The main reason I stopped using AVG is that one day while I was being a bit lazy/unobservant, I accidentally let it hijack my search engine (default option on its update install). The impacted browser provided a way to undo the damage, which was non-functional. No other solution’s method of changing this hijack was effective.

As often as Avast gives me false positives (and as frequently as it seems to “take over” without permission for the more-effective Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, I leave it installed. There’s truly no such thing as a free lunch, I try to go with the one that causes me the least grief.

Highly appreciate your feedback!

To me, it is not only about spring cleaning your machine (which is really great, wouldn’t believe what old files and pics are hidden here and there ;)), but the misuse of trust that you put into the hands of that/any company. So maybe we really need to sometimes redefine the term “free” and/or add a clearly visible badge “privacy-free” or similar… like they do with gluten-free, lactose-free and genetically unmodified food etc.

Hi Cat,
I don’t have much to add here, really. Thank you for taking the time to write it all up. I hope you continue to like and spread the word about our products!

There are two ways to get rid of these, one by on demand Emsisoft Emergency Kit scans. That’s potent enough to catch a lot, a whole lot, however sometimes malware has a way to embed itself, which brings me to my preferred recommendation, prevention is better than cure.

Protect your computer(s) with Emsisoft Anti Malware, and give yourself constant, real time protection against these PUP’s. Better yet, add Online Armor Firewall, that’s a 1-2 punch that makes it tough for a few legit apps to be installed while getting used to one’s environment & computing habits. I’m into my 3rd year with EAM, first with OA.

There’s a new Emsisoft Internet Security Pack that combines both that I’ll likely take net go around, the Firewall is still there, and being that both are as one, they’ll work together even better than separates!

Note that while I push EAM heavily, I’m not a rep of the company, and don’t get anything for recommending the software. All that I can tell you all is that it works, and have never been infected with EAM & OA on my computers. These will catch the PUP’s.

A final note, today’s OS’s has more inbuilt utilities than ever, there’s often no need to be downloading this & that, Windows 7 & above has a disk burner built into the OS. Download needed software, such as backup, straight from the source, this greatly reduces chances of PUP’s sneaking in. The reason why I mention backup software is that Backup has to be a part of one’s security plan.

You’re correct, the PUP creators are trying to find all sorts of workarounds so that they can still get on your computer. You may not now that the Emsisoft Emergency Kit scans for and removes PUPs as well (as well as other malware). It’s free and you don’t need to install it, probably smart to do periodically.

in MOST cases, you can click on the “X”. This does not always work for all PUPs, but it does work for most. I try to avoid those little suckers (leeches) too, but they are a problems to completely avoid. Closing the install application works about 90% of the time, but those programmers are getting smart and are now starting to disable that work around. I ALWAYS check my “Programs and Features” and “Task manager – Processes” listings to make sure I haven’t unknowingly picked up something nasty. There are now a lot of PUPs that work in the background and you will never see them.