This solution addresses Webroot SecureAnywhere 


PUAs (or Potentially Unwanted Applications) are programs that, while not especially malicious, generally diminish the user experience by consuming valuable computer resources, tracking users, displaying advertisements, or allowing the installation of additional third party software.  The PUA category provides users with increased insight and control over their computers by detecting applications that are not categorized as malware, but that users may not want installed on their computer or network.

If Webroot is detecting a PUA on multiple scans without fully removing it, you may need to refresh the local database in our software. To do this, you will need to de-select then re-select the option to detect PUAs in the Webroot settings. Please follow the directions below.
 

1. Open Webroot SecureAnywhere.
2. In the upper right corner, click on Advanced Settings.
3. On the left, select Scan Settings.
4. De-select the option “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications.”
5. Click on the Save button. (You may have to enter a CAPTCHA.)
6. Re-select the option to “Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications.”
7. Click on the Save button again and close the window.
8. Click Scan my Computer from the main window and remove any detected items. You may need to run a few scans and cleanups to completely remove all components of the PUA.

 
If Webroot continues to detect the PUA after running a few cleanups, we will need to gather further information from your computer with our specialized log gathering utility, wsalogs, which will greatly expedite the diagnosis and repair of the problem.

There is also valuable self-help information in here:
 
If you have selected the option for Webroot SecureAnywhere to "Detect Potentially Unwanted Applications" in the Advanced Scan Settings, the software will block these unwanted applications from installing. If a PUA is already on the system Webroot SecureAnywhere will detect the main program but may not be able to fully remove all aspects of it.
 
It is important to remember to download all software only from the official or original source for that software. We do not recommend downloading any software from large/generic download sites if there is a direct source available, as this is how programs are most commonly bundled with PUAs.

Please follow the steps below to clean out any unwanted software from your system and internet browsers.

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Part 1: Remove the software via the Windows Control Panel

Note: this option is only available for some toolbars, if the PUA is a toolbar.
 

1. Follow the correct steps for your Operating System.
   
   Windows XP:
   • Click Start, then click Run. In the Run window, type "appwiz.cpl" (without quotes), then press Enter on your keyboard.
   
   Windows Vista/Windows 7:
   • Click Start, or the Windows icon. In the Search field, type "appwiz.cpl" (without quotes), then press Enter on your keyboard.
   
   Windows 8 or 10:
   • Move your cursor to the bottom right of the screen to open the Charm Bar menu. Click Search, type "appwiz.cpl" (without quotes), and then press Enter on your keyboard.
    
2. This will open your Control Panel to the list of all programs currently installed on your computer.
    
3. Scroll down the programs list until you see the software you want to remove.
   
   Note: You want to uninstall any programs that have been installed recently (you can check this with the Install Date column) that you do not recall installing or that you do not need.
    
4. Click the software entry once to select it, then click Uninstall/Remove.
    
5. Confirm any messages to uninstall the program.
    

After removing any programs, there may be additional steps to take to remove any changes made by a PUA.

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Part 2: Remove the software from your browser

These steps should be used for certain PUAs that affect the browsing experience. We recommend removing any add-ons or toolbars you don't currently use.

Choose the correct steps for your Internet browser.

For Internet Explorer:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Navigate to Tools > Manage Add-ons.
3. Select “Toolbars and Extensions” from the left column.
4. Uninstall everything related to the unwanted software from the list on the right.
5. Click “Search Providers” from the left column.
6. Right-click the search engine you want and click Set as Default.
7. Now select the unwanted software and click the Remove button to uninstall it (lower right corner of the window). Once you have gone through this list, you can close the Manage Add-ons window.
8. In Internet Explorer, navigate to Tools > Internet Options > General.
9. Under Home page, click "Use Default" or enter your desired homepage, e.g. www.google.com
10. Click OK to save the changes.

For Mozilla Firefox:

1. Open Mozilla Firefox. Navigate to Tools > Add-ons.
2. Click Extensions.
3. Uninstall/remove the extension(s) relating to the software.
4. Navigate to Tools > Options > General.
5. Under Home page, click "Restore to Default" or enter your desired homepage, e.g. www.google.com
6. Click OK to save the changes.

Note: If the software's search engine persists in Firefox, locate the Search Bar in the top right corner of the browser window. In the Search Bar, the icon for the active search engine appears. Click the icon to open a drop-down menu of the available search engines. Click "Manage Search Engines". Remove any entries related to the unwanted software from this list, then click OK.


For Google Chrome:

1. Click the Menu button (the three squares in the upper right), then click Settings.
2. Under Search engine, click "Manage search engines…"
3. Click the 3 dots next to the search engine you wish to remove and select “remove from list”.
4. To return to the main settings page, click the back arrow next to “Manage Search Engines”.
5. Under “On Startup,” click "Set pages".
6. Click the 3 dots next to the web page related to the software and select “remove”.
7. Under "Appearance," if you have "Show Home button" enabled
8. Select either "Use the New Tab page" or change the "Open this page" option to your desired homepage, e.g. www.google.com
9. Click OK to save the changes.
10. Click the Menu button in the browser (the three lines in the upper right), then click More Tools > Extensions.
11. Disable and/or Remove extension(s) relating the unwanted software.

Next, there are steps to reset Internet Explorer. You only need to follow these steps if you use Internet Explorer to browse the web. If you use Firefox and would like to reset that browser, there are steps available on their support pages to do this as well. Please see the link below for that page:

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/reset-firefox-easily-fix-most-problems

Again, if you use Internet Explorer, it is highly recommended you also follow the steps below to reset your web browser. This helps correct many, many issues with Internet Explorer, even slowness.

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Part 3: Reset Internet Explorer

In some cases, add-ons in Internet Explorer can cause issues with the way pages are shown. Resetting Internet Explorer to the default settings may resolve such problems. It can also speed up your Internet browsing.

Keep in mind that resetting Internet Explorer can reset your home pages, browsing history, form data, passwords, toolbars, etc. We will explain below how to prevent this.

To use the Reset Internet Explorer Settings feature from Control Panel, follow these steps:
 

1. Exit all programs, including Internet Explorer (if it is running).
    
2. Follow the correct instructions for your operating system:
   
   For Windows XP:
   • Click Start, then click Run.
   • In the Open box, type: inetcpl.cpl
   • Now press the ENTER key.
   
   For Windows Vista or 7:
   • Click Start, or the Windows start icon.
   • In the Start Search box, type: inetcpl.cpl
   • Now press the ENTER key.
   
   For Windows 8 or Windows 10:
   • Move your cursor to the bottom right of the screen to open the Charm Bar menu.
   • Click Search and type: inetcpl.cpl
   • Now press the ENTER key.
   
   The Internet Options dialog box appears.
    
3. Click the Advanced tab.
    
4. Under Reset Internet Explorer settings, click Reset.
    
5. In the window that appears, ensure that the "Delete personal settings" box is NOT checked. This will prevent your home pages, etc. from being removed. Now click Reset again.
    
6. When Internet Explorer finishes resetting the settings, click “Close” in the Reset Internet Explorer Settings dialog.
    
7. Start Internet Explorer again. You may receive a "Welcome to Internet Explorer" message. You may choose to follow the prompts, or you may click Cancel. The message will not appear again in either case.
    

Once you have completed these steps, you should no longer have any PUAs on your system and any unwanted effects should be reversed. If you still experience any unwanted or suspicious behavior, please send us a message with detailed descriptions of the behavior(s).

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