PCGuardian

It was discovered that PCGuardian is responsible for fake system alerts, which can appear after installing the mentioned application. Apparently, these false notifications may claim the computer is being attacked by some hackers who could steal sensitive user’s information. What’s more, according to the alerts the user has to call a certified Microsoft technician, but we highly doubt the given number has anything to do with Microsoft. Therefore, if you encountered this PC optimizer and the mentioned notifications yourself, we advise you to read the article and learn more about them. What we do not recommend is calling the given number since you could end up talking with scammers. Users who would not like to see such alerts ever again should think about the application's removal. Should you choose to get rid of PCGuardian, remember, there are deletion instructions at the end of the article you could use.

For starters, it is important to know PCGuardian was categorized as a potentially unwanted program. Usually, applications are classified this way if they have any qualities the user could not like or features he would even want to erase it for. In some cases, such software might also be considered to be potentially harmful, although in this situation we could not say the PC cleaner is dangerous or malicious. Nonetheless, the research shows it cannot be considered as an entirely reliable tool either. The program is being distributed through its official website called pcguardian.online where the optimizer is described as “AWARD WINNING SYSTEM CLEANER,” and “the world’s favorite optimization tool!” However, we do not see any evidence to support such claims, so it is possible they could be false, and this alone makes the tool seem untrustworthy.

The other reason we do not think PCGuardian can be trusted one hundred percent is the false notifications it might show after it settles in. The fake alerts should be displayed on a blue screen containing the Windows logo. On them, users should see a text starting with “Microsoft has detected some suspicious activity on this computer.” The rest of the notification warns the user the computer is under attack and lists the possible consequences. Then it might ask to contact a certified Microsoft technician through the 1-888-534-6135 telephone number. A bit below the text there could be an empty box, and a button called “Activate Now.” We do not know for certain as we did not call this phone number, but there is a chance the people who answer it might try to convince you to insert some sensitive information into this box. Needless to say, it could be a huge mistake because it is entirely possible any data you submit might be stolen since first of all the alert is a fake one and second of all, it could be shown by the potentially unwanted program.

Moreover, our researchers say this application is not as useful as it might sound like either. It is said on the software’s homepage that the tool can help you maintain the computer “superfast” and can remove unused Registry entries. While it is true PCGuardian can erase old Registry entries you do not need, we doubt doing so will have a visible effect on your system’s performance. The application’s description on the mentioned website may claim that unused Registry entries and their copies can slow down the PC and make it crash from time to time, but in reality, it is doubtful the mentioned data could have such highly visible effect. Thus, if you do not want to waste any time with this doubtful tool or see more of the fake system alerts we talked about earlier, we advise you to get rid of this potentially unwanted program.

If the program displayed the mentioned fake alert and you cannot close it you should firstly follow the first part of instructions. Then those who choose to erase PCGuardian have two options. One of it is to delete all data related to this PC optimizer on your own and so eliminate it manually. The process might be a bit complicated, but the second part of instructions we placed at the end of the article will hopefully make it easier for you. The other way to deal with the potentially unwanted program is to get a reliable antimalware tool, do a full system scan, and then remove all data associated with the unwanted application or other possible threats automatically by clicking the deletion button.

Close the fake alert

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete.
2. Launch Task Manager.
3. Locate a randomly named process associated with the false notification or the optimizer.
4. Select it and click the End Task button to kill it.
5. Close the Task Manager.

Eliminate PCGuardian

1. Press Win+E to open File Explorer.
2. Go to the %APPDATA% directory.
3. Locate a folder titled PCguardian, right-click it and press Delete.
4. Remove the application’s shortcut from your Desktop.
5. Click Win+R, type Regedit and select OK.
6. Go to the following directories one by one:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Tracing
7. Find keys called Pcguardian 1.0.0, Pcguardian, Pcguardian_RASAPI32, and Pcguardian_RASMANCS.
8. Right-click these keys and select Delete.
9. Then find these paths separately:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Tracing
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Tracing
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall
10. Right-click keys called WMPNetworksSvcx_RASAPI32, WMPNetworksSvcx_RASMANCS, and {9E1CF232-EB32-46C7-BF00-BE2BF8F9FE7E}, then press Delete to erase them.
11. Close the File Explorer and Windows Registry.
12. Empty Recycle bin.