A PUP or Potentially Unwanted Program is software that has adware/malware and may install toolbars into the computer. Usually, you can get PUPs bundled along with free software that you can download from the internet.
PUPs are problematic and can cause the computer to freeze, crash and turn unstable. Go through this article fully and try to remove the PUP virus from the computer with the help of the methods given here.
Methods to Get Rid of PUP Virus
In this section of the article, you will get to learn three specific methods to get rid of the PUP virus from the computer in an easy manner.
Remove the Potentially Unwanted Programs from the Machine
Here, you will get steps on how to delete the malicious code from the computer. So the follow along.
- First, tap on the keys ‘Windows + R’ together. This action will open up a new dialog box named ‘Run’.
- Inside that dialog box, enter the text “control” beside the label ‘Open:’. Next, click on the ‘OK’ button.
- As soon as you do that, a new window having the name ‘Control Panel’ will come up. Inside that window, you will get various types of setting categories specific to the computer, which can be altered.
- Now, from that window, locate and then choose the ‘Programs’ option. Next, a new page within that window will come up with the name ‘Programs’.
- Inside that page, find and choose the ‘Programs and Features’ option. This action will launch a new page that consists of a list of all the applications installed within the computer.
- From that list, locate the PUP, right-click on it. After that, from the popup menu that comes up, choose the ‘Uninstall’ option.
- Next, a new uninstaller window for this software will appear, in it, follow the instructions that come up on the window and accordingly remove the application from the computer.
- At last, restart the computer and then see if the computer functions normally or not.
Scan the Computer with Windows Defender
If the above method is unable to remove the PUP virus from the computer, then the best solution to delete this malicious code is to perform a scan with the Windows Defender program. Follow the steps below.
- First, press the combination of ‘Windows + I’ keys simultaneously, to reveal a new window having the name ‘Windows Settings’.
- Inside this window, there are plenty of settings categories specific to the Windows Operating System that you can alter at your will. Now, out of all the categories, choose the one that says ‘Update & Security’.
- As soon as you do that, a new page within this window will appear, in it, go the left pane and choose the ‘Windows Defender’ option.
- Now, move to the right side of that page and then click on the ‘Open Windows Defender Security Center’ button. A new window having the name ‘Windows Defender Security Center’ will come up.
- Inside that window, locate and then tap on the ‘Virus and threat Protection’ button. Now, click on the ‘Quick scan’ button, which will scan the computer for any potential virus.
- At last, if the program finds any malicious code within the computer, it will be either deleted or quarantined automatically.
Use Any Reliable Software to Remove the PUP Virus
If neither of the two methods, present above can remove the pup virus from the computer, then as a last solution use a reliable pup removal software. Here are the steps that you can follow.
- First, search for a reliable pup removal software from the internet.
- After that, from the search result, locate and choose a reliable application and visit its official website. Next, download the setup file of that software from its website.
- Now, install it by following the on-screen information within the installer and then tap on the ‘Install’ button.
- Once the installation process of this software is over, launch it.
- When the newly installed pup removal software opens up, simply press the ‘Scan’ button to start the scanning process of the malicious code.
- Once the scanning process is complete, click on the ‘Clean’ button.
- Finally, press the ‘OK’ button to restart the computer.
Conclusion
In order to get rid of the PUP virus from the computer, all you have to do is follow the methods given in this article. If you have removed this malicious code successfully from the computer, you can comment below which method you found the most useful.