How to Remove Auto PC Booster 2018 System Optimizer

The Auto PC Booster 2018 System Optimizer promises to boost the performance of your computer. However, as is often the case with System Optimizers, you may have found it giving false positives instead. If you feel you cannot trust the Auto PC Booster 2018 System Optimizer program, you may wish to remove it from the computer. And generally, any program that shows false positives should automatically be regarded as a Potentially Unwanted Program so that it gets flagged by antimalware tools. If you do remove it with an antimalware tool, it’s probably for the best because it will mean there are no leftover remnants on your computer.

The following tutorial demonstrates how to remove the Auto PC Booster 2018 malware from your computer.

Method One: How to Remove Auto PC Booster 2018 System Optimizer by Manually Scanning Files, Folders, and Drives with Windows Defender in Windows 10

Note: The Windows Defender antivirus application shown below comes out of the box on all versions of Windows 10, the latest version of Windows operating system. If you are running an older version of Windows, such as Windows 7, then you can skip to one of the next parts that shows you how to install a third-party antimalware application instead.

Windows 10 provides the latest antivirus protection with Windows Security. Your device will be actively protected from the moment you start Windows 10. Windows Security continually scans for malware (all types of malicious software), viruses, and security threats. In addition to this real-time protection, updates are downloaded automatically to help keep your device safe and protected from threats.

Some features differ if you are running Windows 10 in S mode. Because this mode is streamlined for tighter security, the Virus & threat protection area has fewer options. However, that does not mean it is less secure—the built-in security of this mode automatically prevents viruses and other threats from running on your device, and you will receive security updates automatically.

Windows Defender automatically scans your system periodically, so it should pick up and remove any malware on your computer by itself over time. If you need a quick solution, Windows Defender also allows for manual scans so that you can scan any location on the operating system immediately.

Method One: How to Scan with Windows Defender Using Context Menu

Here is how you can run an antivirus scan with the built-in Windows Defender antivirus program from the context menu of a file or folder:

1. From File Explorer, select the drive, folder, or file that you suspect may contain the potential malicious program.

2. Right-click on Scan with Windows Defender from the context menu. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

Downloads folder -- Scan with Windows Defender — You can right-click on any file, folder or drive in File Explorer. Click on This PC in File Explorer’s navigation pane to view your most commonly used folders, as well as the available drives.

3. When the scan completes, Windows Defender Security Center will open and show you the results. The total time for the scan to complete will vary. Scanning drives will take the longest, while scanning individual files the quickest.

Note: The Windows Defender Security Center has been renamed to Windows Security in newer versions of Windows 10. All the settings within the app remain the same.

Windows Defender Security Center -- threats found, files scanned — When the antivirus scan is complete, you get the scan results—threats found and files scanned—on the same page of the Windows Defender Security Center.

4. If the scan did find threats, you can Start actions or See threat details. (click to enlarge screenshots below)

Note: Clicking on Start actions will result in Windows Defender removing the threat immediately whereas choosing See threat details allows you to see the threat and also choose what you want to do with it more specifically.

Windows Defender Security Center -- Start Actions — The Start Actions buttons appears if the antivirus has found any threats.

Windows Defender Security Center -- Action options — Removing the file completely removes the file from the computer while quarantining it moves the file to a safe location on your computer. You can select Remove when you know you don’t need the file that contains the virus.

The malware we’ve used in these screenshots is test malware, designed to imitate how real malware works so it will show up in Windows Defender scan results. We don’t ever recommend downloading actual malware onto your computers.

You can now close the Windows Security app and continue using your computer if you like.

Method Two: Scan with Windows Defender in Windows Security

Here is how you can run an antivirus scan with the built-in Windows Defender antivirus program from the Windows Security app:

1. Open the Windows Security app.

Windows Defender icon -- notification area

2. Click on the Virus & threat protection icon in Windows Security’s Security at a glance page.

Security at a glance -- Virus and threat protection

3. To Run a Quick Scan with Windows Defender

a. Click on the Scan now button.

Virus and threat protection -- scan now

4. To Run a Full Scan with Windows Defender

a. Select Full scan and then click on the Scan now button.

Windows Defender Full scan

5. To Run a Custom Scan with Windows Defender

a. Select Custom scan and then click on the Scan now button.

6. Select the file, folder, or drive that you want to scan and then click Select Folder. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

7. Windows Defender starts scanning the option that you chose.

8. When the scan completes, you get the results in numbers.

9. If Windows Defender did find threats during the scan, you can Start actions or See threat details.

Virus Alert level: Severe — The malware we’ve used in these screenshots is test malware, designed to imitate how real malware works so it will show up in Windows Defender scan results. We don’t ever recommend downloading actual malware onto your computers.

You can now close the Windows Security app and continue using your computer if you like.

Method Three: How to Scan with Windows Defender from Windows PowerShell

Here is how you can run an antivirus scan with Windows Defender from the Windows PowerShell:

1. Open the Windows PowerShell window.

2. Type the command below that best suits your needs and then press the Enter key on your keyboard to execute it.

Update and Quick scan:

Update-MpSignature; Start-MpScan -ScanType QuickScan

Quick scan:

Start-MpScan -ScanType QuickScan

Full scan:

Start-MpScan -ScanType FullScan

You can now close the Windows PowerShell window and continue using your computer if you like.

Method Four: How to Scan with Windows Defender from Command Prompt

Here is how you can run an antivirus scan with Windows Defender from the command line:

1. Open the Command Prompt window.

2. Type the command below that best suits your needs and then press the Enter key on your keyboard to execute it. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

Update and Quick scan:

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe" -SignatureUpdate & "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe" -Scan -ScanType 1

Quick scan:

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe" -Scan -ScanType 1

Full scan:

"%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\MpCmdRun.exe" -Scan -ScanType 2

You can now close the Command Prompt window and continue using your computer if you like.

Method Two: How to Remove Auto PC Booster 2018 System Optimizer Using Malwarebytes

If scanning with the Windows Security antimalware protection doesn’t remove the Auto PC Booster 2018 system optimizer, you can try installing third-party antimalware tools, such as Malwarebytes, and see if that removes the fake system optimizer instead. You can also use an antimalware program such as Malwarebytes to remove the extensions and all other related files remaining on your computer, so you don’t have to do any of it manually.

Note: Malwarebytes also has an application for smartphones that run on Android and iOS.

1. Download the Malwarebytes for Windows from the Malwarebytes website.

2. If prompted by your web browser with a message that says “This type of file can harm your computer. Do you want to keep the executable (.exe) file anyway?,” click on the Keep button.

3. If you are prompted by User Account Control asking “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device,” click on the Yes button.

4. Click on the Scan Now button to begin scanning the computer for malware and other potentially unwanted programs. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

5. Wait for the scan to complete. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

6. Select all of the malware and potentially unwanted programs that you want to be removed from the computer and then click on the Quarantine Selected button. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

7. You may get a message from Malwarebytes letting you know that all selected items have been removed successfully, but the computer must be restarted before the removal process can be completed. Select the Yes button to reboot your computer now. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

8. Upon signing back in to your computer, the Malwarebytes interface will open and let you know that the scan and quarantine are complete. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

Note: You can also export the scan results by clicking on Export summary from the main Malwarebytes results page and then clicking on the Export button from the scan report. (click to enlarge screenshot below)

You can now close the Malwarebytes interface and continue using your computer if you like.

That’s all.