How to remove Universal PC Care (Virus Removal Guide)

Universal PC Care is a potentially unwanted program, which is advertised as a system optimizer, and once installed it claims that several issues were been detected on your computer. However, if you try to fix these issues, Universal PC Care will state that you need to buy the full version before being able to do so.

Universal PC Care is bundled with other free software that you download off of the Internet. Unfortunately, some free downloads do not adequately disclose that other software will also be installed and you may find that you have installed adware without your knowledge.

The Windows registry is a database that Windows and its applications store their settings in. It contains hundreds of thousands of entries. Some of the entries may be slightly outdated — maybe you’ve uninstalled a program and it left a key or two behind, or maybe a there’s a file extension with no associated application.
Universal PC Care scans your registry for these outdated entries and offers to remove them. Because there are so many registry entries to go through, this program may sometimes also remove useful registry entries, causing you problems. The Web is full of stories from people who have run a registry cleaner and encountered problems. In a best-case scenario, Universal PC Care will remove a few hundred unnecessary entries and reduce the size of your registry by a few kilobytes. This makes no difference in perceptible performance.
If you must use a registry cleaner, you don’t have to pay anything. Using a free registry cleaner, such as the registry cleaner included with the respected CCleaner utility, is good enough.

How to remove Universal PC Care (Virus Removal Guide)

• STEP 1: Uninstall Universal PC Care from Windows
• STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to remove Universal PC Care
• STEP 3: Use HitmanPro to scan for malware and unwanted programs
• STEP 4: Double-check for malicious programs with Zemana AntiMalware Free

STEP 1: Uninstall Universal PC Care from Windows

In this first step, we will try to identify and remove any malicious program that might be installed on your computer.

1. Go to “Programs and Features”.

   Windows 10

   1. On the Start menu, type Control Panel in the search box and select “Control Panel” from the results.
      
   2. When the “Control Panel” window opens click on the “Uninstall a program” option under the “Programs” category.
      

   Windows 8

   Right-click on the Start button in the lower-left corner and select “Programs and Features”. This will take you directly to your list of installed programs.

   

   • If you can’t find the Programs and Features in the Start menu, type “programs and features” into the search bar at the bottom of the Start window, then click the “Programs and Features” result.
   • If you don’t have a Start button, you are likely running Windows 8 instead of Windows 8.1. Press the Windows key + X to open the menu instead and select “Programs and Features”.

   Windows 7

   1. Click on Start, then select “Control Panel”.Start by clicking on the Start button, then click on “Control Panel”.
      
      If you don’t see “Control Panel” here, type control panel into the search bar at the bottom of the Start window, then click the “Control Panel” result.
   2. When the “Control Panel” appears, click on “Uninstall a Program” from the Programs category.
      

2. Find the malicious program and uninstall it.

   The “Programs and Features” screen will be displayed with a list of all the programs installed on your PC. Scroll through the list until you find the “Universal PC Care” and “Driver Updater” programs, then click to highlight it, then click the “Uninstall” button that appears on the top toolbar.

   To find more easily a recently installed program, you can click on the “Installed On” column to sort your program by the installation date.

   

3. Follow the on-screen prompts to uninstall the program.

   In the next message box, confirm the uninstall process by clicking on Yes, then follow the prompts to uninstall the program.

   Make sure to read all of the prompts carefully, because some malicious programs try to sneak things in hoping that you won’t read closely.

STEP 2: Use Malwarebytes to remove Universal PC Care

Malwarebytes is one of the most popular and most used anti-malware software for Windows, and for good reasons. It is able to destroy many types of malware that other software tends to miss, without costing you absolutely nothing. When it comes to cleaning up an infected device, Malwarebytes has always been free and we recommend it as an essential tool in the fight against malware.

The first time you install Malwarebytes, you’re given a free 14-day trial of the premium edition, which includes preventative tools like real-time scanning and specific protection from ransomware. After two weeks, it automatically reverts to the basic free version that will detect and clean up malware infections only when you run a scan. It is important to note that Malwarebytes will run alongside antivirus software without conflicts.

1. Download Malwarebytes.

   You can download Malwarebytes by clicking the link below.

   MALWAREBYTES DOWNLOAD LINK
   (The above link will open a new page from where you can download Malwarebytes)

2. Double-click on the Malwarebytes setup file.

   When Malwarebytes has finished downloading, double-click on the mb3-setup-consumer-x.x.x.xxxx.exe file to install Malwarebytes on your PC. In most cases, downloaded files are saved to the Downloads folder.

   
   You may be presented with a 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.
   

3. Follow the on-screen prompts to install Malwarebytes.

   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 PC, click on the “Agree and Install” button.
   
   

4. Click on “Scan Now”.

   Once installed, Malwarebytes will automatically start and update the antivirus database. To perform a system scan, click on the “Scan Now” button.
   

5. Wait for the Malwarebytes scan to complete.

   Malwarebytes will now start scanning your computer for adware and other 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.
   

6. Click on “Quarantine Selected”.

   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.
   

7. Reboot your computer.

   Malwarebytes will now remove 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: Use HitmanPro to scan for malware and unwanted programs

HitmanPro is a second opinion scanner that takes a unique cloud-based approach to malware scanning. HitmanPro scans the behavior of active files and also files in locations where malware normally resides for suspicious activity. If it finds a suspicious file that’s not already known, HitmanPro sends it to their clouds to be scanned by two of the best antivirus engines today, which are Bitdefender and Kaspersky.

Although HitmanPro is shareware and costs $24.95 for 1 year on 1 PC, there is actually no limit in scanning. The limitation only kicks in when there is a need to remove or quarantine detected malware by HitmanPro on your system and by then, you can activate the one time 30-days trial to enable the cleanup.

1. Download HitmanPro.

   You can download HitmanPro by clicking the link below.

   HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK
   (The above link will open a new web page from where you can download HitmanPro)

2. Install HitmanPro.

   When HitmanPro has finished downloading, double-click on “hitmanpro.exe” (for 32-bit versions of Windows) or “hitmanpro_x64.exe” (for 64-bit versions of Windows) to install this program on your PC. In most cases, downloaded files are saved to the Downloads folder.
   
   You may be presented with a 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.

   

3. Follow the on-screen prompts.

   When HitmanPro starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below. Click on the “Next” button to perform a system scan.
   

4. Wait for the HitmanPro scan to complete.

   HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for malicious programs. This process will take a few minutes.
   

5. Click on “Next”.

   When HitmanPro has finished the scan, it will display a list of all the malware that the program has found. Click on the “Next” button to remove the malicious programs.
   

6. Click on “Activate free license”.

   Click on the “Activate free license” button to begin the free 30 days trial and remove all the malicious files from your PC.
   
   When the process is complete, you can close HitmanPro and continue with the rest of the instructions.

STEP 4: Double-check for malicious programs with Zemana AntiMalware Free

Zemana AntiMalware is a free popular on-demand antivirus scanner which can detect and remove malware that even the most well-known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to find.
While the Malwarebytes and HitmanPro scans are more than enough, we’re recommending Zemana AntiMalware Free to users who still have malware related issues or just want make sure their computer is 100% clean.

1. Download Zemana AntiMalware.

   You can download Zemana AntiMalware Free by clicking the link below.

   ZEMANA ANTIMALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK
   (The above link will open a new web page from where you can download Zemana AntiMalware)

2. Double-click on the setup file.

   Double-click on the file named “Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.exe” to start the installation of Zemana AntiMalware. In most cases, downloaded files are saved to the Downloads folder.
   
   You may be presented with a User Account Control dialog asking you if you want to run this file. If this happens, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.
   

3. Install Zemana AntiMalware Free.

   Click on the “Next” button to install Zemana AntiMalware on your PC. Follow the on-screen prompts to complete the install process.
   

4. Click on “Scan Now”.

   When Zemana AntiMalware will start, click on the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan.
   

5. Wait for the Zemana AntiMalware scan to complete.

   Zemana AntiMalware will now scan your PC for malicious files. This process can take a few minutes.
   

6. Click on “Apply Action”.

   When Zemana AntiMalware has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found. Click on the “Apply Action” button to remove the malicious files from your computer.
   

7. Restart your PC.

   When the malware removal process is complete, Zemana AntiMalware may need to restart your computer. Click on the “Reboot” button to reset your PC.
   

Universal PC Care should now be removed from your computer. If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove the Universal PC Care from your computer, please do one of the following:

• Run a computer scan with ESET Online Scanner
• Ask for help in our Malware Removal Assistance for Windows forum.