PUP.Optional.DriverTonic is Malwarebytes' detection name for a potentially unwanted program, a so-called "driver updater and system optimizer" called Driver Tonic. Driver Tonic is published by PC Tonics and aimed at Windows systems.
Users of affected systems may have seen these warnings during install:
and may see these warnings when Driver Tonic is active:
Driver Tonic uses a Scheduled Task to gain persistence:
You may see this entry in the list of installed Programs and Features:
PUP.Optional.DriverTonic is a driver updater and system optimizer. These so-called "system optimizers" use intentional false positives to convince users that their systems have problems. Then they try to sell you their software, claiming it will remove these problems. PUP.Optional.DriverTonic is often installed by users themselves. Driver Tonic can be delivered as part of a bundler or can be downloaded from their website.
Malwarebytes can detect and remove PUP.Optional.DriverTonic without further user interaction.
A Malwarebytes log of removal will look similar to this:
Malwarebytes www.malwarebytes.com-Log Details- Scan Date: 4/8/19 Scan Time: 9:13 AM Log File: bf02b4ea-59cd-11e9-9ecf-00ffdcc6fdfc.json
-Software Information- Version: 3.7.1.2839 Components Version: 1.0.563 Update Package Version: 1.0.10044 License: Premium
-System Information- OS: Windows 7 Service Pack 1 CPU: x64 File System: NTFS User: {computername}\{username}
-Scan Summary- Scan Type: Threat Scan Scan Initiated By: Manual Result: Completed Objects Scanned: 236266 Threats Detected: 81 Threats Quarantined: 81 Time Elapsed: 7 min, 7 sec
-Scan Options- Memory: Enabled Startup: Enabled Filesystem: Enabled Archives: Enabled Rootkits: Enabled Heuristics: Enabled PUP: Detect PUM: Detect
-Scan Details- Process: 1 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dtn.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044
Module: 9 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\x64\SQLite.Interop.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dtn.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\HtmlRenderer.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\HtmlRenderer.WPF.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Interop.IWshRuntimeLibrary.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Microsoft.Win32.TaskScheduler.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\PaddleCheckoutSDK.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\System.Data.SQLite.DLL, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\WPFToolkit.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044
Registry Key: 8 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS NT\CURRENTVERSION\SCHEDULE\TASKCACHE\TREE\Driver Tonic_Logon, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS NT\CURRENTVERSION\SCHEDULE\TASKCACHE\TASKS\{A25E30FE-1291-4529-82C2-AA4D55A8CADF}, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS NT\CURRENTVERSION\SCHEDULE\TASKCACHE\LOGON\{A25E30FE-1291-4529-82C2-AA4D55A8CADF}, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\UNINSTALL\{4C7CA6F1-4691-449D-B574-559726CDA825}_is1, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKCU\SOFTWARE\PCTONICS.COM\Driver Tonic, Quarantined, [2936], [505865],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.Jawego, HKLM\SOFTWARE\DTC-PR, Quarantined, [600], [543113],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.WinTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\cGN0b25pY3MuY29t, Quarantined, [1394], [491485],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\PCTONICS.COM\Driver Tonic, Quarantined, [2936], [505863],1.0.10044
Registry Value: 3 PUP.Optional.Jawego, HKLM\SOFTWARE\DTC-PR|AFFILIATEID, Quarantined, [600], [543113],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS NT\CURRENTVERSION\SCHEDULE\TASKCACHE\TASKS\{A25E30FE-1291-4529-82C2-AA4D55A8CADF}|PATH, Quarantined, [2936], [582488],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, HKLM\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\UNINSTALL\{4C7CA6F1-4691-449D-B574-559726CDA825}_IS1|DISPLAYNAME, Quarantined, [2936], [505864],1.0.10044
Registry Data: 0 (No malicious items detected)
Data Stream: 0 (No malicious items detected)
Folder: 8 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\x64, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\x86, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\x64, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\x86, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\PROGRAM FILES\DRIVER TONIC, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\PROGRAMDATA\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\START MENU\PROGRAMS\DRIVER TONIC, Quarantined, [2936], [505860],1.0.10044
File: 52 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\7z.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\7z.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\difxapi.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\difxapi64.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\DPInst32.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\DPInst64.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\DrvReposPath.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dp\DrvSignerVerifier.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\x64\SQLite.Interop.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\x86\SQLite.Interop.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\langs.db, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\Microsoft.Win32.TaskScheduler.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\Newtonsoft.Json.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\System.Data.SQLite.DLL, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\System.Data.SQLite.Linq.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\System.Threading.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\TAFactory.IconPack.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\WebExtNotifier.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\websec\WebExtNotifier.exe.config, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\x64\SQLite.Interop.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\x86\SQLite.Interop.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Application_icon.png, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Delimon.Win32.IO.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dtn.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dtn.exe.config, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dtonic.ttf, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\HtmlRenderer.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\HtmlRenderer.WPF.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Interop.IWshRuntimeLibrary.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Interop.SHDocVw.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\langs.db, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Microsoft.Win32.TaskScheduler.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Microsoft.WindowsAPICodePack.Shell.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\Newtonsoft.Json.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\PaddleCheckoutSDK.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\PresentationCore.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\System.Data.SQLite.DLL, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\System.Threading.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\TAFactory.IconPack.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\unins000.dat, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\unins000.exe, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\unins000.msg, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\WPFToolkit.dll, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\TASKS\Driver Tonic_Logon, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\PUBLIC\Desktop\Driver Tonic.lnk, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\USERS\PUBLIC\Desktop\Driver Tonic.lnk, Quarantined, [2936], [505858],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Driver Tonic\Buy Driver Tonic.lnk, Quarantined, [2936], [505860],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Driver Tonic\Driver Tonic.lnk, Quarantined, [2936], [505860],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Driver Tonic\Uninstall Driver Tonic.lnk, Quarantined, [2936], [505860],1.0.10044 PUP.Optional.DriverTonic, C:\USERS\{username}\DESKTOP\DRIVERTONIC.EXE, Quarantined, [2936], [509861],1.0.10044
Physical Sector: 0 (No malicious items detected)
WMI: 0 (No malicious items detected)
(end)
Should users wish to keep this program and exclude it from being detected in future scans, they can add the program to the exclusions list. Here’s how to do it.
You may see these entries in FRST logs:
(PC Tonics Inc -> pctonics.com) C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dtn.exe C:\Users\Public\Desktop\Driver Tonic.lnk C:\Windows\System32\Tasks\Driver Tonic_Logon C:\Users\{username}\AppData\Roaming\pctonics.com C:\ProgramData\pctonics.com C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Driver Tonic C:\Program Files\Driver TonicDriver Tonic (HKLM\...\{4C7CA6F1-4691-449D-B574-559726CDA825}_is1) (Version: 1.0.1.6 - pctonics.com) Task: {A25E30FE-1291-4529-82C2-AA4D55A8CADF} - System32\Tasks\Driver Tonic_Logon => C:\Program Files\Driver Tonic\dtn.exe (PC Tonics Inc -> pctonics.com)
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