUP.Optional is a general name used by Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software to categorize applications that can be dangerous and malicious, but some users might find it useful, thus it’s up to them to decide whether they want to keep or remove it. There is a variety of different PUP.Optional viruses that get detected by MBAM and … Continued