PC Cleaner

PC Cleaner Description

Do not be fooled! PC Cleaner is a fake security program, which is part of a well-known computer scam. Applications like PC Cleaner are known as rogues, rogue security application or rogue defragmenters. Basically, programs like PC Cleaner pretend to be legitimate security programs, while actually causing a large number of problems on the infected computer system. While they advertise that they clean, or speed up your computer, in reality they do the complete opposite of what they promise. Rather than cleaning your computer system, PC Cleaner is a malware infection that will almost certainly cause your computer system to become slower, more unstable, and infected with other malware threats. PC Cleaner has a browser hijacking component that will force the victim to visit the PC Cleaner website constantly. Because of these characteristics, ESG malware researchers consider PC Cleaner a malware infection that should be dealt with as soon as possible.

Removing a PC Cleaner Infection from Your Computer

PC Cleaner cannot be removed through normal means. While other programs have a convenient uninstall button or can be removed through the Control Panel, it is nearly impossible to remove PC Cleaner through normal means. To remove PC Cleaner, it is necessary to undo the harmful changes PC Cleaner makes to your system settings and to the Windows Registry. Since PC Cleaner cannot be removed through normal means, an actual anti-malware program will be necessary to remove PC Cleaner. However, it is important to first bypass PC Cleaner's self-defense features. PC Cleaner can block legitimate security applications from launching and can also block certain websites associated with security programs. To prevent PC Cleaner from doing so, ESG PC security analysts recommend starting up Windows in Safe Mode. Safe Mode prevents PC Cleaner from launching, starting and stopping processes in the background.

PC Cleaner Seldom Attacks Alone

It is important to take into account that a malware like PC Cleaner seldom attacks alone. The presence of PC Cleaner on your computer is a sure sign of other Trojan infections being present. One particularly worrying situation is the association of PC Cleaner with several dangerous rootkits. Rootkits associated with PC Cleaner include the ZeroAccess rootkits. In these cases, ESG PC security researchers recommend using a specialized anti-rootkit tool to remove any rootkit infections, before attempting the removal of PC Cleaner. It is often almost impossible to remove PC Cleaner, unless its associated rootkit is removed.

Technical Information

File System Details

PC Cleaner creates the following file(s):
# File Name Size MD5
1 PC-Cleaner.exe 1,474,560 3fb985e61ad88b31285ce853655f16ad
2 PCCleaner_Installer_eng[1].exe 198,293 50478a80b8540703db578bcde804c28f
3 pcsd.dll 307,200 1c9d7d4da0b74ccbb8945cff5aa6bfcc
More files

Registry Details

PC Cleaner creates the following registry entry or registry entries:
Cookies
pc-cleaner
File name without path
PC-Cleaner.lnk
Directory
%AppData%\PC-Cleaner
%ProgramFiles%\PC-Cleaner

More Details on PC Cleaner

The following cookies were found:
  • pc-cleaner

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Site Disclaimer

Enigmasoftware.com is not associated, affiliated, sponsored or owned by the malware creators or distributors mentioned on this article. This article should NOT be mistaken or confused in being associated in any way with the promotion or endorsement of malware. Our intent is to provide information that will educate computer users on how to detect, and ultimately remove, malware from their computer with the help of SpyHunter and/or manual removal instructions provided on this article.

This article is provided "as is" and to be used for educational information purposes only. By following any instructions on this article, you agree to be bound by the disclaimer. We make no guarantees that this article will help you completely remove the malware threats on your computer. Spyware changes regularly; therefore, it is difficult to fully clean an infected machine through manual means.

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By ESGI Advisor in Rogue Anti-Spyware Program
Translate To: Japanese Português
Threat Scorecard
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The ESL Threat Scorecard is an assessment report that is given to every malware threat that has been collected and analyzed through our Malware Research Center. The ESL Threat Scorecard evaluates and ranks each threat by using several metrics such as trends, incidents and severity over time.

In addition to the effective scoring for each threat, we are able to interpret anonymous geographic data to list the top three countries infected with a particular threat. The data used for the ESL Threat Scorecard is updated daily and displayed based on trends for a 30-day period. The ESL Threat Scorecard is a useful tool for a wide array of computer users from end users seeking a solution to remove a particular threat or security experts pursuing analysis and research data on emerging threats.

Each of the fields listed on the ESL Threat Scorecard, containing a specific value, are as follows:

Ranking: The current ranking of a particular threat among all the other threats found on our malware research database.

Threat Level: The level of threat a particular computer threat could have on an infected computer. The threat level is based on a particular threat's behavior and other risk factors. We rate the threat level as low, medium or high. The different threat levels are discussed in the SpyHunter Risk Assessment Model.

Infected Computer: The number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular threat detected on infected computers retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter's Spyware Scanner.

% Change: The daily percent change in the frequency of infected computers of a specific threat. The formula for percent changes results from current trends of a specific threat. An increase in the rankings of a specific threat yields a recalculation of the percentage of its recent gain. When a specific threat's ranking decreases, the percentage rate reflects its recent decline. For a specific threat remaining unchanged, the percent change remains in its current state. The % Change data is calculated and displayed in three different date ranges, in the last 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days. Next to the percentage change is the trend movement a specific malware threat does, either upward or downward, in the rankings. Each level of movement is color coded: a green up-arrow (∧) indicates a rise, a red down-arrow (∨) indicates a decline, and a brown equal symbol (=) indicates no change or plateaued.

Top 3 Countries Infected: Lists the top three countries a particular threat has targeted the most over the past month. This data allows computer users to track the geographic distribution of a particular threat throughout the world.
Ranking: N/A
Threat Level: 6
Infected Computers: 3,556