PiriformBundler Removal. How to remove Piriform Bundler PUA?

What’s wrong with the PiriformBundler?

In 2021, the cybersecurity community considered the bundlers and bundled programs as hazardous. All anti-malware vendors agreed with this opinion and added PiriformBundler to their detection lists. The problem for CCleaner producer hides in its distribution model: free versions of this program are spread in a bundle with various other programs. No one warns the user that there will be something else besides the CCleaner, so the chance that he/she will just click out the whole installation process is pretty high.

Piriform corp. is not a malevolent company. Their main product – CCleaner – does a pretty good job for users who don’t want to keep their system clean manually. It can wipe the rubbish files from your disk, delete the registry entries which are not used, and allows you to set up some of the system settings. Once again – you can do the same actions manually, and with the same efficiency, but it will take much more time to do it by your hands. The main point of concern that forced the community to consider the fact that CCleaner is a riskware is that it uses PiriformBundler for the installation.

Piriform Bundler Technical Summary.

Name	Piriform Bundler
Type	Unwanted program
Detection Name	PUA:Win32/PiriformBundler, PUABundler:Win32/PiriformBundler
Distribution Method	Free CCleaner version from the official Piriform website
Removal	Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic PUA:Win32/PiriformBundler removal.

What is software bundling and why is it dangerous?

Software bundling is the phenomenon of adding the other programs to the installation file of the original one. Such a step is generally done by free software developers to monetize their programs. Some of them try to get their penny through donations, but some decide not to rely on generous users and have a small fee from each user who has installed their app (and bundled apps, too). I think that no one would like to discover that he got some unexpected programs on his PC, especially when these programs can be classified as potentially unwanted ones.

Exactly, the fact that software developers are free to add any program to that bundle led to bundlers banning. Isn’t that better to cut such a big malware source at its beginning? Malware and PUPs are changing pretty fast, so to keep the antivirus capable of removing the unwanted bundled programs you need to keep your eye on it. Meanwhile, banning the bundles (that has a pretty simple and unmodifiable structure) solves both problems: you don’t need anymore to update your detection databases so often, and blocks the malware injection attempt.

And what is about PiriformBundler?

PiriformBundler is blocked not only because of this global ban of bundlers. Users are also complaining about the fact that free CCleaner, which is usually used as a “main” program in that bundle, performs a lot of background operations. And background activity is not bad until it goes against privacy and users’ will. CCleaner gets updated automatically without any notifications, and even without being launched in any way. Moreover, users detected that the telemetric functionality is also used during this silent mode. Hence, for users who pay a lot of attention to their privacy, CCleaner at all is an unwanted app. PiriformBundler became banned just because it spreads this unwanted program.

How my PC infected by PUA:Win32/PiriformBundler?

As I have mentioned before, PiriformBundler is distributed inside of the free products of the programs made by Piriform. The exact contents of this bundler are different – it can offer you to install other products of Piriform, as well as various other things. Dubious web browsers, other “optimization tools” or “driver updaters” – all those things carry the danger to your PC. Microsoft published several claims about the danger of using registry editors and driver updaters – especially ones from no-name developers. CCleaner was considered safe to use until it showed its uncertain functionality.

Other examples of the software bundles can be met when you are downloading the free software, as I have mentioned above. The developers of free programs try to gain some profit by bundling their apps with other programs. They receive a certain sum of money for each installation of the software they have added. And not all of the bundled programs are safe to use: a pretty often case is when you get adware, browser hijacker, or riskware on your PC through that way.

How to remove the PiriformBundler and avoid the problems in future?

PiriformBundler is detected by the majority of anti-malware engines as an unwanted program. For its removal, it will be enough to have any antivirus program installed. However, to prevent all possible malware injections in the future, it is better to have an antivirus tool that has the best protection characteristics. The greatest solution with balanced price, functionality, and resource consumption is GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

Download GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

You can download GridinSoft Anti-Malware by clicking the button below:

Download GridinSoft Anti-Malware

Run the setup file.

When the setup file has finished downloading, double-click on the setup-antimalware-fix.exe file to install GridinSoft Anti-Malware on your system.

An User Account Control asking you about to allow GridinSoft Anti-Malware to make changes to your device. So, you should click “Yes” to continue with the installation.

Press “Install” button.

Once installed, Anti-Malware will automatically run.

Wait for the Anti-Malware scan to complete.

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will automatically start scanning your system for Piriform Bundler files and other malicious programs. This process can take 20-30 minutes, so I suggest you periodically check on the status of the scan process.

Click on “Clean Now”.

When the scan has finished, you will see the list of infections that GridinSoft Anti-Malware has detected. To remove them click on the “Clean Now” button in the right corner.

Are Your Protected?

GridinSoft Anti-Malware will scan and clean your PC for free in the trial period. The free version offers real-time protection for the first 2 days. If you want to be fully protected at all times – I can recommend you to purchase a full version:

Full version of GridinSoft Anti-Malware

If the guide doesn’t help you to remove Piriform Bundler, you can always ask me in the comments to get help.