The PUP/DownloadAssistant is classified as potentially unwanted program from the group of ‘ad-supported’ software (also known as adware). It is a type of programs that designed to display a large amount of annoying popup ads. Unlike viruses, the ad-supported software will not delete or infect your files, but its actions will cause some problems with your browser. This is because, it will infect your computer, get full access to your web-browsers like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, MS Edge and Internet Explorer and be able to alter their settings. Of course, it did not ask you for permission and do it secretly as possible. Once your web-browser settings will be replaced, you will be rerouted to intrusive advertisements, some of which can lead to harmful or misleading pages. For this reason, we recommend that you begin the clean up of your machine of PUP/DownloadAssistant adware ASAP and thereby get rid of any unwanted ads from your web browser.
Technically, the ‘ad supported’ software is not a virus, but it does bad things, it generates a huge number of popups. It may download and install on to your PC other malicious and unwanted programs without your permission, force you to visit misleading or harmful web-sites. Moreover, the adware can install browser hijacker. Once installed, it’ll change your internet browser setting like start page, newtab page and default search provider with an unwanted page.
In addition to that, as was mentioned earlier, some adware such as PUP/DownloadAssistant to also change all web browsers shortcuts which located on your Desktop or Start menu. So, every infected shortcut will try to redirect your internet browser to annoying ad sites, some of which might be malicious. It can make the whole personal computer more vulnerable to hacker attacks.
Thus, it is clear that the presence of adware on your system is not desirable, and you need to clean up your personal computer as soon as possible. Follow the steps below in order to remove PUP/DownloadAssistant ‘ad supported’ software.
How to remove PUP/DownloadAssistant
In many cases adware requires more than a simple uninstall through the use of MS Windows Control panel in order to be fully deleted. For that reason, our team made several removal ways that we’ve combined in a detailed guidance. Therefore, if you have the annoying PUP/DownloadAssistant adware on your personal computer and are currently trying to have it uninstalled then feel free to follow the step-by-step guidance below in order to resolve your problem. Some of the steps will require you to reboot your PC or close the site. So, read this guidance carefully, then bookmark or print it for later reference.
Remove PUP/DownloadAssistant without any utilities
Most common adware may be deleted without any antivirus software. The manual adware removal is instructions that will teach you how to get rid of the PUP/DownloadAssistant adware.
Delete suspicious applications using MS Windows Control Panel
First, you should try to identify and remove the program that causes the appearance of intrusive ads or web-browser redirect, using the ‘Uninstall a program’ which is located in the ‘Control panel’.
Windows 10, 8.1, 8
Click the Windows logo, and then click Search 
. Type ‘Control panel’and press Enter like below.
Once the ‘Control Panel’ opens, press the ‘Uninstall a program’ link under Programs category as displayed on the screen below.
Windows 7, Vista, XP
Open Start menu and choose the ‘Control Panel’ at right as shown below.
Then go to ‘Add/Remove Programs’ or ‘Uninstall a program’ (Windows 7 or Vista) as displayed in the following example.
Carefully browse through the list of installed software and delete all programs that has the name similar to “DownloadAssistant”. We advise to click ‘Installed programs’ and even sorts all installed programs by date. After you have found anything suspicious that may be the ‘ad supported’ software, adware or potentially unwanted software, then choose this program and click ‘Uninstall’ in the upper part of the window. If the suspicious program blocked from removal, then use Revo Uninstaller Freeware to fully delete it from your computer.
Fix internet browser shortcuts, altered by ad-supported software
Once installed, this ‘ad supported’ software may add an argument like “http://site.address” into the Target property of the desktop shortcut for the Google Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and MS Edge. Due to this, every time you open the web-browser, it will open an undesired ad web-site.
To clear the browser shortcut, right-click to it and select Properties. On the Shortcut tab, locate the Target field. Click inside, you will see a vertical line – arrow pointer, move it (using -> arrow key on your keyboard) to the right as possible. You will see a text similar to “http://site.address” which has been added here. You need to delete it.
When the text is removed, press the OK button. You need to clean all shortcuts of all your web browsers, as they may be infected too.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Once installed, the PUP/DownloadAssistant can add a task in to the Windows Task Scheduler Library. Due to this, every time when you launch your PC, it will show an annoying page. So, you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and get rid of all harmful tasks which have been created by adware.
Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard together. It will open a prompt that called Run. In the text field, type “taskschd.msc” (without the quotes) and click OK. Task Scheduler window opens. In the left-hand side, click “Task Scheduler Library”, as shown in the following example.
Task scheduler, list of tasks
In the middle part you will see a list of installed tasks. Select the first task, its properties will be display just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Necessary to look at the text which is written under Details. Found something such as “explorer.exe http://site.address” or “chrome.exe http://site.address” or “firefox.exe http://site.address”, then you need get rid of this task. If you are not sure that executes the task, then google it. If it is a component of the malicious applications, then this task also should be removed.
Further click on it with the right mouse button and select Delete as shown on the screen below.
Task scheduler, delete a task
Repeat this step, if you have found a few tasks that have been created by adware. Once is complete, close the Task Scheduler window.
Delete PUP/DownloadAssistant with freeware
The easiest method to remove PUP/DownloadAssistant ad-supported software is to run an antimalware program capable of detecting this PUP/DownloadAssistant which designed to redirect your web browser to various ad web-pages. We recommend try Zemana Anti-malware or another free malicious software remover which listed below. It has excellent detection rate when it comes to ‘ad supported’ software, hijackers and other potentially unwanted applications.
Scan and free your web browser of PUP/DownloadAssistant with Zemana Anti-malware
We suggest using the Zemana Anti-malware that are completely clean your personal computer of the ad-supported software. The tool is an advanced malware removal program created by (c) Zemana lab. It is able to help you remove PUPs, hijackers, malicious software, toolbars, ransomware and PUP/DownloadAssistant adware that causes multiple intrusive ads and pop-ups.
- Please download Zemana Anti-Malware from the link below and save it to your Desktop.
Zemana AntiMalware
164032 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
- At the download page, click on the Download button. Your web browser will display the “Save as” prompt. Please save it onto your Windows desktop.
- After downloading is finished, please close all software and open windows on your machine. Next, start a file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup.
- This will start the “Setup wizard” of Zemana AntiMalware onto your PC system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
- When the Setup wizard has finished installing, the Zemana Free will run and display the main window.
- Further, press the “Scan” button .Zemana program will scan through the whole system for the PUP/DownloadAssistant adware that causes undesired popups. Depending on your personal computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the Zemana application is scanning, you can see number of objects it has identified as threat.
- Once Zemana has completed scanning your personal computer, the results are displayed in the scan report.
- You may move items to Quarantine (all selected by default) by simply click the “Next” button. The tool will remove PUP/DownloadAssistant that causes a large number of annoying pop-ups. After finished, you may be prompted to restart the computer.
- Close the Zemana and continue with the next step.
Use Malwarebytes to remove PUP/DownloadAssistant
Remove PUP/DownloadAssistant manually is difficult and often the adware is not completely removed. Therefore, we suggest you to run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your computer. Moreover, the free program will allow you to delete malware, potentially unwanted programs, toolbars and hijackers that your PC system can be infected too.
- Download MalwareBytes on your MS Windows Desktop from the following link.
Malwarebytes Anti-malware
326386 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
- When the download is complete, close all programs and windows on your computer. Open a folder in which you saved it. Double-click on the icon that’s named mb3-setup.
- Further, press Next button and follow the prompts.
- Once installation is done, click the “Scan Now” button to perform a system scan with this tool for the PUP/DownloadAssistant ad-supported software that causes lots of undesired pop-up advertisements. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a malware, ‘ad supported’ software or potentially unwanted programs are found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly.
- When the system scan is done, MalwareBytes AntiMalware (MBAM) will display a list of all items detected by the scan. All detected items will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click “Quarantine Selected”. When that process is complete, you can be prompted to reboot your personal computer.
The following video offers a steps on how to get rid of browser hijackers, adware and other malicious software with MalwareBytes Free.
Scan your personal computer and get rid of PUP/DownloadAssistant adware with AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner is a free portable application that scans your machine for PUP/DownloadAssistant adware which created to redirect your browser to various ad web-sites, potentially unwanted applications and hijacker infections and helps delete them easily. Moreover, it’ll also allow you remove any harmful web browser extensions and add-ons.
- Download AdwCleaner by clicking on the following link. Save it on your Windows desktop or in any other place.
AdwCleaner download
225262 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
- Select the file location as Desktop, and then click Save.
- Once downloading is done, start the AdwCleaner, double-click the adwcleaner_xxx.exe file.
- If the “User Account Control” prompts, click Yes to continue.
- Read the “Terms of use”, and click Accept.
- In the AdwCleaner window, click the “Scan” .AdwCleaner program will scan through the whole PC for the PUP/DownloadAssistant adware that causes multiple unwanted advertisements and popups. Depending on your computer, the scan can take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. When a malware, ‘ad supported’ software or PUPs are detected, the number of the security threats will change accordingly.
- When that process is done, you may check all threats detected on your personal computer. All found threats will be marked. You can remove them all by simply click “Clean”. If the AdwCleaner will ask you to restart your computer, press “OK”.
The step-by-step tutorial shown in detail in the following video.
How to stay safe online
It’s also critical to protect your internet browsers from harmful web-pages and ads by using an ad blocker program such as AdGuard. Security experts says that it will greatly reduce the risk of malicious software, and potentially save lots of money. Additionally, the AdGuard may also protect your privacy by blocking almost all trackers.
- Download AdGuard program from the following link.
Adguard download
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- Once the downloading process is finished, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- Once the setup is finished, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial which will help you get to know AdGuard better.
- In most cases, the default settings are enough and you don’t need to change anything. Each time, when you launch your PC, AdGuard will start automatically and stop ads, as well as other harmful or misleading pages. For an overview of all the features of the application, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, which is located on your desktop.
How was ad supported software installed on computer
The PUP/DownloadAssistant usually spreads bundled with freeware which downloaded from the Internet. Which means that you need to be proactive and carefully read the Terms of use and the License agreement properly. For the most part, the adware will be clearly described, so take the time to carefully read all the information about the software that you downloaded and want to install on your system. In the Setup wizard, you should choose the Advanced, Custom or Manual install mode to control what components and additional applications to be installed, otherwise you run the risk of infecting your system with an adware such as the PUP/DownloadAssistant that causes multiple undesired advertisements and pop ups.
Finish words
Now your PC should be free of the PUP/DownloadAssistant adware that redirects your browser to undesired ad web sites. Remove AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you stop unwanted pop up ads and annoying harmful pages) and Zemana Anti-Malware (to periodically scan your PC for new ‘ad supported’ softwares and other malicious software). Probably you are running an older version of Java or Adobe Flash Player. This can be a security risk, so download and install the latest version right now.
If you are still having problems while trying to remove PUP/DownloadAssistant from the Windows OS, then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
