The PUP.Optional.Legacy is a classified as potentially unwanted program (PUP). Unlike viruses, the potentially unwanted programs such PUP.Optional.Legacy will not delete or infect your files, but its actions will cause some problems with your computer. This is because, once PUP.Optional.Legacy get installed onto your PC, it will get full access to your browsers like FF, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge and be able to change their settings. Once your browser’s settings will be changed, you will be re-directed to intrusive advertisements, some of which can lead to harmful or misleading sites.
We suggest that you begin the clean up of your PC system ASAP and thereby remove PUP.Optional.Legacy from your computer (Windows 10, 8, 7, XP).
The PUP.Optional.Legacy may insert lots of advertisements directly to the web sites that you visit, creating a sense that the advertisements has been added by the creators of the web-site. Moreover, a legal advertising banners may be replaced on the fake ads, that will offer to download and install various unnecessary and malicious programs. Moreover, the PUP.Optional.Legacy has the ability to collect a lot of personal information about you (your ip address, what is a web page you are viewing now, what you are looking for on the Internet, which links you are clicking), which can later transfer to third parties.
In addition to that, as was mentioned earlier, PUP.Optional.Legacy to also change all internet browsers shortcuts which located on your Desktop or Start menu. So, every infected shortcut will try to reroute your web-browser to annoying ad web, certain of which might be malicious. It can make the whole computer more vulnerable to hacker attacks.
The guide below explaining steps to remove PUP.Optional.Legacy unwanted software. Feel free to use it for removal of the potentially unwanted programs that may attack Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, FF and Edge and other popular browsers. The guidance will help you remove PUP.Optional.Legacy and thereby clean your browser from all unwanted advertisements.
Remove PUP.Optional.Legacy (removal steps)
The answer is right here on this page. We have put together simplicity and efficiency. It will allow you easily to free your PC system of adware that can install onto PC system an unwanted application like PUP.Optional.Legacy. Moreover, you may select manual or automatic removal method. If you’re familiar with the PC then use manual removal, otherwise run the free anti malware tool designed specifically to remove PUP. Of course, you can combine both methods. Read this manual carefully, bookmark or print it, because you may need to exit your web browser or restart your machine.
Get rid of PUP.Optional.Legacy without any utilities
The following instructions is a step-by-step guide, which will help you manually remove PUP.Optional.Legacy from the Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.
Uninstall PUP.Optional.Legacy associated software by using Windows Control Panel
First method for manual PUP removal is to go into the MS Windows “Control Panel”, then “Uninstall a program” console. Take a look at the list of applications on your PC system and see if there are any suspicious and unknown applications. If you see any, you need to uninstall them. Of course, before doing so, you can do an Internet search to find details on the application. If it is a potentially unwanted program, potentially unwanted program or malware, you will likely find information that says so.
Press Windows button 
, then click Search 
. Type “Control panel”and press Enter. If you using Windows XP or Windows 7, then press “Start” and select “Control Panel”. It will display the Windows Control Panel as shown in the figure below.
Further, click “Uninstall a program” 
It will show a list of all applications installed on your personal computer. Scroll through the all list, and uninstall any suspicious and unknown software.
Delete unwanted Scheduled Tasks
If an annoying web-site opens automatically on Windows startup or at equal time intervals, then you need to check the Task Scheduler Library and remove all the tasks which have been created by PUP.Optional.Legacy.
Press Windows and R keys on your keyboard at the same time. It will show 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, press “Task Scheduler Library”, as shown on the screen below.
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 open just below automatically. Next, press the Actions tab. Necessary to look at the text which is written under Details. Found something like “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’s a component of the adware, then this task also should be removed.
Further press 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 PUP.Optional.Legacy. Once is finished, close the Task Scheduler window.
Remove Ads by PUP.Optional.Legacy from IE
If you find that IE web-browser settings such as home page, new tab page and search engine by default having been changed by adware that can install onto machine an unwanted application like PUP.Optional.Legacy, then you may revert back your settings, via the reset web browser procedure.
First, run the Microsoft Internet Explorer, then press ‘gear’ icon 
. It will show the Tools drop-down menu on the right part of the web browser, then click the “Internet Options” as shown on the screen below.
In the “Internet Options” screen, select the “Advanced” tab, then click the “Reset” button. The IE will display the “Reset Internet Explorer settings” dialog box. Further, press the “Delete personal settings” check box to select it. Next, click the “Reset” button as shown below.
When the task is complete, press “Close” button. Close the Microsoft Internet Explorer and restart your personal computer for the changes to take effect. This step will help you to restore your internet browser’s new tab, home page and search provider by default to default state.
Get rid of PUP.Optional.Legacy ads from Firefox by resetting web browser settings
If the Firefox web browser application is hijacked, then resetting its settings can help. The Reset feature is available on all modern version of Mozilla Firefox. A reset can fix many issues by restoring Mozilla Firefox settings like new tab, homepage and search engine by default to its default state. It will save your personal information such as saved passwords, bookmarks, and open tabs.
Launch the Mozilla Firefox and press the menu button (it looks like three stacked lines) at the top right of the web-browser screen. Next, click the question-mark icon at the bottom of the drop-down menu. It will open the slide-out menu.
Select the “Troubleshooting information”. If you’re unable to access the Help menu, then type “about:support” in your address bar and press Enter. It bring up the “Troubleshooting Information” page as displayed in the figure below.
Click the “Refresh Firefox” button at the top right of the Troubleshooting Information page. Select “Refresh Firefox” in the confirmation dialog box. The FF will begin a task to fix your problems that caused by the PUP.Optional.Legacy. After, it is complete, click the “Finish” button.
Remove Ads by PUP.Optional.Legacy from Chrome
Reset Chrome settings is a easy way to get rid of the hijacker infections, malicious and ‘ad-supported’ extensions, as well as to recover the internet browser’s new tab, startpage and search provider by default that have been replaced by PUP.Optional.Legacy.
First run the Chrome. Next, press the button in the form of three horizontal stripes (
). It will display the main menu. Further, click the option named “Settings”. Another way to display the Chrome’s settings – type chrome://settings in the browser adress bar and press Enter.
The browser will open the settings screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the “Show advanced settings” link. Now scroll down until the “Reset settings” section is visible, as shown below and click the “Reset settings” button.
The Google Chrome will display the confirmation prompt. You need to confirm your action, click the “Reset” button. The web-browser will run the process of cleaning. After it’s finished, the web browser’s settings including newtab page, homepage and search engine by default back to the values that have been when the Chrome was first installed on your system.
Fix web browser shortcuts, changed by PUP.Optional.Legacy
The PUP.Optional.Legacy may hijack various Windows shortcuts on your desktop (most often, all internet browsers shortcuts), so in this step you need to check and clean them by removing the argument such as http://site.address/.
Open the properties of the browser shortcut. Right click on the shortcut of infected web-browser and choose the “Properties” option and it will open the properties of the shortcut. Next, choose the “Shortcut” tab and have a look at the Target field as displayed in the figure below.
Normally, if the last word in the Target field is chrome.exe, iexplore.exe, firefox.exe. Be sure to pay attention to the extension, should be “exe”! All shortcuts which have been changed by PUP.Optional.Legacy usually point to .bat, .cmd or .url files instead of .exe as on the image below
Another variant, an address has been added at the end of the line. In this case the Target field looks like …Application\chrome.exe” http://site.address as displayed on the screen below.
In order to fix a shortcut, you need to insert right path to the Target field or remove an address (if it has been added at the end). You can use the following information to fix your shortcuts which have been altered by PUP.
| Chrome | C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe | |
| Mozilla Firefox | C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe |
| Microsoft Internet Explorer | C:\Program Files (x86)\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe | |
| Opera | C:\Program Files (x86)\Opera\launcher.exe |
| C:\Program Files\Opera\launcher.exe |
Once is complete, click OK to save changes. Repeat the step for all web browsers which are affected by PUP.Optional.Legacy.
PUP.Optional.Legacy removal tools
There are not many good free anti-malware programs with high detection ratio. The effectiveness of malware removal utilities depends on various factors, mostly on how often their virus/malware signatures DB are updated in order to effectively detect modern malware, adware, browser hijacker infections and other PUPs. We suggest to use several applications, not just one. These applications that listed below will help you delete all components of any potentially unwanted programs from your disk and Windows registry and thereby remove PUP.Optional.Legacy.
Scan and free your computer of PUP.Optional.Legacy with Zemana Anti-malware
Zemana Anti-malware highly recommended, because it can detect security threats such ad-supported software and PUPs which most ‘classic’ antivirus software fail to pick up on. Moreover, if you have any PUP.Optional.Legacy removal problems which cannot be fixed by this utility automatically, then Zemana Anti-malware provides 24X7 online assistance from the highly experienced support staff.
Now you can install and use Zemana to remove PUP.Optional.Legacy from Windows (10, 8, 7, XP) by following the steps below:
Click the link below to download Zemana setup file called Zemana.AntiMalware.Setup on your system.
164031 downloads
Author: Zemana Ltd
Category: Security tools
Update: July 16, 2019
Start the installer after it has been downloaded successfully and then follow the prompts to setup this utility on your PC system.
During install you can change some settings, but we advise you do not make any changes to default settings.
When setup is finished, this malware removal tool will automatically start and update itself. You will see its main window as displayed on the image below.
Now click the “Scan” button . Zemana Anti Malware tool will begin scanning the whole PC to find out PUP.Optional.Legacy and ‘ad supported’ software that developed to download and install various unwanted applications. A scan can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes, depending on the count of files on your PC system and the speed of your computer. While the Zemana Free program is scanning, you can see how many objects it has identified as threat.
After the system scan is done, the results are displayed in the scan report. All found threats will be marked. You can delete them all by simply click “Next” button.
The Zemana will get rid of PUP.Optional.Legacy and other unwanted software. When that process is finished, you may be prompted to reboot your system to make the change take effect.
Delete PUP.Optional.Legacy with Malwarebytes
Manual PUP.Optional.Legacy removal requires some computer skills. Some files and registry entries that created by the potentially unwanted program can be not completely removed. We suggest that run the Malwarebytes Free that are completely clean your personal computer of potentially unwanted program. Moreover, the free program will allow you to get rid of malicious software, PUPs, hijacker infections and toolbars that your machine may be infected too.
Download MalwareBytes Free from the following link and save it to your Desktop.
326383 downloads
Author: Malwarebytes
Category: Security tools
Update: April 15, 2020
Once the downloading process is done, close all windows on your computer. Further, launch the file called mb3-setup. If the “User Account Control” dialog box pops up as displayed on the screen below, click the “Yes” button.
It will show the “Setup wizard” which will allow you install MalwareBytes Free on the PC system. Follow the prompts and don’t make any changes to default settings.
Once setup is done successfully, click Finish button. Then MalwareBytes AntiMalware will automatically start and you can see its main window as shown on the image below.
Next, click the “Scan Now” button to begin checking your system for the PUP.Optional.Legacy and other malware. Depending on your machine, the scan may take anywhere from a few minutes to close to an hour. While the MalwareBytes Free application is scanning, you may see how many objects it has identified as threat.
Once the checking is complete, the results are displayed in the scan report. Review the scan results and then click “Quarantine Selected” button.
The MalwareBytes Anti-Malware will get rid of adware and other unwanted software like PUP.Optional.Legacy. Once the clean-up is complete, you may be prompted to reboot your PC. We recommend you look at the following video, which completely explains the procedure of using the MalwareBytes Free to delete hijackers, adware and other malware.
Double-check for potentially unwanted software with AdwCleaner
AdwCleaner is a free portable application that scans your computer for PUP.Optional.Legacy, adware and browser hijackers and helps remove them easily. Moreover, it’ll also help you get rid of any harmful browser extensions and add-ons.
Download AdwCleaner utility from the link below.
225259 downloads
Version: 8.4.1
Author: Xplode, MalwareBytes
Category: Security tools
Update: October 5, 2024
After downloading is complete, open the folder in which you saved it and double-click the AdwCleaner icon. It will launch the AdwCleaner utility and you will see a screen as shown in the figure below. If the User Account Control prompt will ask you want to start the program, press Yes button to continue.
Next, click “Scan” .AdwCleaner program will scan through the whole computer for the PUP.Optional.Legacy and other unwanted applications. This task can take quite a while, so please be patient. When a malware, ‘ad supported’ software or PUPs are found, the count of the security threats will change accordingly. Wait until the the checking is finished.
After finished, AdwCleaner will display a screen that contains a list of malicious software that has been found as shown on the image below.
Review the scan results and then click “Clean” button. It will open a dialog box. Click “OK” button. The AdwCleaner will remove PUP.Optional.Legacy and other unwanted software. When that process is finished, the utility may ask you to restart your machine. After restart, the AdwCleaner will show the log file.
All the above steps are shown in detail in the following video instructions.
How to stay safe online
Run adblocker program such as AdGuard in order to stop advertisements, malvertisements, pop-ups and online trackers, avoid having to install malicious and adware browser plug-ins and add-ons which affect your personal computer performance and impact your system security. Surf the Web anonymously and stay safe online!
- Download AdGuard program on your PC system by clicking on the link below.
Adguard download
26627 downloads
Version: 6.4
Author: © Adguard
Category: Security tools
Update: November 15, 2018
- After the download is complete, run the downloaded file. You will see the “Setup Wizard” program window. Follow the prompts.
- When the install is complete, click “Skip” to close the installation program and use the default settings, or click “Get Started” to see an quick tutorial that 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 system, AdGuard will run automatically and block pop-ups, unwanted ads, as well as other malicious or misleading web-sites. For an overview of all the features of the program, or to change its settings you can simply double-click on the icon named AdGuard, that is located on your desktop.
Don’t know how your computer has been hijacked by PUP.Optional.Legacy ?
The majority of potentially unwanted program such as PUP.Optional.Legacy come along with free software or even paid programs which Internet users can easily download online. The setup files of such applications, in many cases, clearly show that they will install optional applications. The option is given to users to block the installation of any additional applications. So, in order to avoid the installation of any potentially unwanted program: read all disclaimers and install screens very carefully, select only Custom or Advanced installation method and uncheck all third-party programs in which you are unsure.
To sum up
Now your computer should be clean of the PUP.Optional.Legacy, adware and other unwanted software. Delete AdwCleaner. We suggest that you keep AdGuard (to help you block unwanted ads and intrusive malicious pages) and Zemana Anti-Malware (ZAM) (to periodically scan your PC for new malware, browser hijackers and adware). Make sure that you have all the Critical Updates recommended for Windows OS. Without regular updates you WILL NOT be protected when new potentially unwanted programs, harmful applications and ad-supported software are released.
If you are still having problems while trying to remove PUP.Optional.Legacy from Windows 10 (8, 7, XP), then ask for help in our Spyware/Malware removal forum.
I would just like to let u know that I found ur article 2 b very informative, insightful & most helpful in explaining a very complicated problem. And I am most thankful & greatful for everyone who a part in creating this most wonderful article. Again, thx a million, & plz continue 2 look out for & help all of us who are not aware of all of the evil people out there who have nothing better 2 do with their time than 2 create all of the terrible, evil thingz that they create just 2 hurt people. Take care peace
(BLACKPHOENIXRIXIN)