How To Remove PUP.Optional.AskToolBar (Virus Removal Guide)

PUP.Optional.AskToolBar is a heuristic detection designed to generically detect a Potentially Unwanted Program. A potentially unwanted application is a program that contains adware, installs toolbars or has other unclear objectives.

When infected with PUP.Optional.AskToolBar the common symptoms include:

Advertising banners are injected with the web pages that you are visiting.
Random web page text is turned into hyperlinks.
Browser popups appear which recommend fake updates or other software.
Other unwanted adware programs might get installed without the user’s knowledge.
Changing the web browser’s default home page
Changing the browser’s search provider and built-in search box

Files reported as PUP.Optional.AskToolBar may not necessarily be malicious. Should you be uncertain as to whether a file has been reported correctly, you can submit the affected file to https://www.virustotal.com/en/ to be scanned with multiple antivirus engines.

How to remove PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware (Virus Removal Guide)

This malware removal guide may appear overwhelming due to the amount of the steps and numerous programs that are being used. We have only written it this way to provide clear, detailed, and easy to understand instructions that anyone can use to remove malware for free.
Please perform all the steps in the correct order. If you have any questions or doubt at any point, STOP and ask for our assistance.

To remove the PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware, follow these steps:

STEP 1: Use AdwCleaner to remove the PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware
STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to scan for Malware and Unwanted Programs
STEP 3: Double-check for malicious programs with HitmanPro
(OPTIONAL) STEP 4: Reset your browser to default settings

STEP 1: Use AdwCleaner to remove the PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware

AdwCleaner is a free utility that will scan and remove the PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware from your computer.

You can download Malwarebytes AdwCleaner from the below link.
MALWAREBYTES ADWCLEANER DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will start the download of “Malwarebytes AdwCleaner” on your computer)
When Malwarebytes AdwCleaner has finished downloading, please double-click on the AdwCleaner icon to perform a system scan with this program.

If Windows prompts you as to whether or not you wish to run Malwarebytes AdwCleaner, please allow it to run.
When the Malwarebytes AdwCleaner program will open, click on the “Scan” button as shown below.

Malwarebytes AdwCleaner will now start to search for the PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware and other malicious programs.
To remove the malicious files that were detected in the previous step, please click on the “Clean” button.
Malwarebytes AdwCleaner will prompt you to save any open files or documents, as the program will need to reboot the computer to complete the cleaning process. Please do so, and then click on the “OK” button.

When your computer reboots and you are logged in, Malwarebytes AdwCleaner will automatically open a log file that contains the files, registry keys, and programs that were removed from your computer. Please review this log file and then close the notepad window.
You can now continue with the rest of the instructions.

STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to scan for Malware and Unwanted Programs

Malwarebytes is a powerful on-demand scanner which will scan your PC for malware and other unwanted programs that may have been installed without your knowledge. It is important to note that Malwarebytes will run alongside antivirus software without conflicts.

You can download download Malwarebytes from the below link.
MALWAREBYTES DOWNLOAD LINK (This link open a new page from where you can download “Malwarebytes”)
When Malwarebytes has finished downloading, double-click on the “mb3-setup-consumer” file to install Malwarebytes on your computer.

You may be presented with an User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow Malwarebytes to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
When the Malwarebytes installation begins, you will see the Malwarebytes Setup Wizard which will guide you through the installation process.

To install Malwarebytes on your machine, keep following the prompts by clicking the “Next” button.
Once installed, Malwarebytes will automatically start and update the antivirus database. To start a system scan you can click on the “Scan Now” button.
Malwarebytes will now start scanning your computer for malicious programs.
This process can take a few minutes, so we suggest you do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan to see when it is finished.
When the scan has completed, you will be presented with a screen showing the malware infections that Malwarebytes has detected.
To remove the malicious programs that Malwarebytes has found, click on the “Quarantine Selected” button.
Malwarebytes will now quarantine all the malicious files and registry keys that it has found.
To complete the malware removal process, Malwarebytes may ask you to restart your computer.

When the malware removal process is complete, you can close Malwarebytes and continue with the rest of the instructions.

STEP 3: Double-check for malicious programs for HitmanPro

HitmanPro can find and remove malware, adware, bots, and other threats that even the best antivirus suite can oftentimes miss. HitmanPro is designed to run alongside your antivirus suite, firewall, and other security tools.

You can download HitmanPro from the below link:
HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a new web page from where you can download “HitmanPro”)
When HitmanPro has finished downloading, double-click on the “hitmanpro” file to install this program on your computer.

You may be presented with an User Account Control pop-up asking if you want to allow HitmanPro to make changes to your device. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below. Now click on the Next button to continue with the scan process.
HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for malware.
When it has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found as shown in the image below. Click on the “Next” button, to remove malware.
Click on the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.

When the process is complete, you can close HitmanPro and continue with the rest of the instructions.

(OPTIONAL) STEP 4: Reset your browser to default settings

If you are still experiencing issues with the PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware within Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome, we will need to reset your browser to its default settings.
This step should be performed only if your issues have not been solved by the previous steps.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome has an option that will reset itself to its default settings. Resetting your browser settings will reset the unwanted changes caused by installing other programs. However, your saved bookmarks and passwords will not be cleared or changed.

Click on Chrome’s main menu button, represented by three horizontal lines. When the drop-down menu appears, select the option labeled Settings.
Chrome’s Settings should now be displayed in a new tab or window, depending on your configuration. Next, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Advanced link (as seen in the below example).
Chrome’s advanced Settings should now be displayed. Scroll down until the Reset browser settings section is visible, as shown in the example below. Next, click on the Reset settings button.
A confirmation dialog should now be displayed, detailing the components that will be restored to their default state should you continue on with the reset process. To complete the restoration process, click on the Reset button.

Internet Explorer

You can reset Internet Explorer settings to return them to the state they were in when Internet Explorer was first installed on your PC.

Open Internet Explorer, click on the “gear icon” in the upper right part of your browser, then click again on Internet Options.
In the “Internet Options” dialog box, click on the “Advanced” tab, then click on the “Reset” button.
In the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” section, select the “Delete personal settings” check box, then click on “Reset” button.
When Internet Explorer has completed its task, click on the “Close” button in the confirmation dialogue box. You will now need to close your browser, and then you can open Internet Explorer again.

Mozilla Firefox

If you’re having problems with Firefox, resetting it can help. The reset feature fixes many issues by restoring Firefox to its factory default state while saving your essential information like bookmarks, passwords, web form auto-fill information, browsing history and open tabs.

In the upper-right corner of the Firefox window, click the Firefox menu button, then click on the “Help” button.
From the Help menu, choose Troubleshooting Information.
If you’re unable to access the Help menu, type about:support in your address bar to bring up the Troubleshooting information page.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button in the upper-right corner of the “Troubleshooting Information” page.
To continue, click on the “Refresh Firefox” button in the new confirmation window that opens.
Firefox will close itself and will revert to its default settings. When it’s done, a window will list the information that was imported. Click on the “Finish“.

Your old Firefox profile will be placed on your desktop in a folder named “Old Firefox Data“. If the reset didn’t fix your problem you can restore some of the information not saved by copying files to the new profile that was created. If you don’t need this folder any longer, you should delete it as it contains sensitive information.

Your PC should now be free of the PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware. If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove PUP.Optional.AskToolBar adware from your PC, please do one of the following:

Run a system scan with Zemana AntiMalware
Ask for help in our Malware Removal Assistance For Windows forum.

Here are 10 basic security tips to help you avoid malware and protect your device:

To avoid potential dangers on the internet, it's important to follow these 10 basic safety rules. By doing so, you can protect yourself from many of the unpleasant surprises that can arise when using the web.