How to Remove PC Cleaner

PC Cleaner is spyware that acts as if it's going to rid your computer of a spyware infection. When your computer is infected by malware, a screen may pop up to prompt you to buy a malware remover, but you're really being tricked into paying for a program that will add to the problem. PC Cleaner is one of these malware programs. Once it's downloaded, you will receive annoying pop-ups; your system may become sluggish as the program simulates a worse infection than is actually there. To rid yourself of PC Cleaner, you'll have to delete the application and all of the registry entries the program created. Once you've done that, PC Cleaner--and the plague of pop-ups that comes with it--will be gone.

Instructions

1. Open the Task Manager by simultaneously pushing the "Ctrl," "Alt" and "Delete" keys on your keyboard. Click on the "Processes" tab to show all of the programs that are currently running on your computer. Click on the "PC-Cleaner.exe" process to highlight it and click on "End Process" to stop PC Cleaner from running.

2. Click on "Computer" or "My Computer."

3. Click on the hard drive, which is normally the (C:) drive.

4. Click on the "Windows" system folder.

5. Click on the "System32" folder.

6. Find and delete "pcsd.dll" and close all open windows.

7. Click on "Start" and then click on "Run..."

8. Type "regedit" in the box and click on "OK."

9. Delete the following registry keys, and ONLY THE FOLLOWING REGISTRY KEYS:

   The first registry key that needs to be deleted will be used as an example of how to delete a registry key:

   Click on "HKEY_USERS"; a set of subfolders will appear. Click on the "S-1-5-21-1172441840-534431857-1906119351-500" subfolder. Click on "Software." Click on the "Microsoft" subfolder and then "Windows," "CurrentVersion," "Run," and finally "”PC-Cleaner” = “”C:\Program Files\PC-Cleaner\PC-Cleaner.exe” hideâ€." Right-click on "”PC-Cleaner” = “”C:\Program Files\PC-Cleaner\PC-Cleaner.exe” hideâ€" and click on "Delete" to delete the value from the registry.

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved\”{82297D11-31C1-40B1-960A-BDF40B3B365F}” = “pcsd”

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PC-Cleaner

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\pcsd

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{82297D11-31C1-40B1-960A-BDF40B3B365F}

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\PC-Cleaner

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PC-Cleaner

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{82297D11-31C1-40B1-960A-BDF40B3B365F}

   HKEY_CURRENT_USERS\Software\PC-Cleaner

10. Delete each of these PC Cleaner files from the system folder in which it was installed (typically the "Programs" folder, as indicated by the phrase "C:\Program Files\PC-Cleaner" in the PC Cleaner registry key, but you could do a system search using "PC Cleaner" as the keyword):

    log.dat

    settings.dat

    PC-Cleaner.lnk

    Register PC-Cleaner.lnk

    Start PC-Cleaner.lnk

    Uninstall PC-Cleaner.lnk

    pcsd.dll

    PC-Cleaner.db

    PC-Cleaner.exe

    pccleaner.pkg

    program.info

    Uninstall.exe

11. Once you've deleted each of these items, restart your computer. PC Cleaner should be removed from your system after the reboot.

Tips & Warnings

• Back up your system before doing any work in your registry. If you delete a registry key, your system may not function properly.

Resources

• PC Cleaner Information