Malwarebytes keeps showing me PUP.Optional.InstallCore but I don’t know what it is. It doesn’t seem to go away, even though I have restarted my computer many times. Can someone tell me if it is dangerous? Was it the reason I received tons of ads on Internet Explorer? I heard Malwarebytes does sometimes detect things that aren’t necessarily dangerous to my computer. Should I leave it alone? If not, what’s the best way to get rid of it from my computer?
PUP.Optional.InstallCore belongs to a potentially unwanted program that usually installs along with other malware, Trojan viruses or adware onto a system without any knowledge. It can run every time your system starts up because it can add malicious codes and its own start-up registry entries once downloaded. Generally speaking, this type of PUP is designed to make money for its creators by promoting different Web sites and enhancing their web traffic and page ranks. As soon as it is installed, it changes your computer setting and seriously affects web browsers installed on your computer like IE, Firefox and Chrome. As a result, you may not able to access your favorite website because your browser will redirect you to irrelevant pages randomly. Also you may be displayed by numerous crazy and annoying pop-up windows. Your browsing activities will be interrupted and some weird toolbars may be installed on your browser without your knowledge.
In addition, it slows down the whole speed of the corrupted PC by adding large amount of worthless files to occupy the system resources. Whenever you try to run a certain program it always gets stuck or shuts down suddenly without allowing you to save your important data. PUP.Optional.InstallCore aims to weaken website browser functions and make them hard to respond to your command and fulfill your wish for efficient web browsing. It can track your surfing habits, collect important data and send to a third party. If you do not want to get money loss eventually or mess up your computer, you are recommended to get rid of PUP.Optional.InstallCore manually.
1. It can compromise your system and may introduce additional infections like rogue software.
2. It forces you to visit websites and advertisements which are not trusted and may lead you to pay money wrongly for worthless products.
3. It takes up high resources and strikingly slows down your computer speed and even causes your computer stuck frequently.
4. It may allow cyber criminals to track your computer and steal your personal information.
From malicious drive-by-download scripts from corrupted porn and shareware / freeware websites.
Through spam email attachments, media downloads and social networks.
When clicking suspicious pop-ups or malicious links.
Open unknown email or download media files that contain the activation code of the virus.
Currently many computer users had the same experience that this virus couldn’t be removed by any anti-virus applications. So the manual approach is always required to combat this virus. And here is the step-by-step removal guide for all computer users.
1. End the malicious process from Task Manager.
Once PUP.Optional.InstallCore is installed, computer user may notice that CPU usage randomly jumps to 100 percent. At any time Windows always has many running processes. A process is an individual task that the computer runs. In general, the more processes, the more work the computer has to do and the slower it will run. If your system’s CPU spike is constant and remain at a constant 90-95%, users should check from Task Manager and see if there is a suspicious process occupying system resources and then end it immediately.
(The name of the virus process can be random.)
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to quickly bring up Task Manager Window：
2. Show hidden files and folders.
Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.
Click the View tab.
Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click OK.
3. Open Registry entries. Find out the malicious files and entries and then delete all.
Attention: Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.
a. Press Windows key + R to open Run box. In the “Open” field, type “regedit” and click the “OK” button.
Then a Registry Editor window will pop up as the following picture shows:
b. Search malicious files and registry entries and then remove all of them:
%AllUsersProfile%\[random]
%AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\[random]
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\[random]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Temp
PUP.Optional.InstallCore is a specific detection used by Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to indicate and detect Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP). If you are a victim, you will be bombarded with tons of pop-ups and you will be randomly redirected to harmful websites against your wills. Generally speaking, PUP.Optional.InstallCore is not a virus, but it can cause some real damages to both privacy and the performance of the infected system. As soon as it is installed, it will completely decrease your system performance and slow down your PC speed. Whenever you open your browser to surf the Internet, lots of annoying adverts start showing on the computer system. You are not able to minimize the ads windows, nor close them by simply clicking X. This PUP can make several unwanted changes to your computer settings. It can modify your homepage, add unwanted toolbar and bookmarks, and redirect you to other malicious websites where your system can get infected by more threats. As mentioned above, this PUP is a major threat for your system security and privacy. You are advised to delete PUP.Optional.InstallCore from your PC as early as possible.
Note: If you are not knowledgeable enough to be able to distinguish the location of this virus, or you are afraid of making mistake during the manual removal, please contact experts from Yoocare Online Tech Support for further help.
Published by on April 26, 2016 7:00 am, last updated on April 26, 2016 7:00 am
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