Auto PC Care is recognized as a potentially unwanted program (PUP) and malicious program by many reputable Antivirus detection engines including Malwarebytes, Endgame, ESET, and Sophos.
There are several issues with Auto PC Care and how it is advertised. For example, Auto PC Care utilizes deceptive marketing practices that are designed to deceive you in order to trick you into downloading installing the program. In one marketing campaign, the Auto PC Care program will use advertisements that say your computer is infected with a certain amount of viruses. The advertisement employs a fake Microsoft website and claims that the removal of viruses is required immediately to prevent further system damage and loss of apps, photos, and other files. The advertisement also says that traces of phishing software and spyware was found on your computer and that your personal banking information is at risk.
- Never trust a program that lies to you before you download it.
The two other main issues with Auto PC Care is that it may promote itself as free to use although it is not and the program scan is deceptive; the scan will claim that harmless files are high risk. These issues tie into each other because the program will scan your computer and then claim that a large amount of potentially unwanted files were found. However, in order to remove the files detected by the program, you must purchase a 6-month license. To add more, it is difficult to locate information about the length of the license, even when you visit their webpage.
In addition, the program vehemently promotes a tech support phone number with constant pop-ups. Tech support like this is typically known to perform various scams to extort money from you.
Follow these steps to completely remove Auto PC Care and other malicious files from your computer:
1. Right-click the Start Menu and go to Apps and Features.
2. Find Auto PC Care in the list of installed programs, click it with your mouse, and click the Uninstall button. This will uninstall the program, but it won’t actually be removed from your computer.
3. Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software to scan your computer and remove malicious files and potentially unwanted programs.
4. To install the program, locate and double-click the executable file you just downloaded. The file can usually be found in the Download folder.
5. Choose if this is for home or work use and click Agree and Install to begin installing Malwarebytes. Once the installation is complete, click Finish.
6. Once Malwarebytes is installed, open the program and click the Scan Now button on the dashboard – or go to the Scan tab and click the Start Scan button.
7. When the scan is complete click the Quarantine Selected button.
8. If Malwarebytes says “All selected items have been removed successfully. A log file has been saved to the logs folder. Your computer needs to be restarted to complete the removal process. Would you like to restart now?” click the Yes button to restart your computer.
9. Download HitmanPro to perform a second-opinion scan and remove any remaining malicious trace files. A second-opinion scan is important when removing malware and malicious files from your computer.
10. To install the program, locate and double-click the executable file you just downloaded. The file can usually be found in the Download folder.
11. Once HitmanPro is installed, open the program and click Next to start scanning your computer. *If you are using the free version you may choose to create a copy or perform a one-time scan.
12. When the HitmanPro scan is complete, click the Next button.
13. To activate the free version of HitmanPro: enter your email address twice and click the Activate button.
14. Click the Reboot button.
Leave a Comment