How to remove PC Smart Cleanup (Virus Removal Guide)

What is PC Smart Cleanup?

PC Smart Cleanup is a potentially unwanted program (or PUP) that is promoted as a Windows Optimizer and Registry Cleaner. PC Smart Cleanup claims that it can increase a computer’s performance and privacy by fixing registry, malware, and privacy issues on the computer.

Once PC Smart Cleanup is installed it will scan the computer. The results of the scan will suggest that the program has detected a variety of issues. The program will label the issues under different levels of severity from severe to critical. However, PC Smart Cleanup will not actually list the issues that it has allegedly found. In order to fix the issues detected by the program, you must purchase the program.

The fact that PC Smart Cleanup will not show the results it has found could indicate that the program is simply trying to scare victims into purchasing the program. It is a tactic employed by similar programs in the past.

To make matters worse, the PC Smart Cleanup PUP is usually advertised on websites that also bolster malware, adware, spyware, computer viruses, and other malicious threats. Websites that contain prohibited content such as illegal video streams, torrents, and pornography will utilize unethical adverting networks that will promote this program and other threats at the same time. This means that if you found PC Smart Cleanup installed on your computer without your knowledge, it is likely that your computer is also infected with other unwanted programs, malware, and major security threats that should be removed.

• Microsoft does not support the use of registry cleaners. “Some programs available for free on the internet might contain spyware, adware, or viruses.”
• The pc-smart-cleanup.exe file associated with the program is detected as a potentially unwanted program and trojan by reputable Antivirus programs according to Google’s VirusTotal report.

Follow the PC Smart Cleanup removal guide on this page to remove PC Smart Cleanup, viruses, malware, and potentially unwanted programs from your computer.

1. Uninstall PC Smart Cleanup from Windows

1. Right-click Windows start menu and select Programs and Features or open the start menu and go to the Control Panel and click Uninstall a program.
2. Find the program you want to uninstall in the list of installed programs and double-click it to begin the uninstall process.

2. Remove PC Smart Cleanup with Malwarebytes

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1. Open your browser window and download Malwarebytes 3.0 Premium or Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free.
2. Open the executable file (mb3-setup.exe) to begin installing Malwarebytes.
3. Select your language, click Next, then select “I accept the agreement,” click the Next button several times, and then click the Install button to install Malwarebytes. Click Finish once the install process is complete.
4. Open Malwarebytes and click the Scan Now button on the Dashboard to begin scanning your computer.
5. Click the Quarantine Selected button once the scan is finished.
6. 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.

3. Remove PC Smart Cleanup with HitmanPro

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1. Open your browser window and download HitmanPro.
2. Open the executable file (hitmanpro_x64.exe or hitmanpro_x32.exe) to begin installing HitmanPro.
3. Click the Next button, check “I accept the terms of the license agreement,” and click the Next button again.
4. On the Setup page select “Yes, create a copy of HitmanPro so I can regularly scan this computer (recommended)” and add your email address to the registration fields to begin the free trial.
5. Click Next to begin scanning your computer.
6. Once the Scan results are displayed click the Next button and click the Next button again on the Removal results page.

4. Clean up and fix issues with CCleaner

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1. Open your browser window and download CCleaner Professional or CCleaner Free.
2. Open the executable file (ccsetup.exe or other) to begin installing CCleaner.
3. Click the Install button to begin stalling the program.
4. Click Run CCleaner to open the program when installation is complete.
5. Select the Cleaner tab and click the Analyze button.
6. When the Analyze process is complete click the Run Cleaner button to clean all files.
7. Next, select the Registry tab and click the Scan for Issues button to scan for issues in your registry.
8. When the scan is complete click the Fix selected Issues button and Fix All Selected Issues button to fix the issues.
9. Next, select the Tools tab and click Startup. Examine each area, search for suspicious entries, and delete any suspicious startup entries by selecting the entry and clicking the Delete button.
10. Next, click Browser Plugins and search each internet browser for unwanted browser add-ons and extensions. Click the extension you want to delete and click the Delete button to remove it.