84,488,480 programs installed

Should I remove Driver Genius?

What percent of users and experts removed it?
70% remove it30% keep it
Overall Sentiment
Bad
What do people think about it?
(click star to rate)
How common is it?
Global Rank #1,778
United States Rank #3,678
Reach 0.3790%
Lifespan of installation (until removal)
< 11.81 days
348.46 days >
Average installed length: 183.09 days

Versions

VersionDistribution
19.0 0.04%
18.0 0.58%
17.0 2.34%
16.0 4.18%
15.0 6.59%
14.0 26.84%
12.0.0.1332 0.12%
12.0.0.1314 0.11%
12.0 58.96%

Driver Genius

What is Driver Genius?

Driver Genius is a software application designed to check the PC's currently installed drivers against a database of available drivers for a number of software and device hardware applications. If driver updates are available the software will automatically download them from the manufacturers web site and install them.

About  (from Driver-Soft)

Driver Genius improves PC performance with the powerful driver manager for Windows that backs up, restores, and updates your device drivers automatically with just a few clicks of your mouse. Driver Genius, updates the drivers of your system can't find on its own What's more, this powerful and easy driver management to...  Read more

Overview

The most common release is 12.0, with over 98% of all installations currently using this version. During setup, the program creates a startup registration point in Windows in order to automatically start when any user boots the PC. A scheduled task is added to Windows Task Scheduler in order to launch the program at various scheduled times (the schedule varies depending on the version). The software is designed to connect to the Internet and adds a Windows Firewall exception in order to do so without being interfered with. The primary executable is named drivergenius.exe. Many users end up uninstalling this after less than a month of it being installed. The setup package generally installs about 103 files and is usually about 25.69 MB (26,940,739 bytes). The installed file liveupdate.exe is the auto-update component of the program which is designed to check for software updates and notify and apply them when new versions are discovered.
  • Malware detected in the program
  • Automatically starts with Windows
  • Known to include offers within the setup
  • The wisdom of the experts agree, if you don't use it you should remove it!
Warning, multiple anti-virus scanners have detected possible malware in Driver Genius.
drivergenius.exe (ef5eb689e408a53ab97a4501b76b5e29) has been flagged by the following 24 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareVersionDetection
Agnitum Outpost 7.1.1 Packed/ZProtect
AhnLab-V3 2013.06.13 Trojan/Win32.Gen
AVG 2014.0.3466 Fat-Obfuscated
CAT-QuickHeal 6.13.12.00 Trojan.Agent.ni
Commtouch SDK 5.4.1.7 W32/Rbot.J.gen!Eldorado
Comodo Security 16423 UnclassifiedMalware
Fortinet FortiGate 6/13/2013 W32/BDoor.EXZ!tr.bdr
F-Prot v6.4.7.1.166 W32/Rbot.J.gen
F-Secure 11.2013-13-06_5 Packed:W32/PeCan.A
IKARUS anti.virus t3scan.2.0.3.0 Backdoor.Win32.Zegost
K7 AntiVirus 13.170.8855 Trojan
K7GW 13.12.7.0.12 Trojan
Kingsoft AntiVirus 331020.49267 Win32.Troj.Undef.(kcloud)
McAfee 5600.7104 BackDoor-EXZ
McAfee-GW-Edition 7.7104 BackDoor-EXZ
Norman 10.20130613 Redosdru.LS
Panda Antivirus 13.06.13.03 Trj/OCJ.A
PC Tools 2013 Trojan.Gen
Sophos 4.90 Mal/Generic-L
Symantec 6/13/2013 rev. 5 Trojan.Gen
Trend Micro 10.465.13 TROJ_SPNR.0BLL12
TrendMicro-HouseCall 7.2.164 TROJ_SPNR.0BLL12
VIPRE Antivirus 18664 Trojan-Dropper.Win32.Resdro.b (v) (not malicious)
ViRobot 2011.4.7.4223 Trojan.Win32.A.Black.3669504
LiveDBUpdater.exe (32a6c75530521520676a6cc5f67c641f) has been flagged by the following 22 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareSoftware versionDetection
Lavasoft Ad-Aware 12.0.163.0 Trojan.Generic.7584927
Bitdefender 7.2.5028.0 Trojan.Generic.7584927
Bkav FE 1.3.0.4562 W32.Clodd1f.Trojan.4c95
Clam AntiVirus 0.97.3.0 Win.Trojan.7584927
Commtouch SDK 5.4.1.7 W32/Trojan.WSFB-0465
Comodo Security 17355 UnclassifiedMalware
Emsisoft Anti-Malware 3.0.0.589 Trojan.Generic.7584927 (B)
Fortinet FortiGate 5.1.147.0 W32/SPNR.0BE312!tr
F-Secure 11.0.19100.45 Trojan.Generic.7584927
G Data 22 Trojan.Generic.7584927
IKARUS anti.virus T3.1.5.6.0 not-a-virus.Crack.DriverGen
Kingsoft AntiVirus 2013.4.9.267 Win32.Troj.DeepScan.f.(kcloud)
McAfee 5.600.0.1067 Artemis!32A6C7553052
McAfee-GW-Edition 2013 Artemis!32A6C7553052
MicroWorld-eScan 12.0.250.0 Trojan.Generic.7584927
Norman 7.02.06 Suspicious_Gen4.AICAR
Panda Antivirus 10.0.3.5 Generic Trojan
Sophos 4.95.0 Mal/Generic-L
Symantec 20131.1.5.61 WS.Reputation.1
Trend Micro 9.740.0.1012 TROJ_SPNR.0BE312
TrendMicro-HouseCall 9.700.0.1001 TROJ_SPNR.0BE312
VIPRE Antivirus 23838 Trojan.Win32.Generic!BT
LiveUpdate.exe (2ad7bbb545068f9b182533c31424fb8e) has been flagged by the following 3 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareSoftware versionDetection
Antiy-AVL 2.0.3.7 Trojan/Win32.Generic.gen
AVG 13.0.0.3169 DriverCleaner.A
Kingsoft AntiVirus 2013.4.9.267 Win32.Troj.Undef.(kcloud)
LiveUpdate1.exe (07b132bd713c4f6c7df2d02b6d089e78) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareSoftware versionDetection
AVG 13.0.0.3169 Downloader.AQW
Rising Antivirus 24.87.06.04 Trojan.Win32.Generic.12C2063C
uninstall.exe (53817a366d16165e18b0babc60239ff5) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareSoftware versionDetection
nProtect 2013-12-30.01 Trojan/W32.Agent_Packed.1342464.B
ViRobot 2011.4.7.4223 Trojan.Win32.S.Agent.1342464
unins000.exe (93f95108a259907fefd14bba8c54c15b) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareSoftware versionDetection
Antiy-AVL 2.0.3.7 Worm/Win32.WhiteIce
Symantec 20131.1.5.61 WS.Reputation.1
StarterW3i.exe (c834edb9141816e61e98969f45e2d179) has been flagged by the following 2 scanners:
Anti-Virus softwareSoftware versionDetection
AVG 13.0.0.3169 DriverCleaner.A
TrendMicro-HouseCall 9.700.0.1001 TROJ_GEN.F47V0831
       View all 57 all detections
Driver Genius has been seen bundling various 3rd party software during the installation process. Make sure to check for and remove unused programs.

Program detailsProgram details

URL: www.driver-soft.com
Help link: www.driver-soft.com/support.html
Installation folder: C:\Program Files\Driver-Soft\DriverGenius\
Uninstaller: "C:\Program Files\Driver-Soft\DriverGenius\unins000.exe"
Estimated size: 25.69 MB
Language: Russian (Russia)

Program filesFiles installed by Driver Genius

Program executable:drivergenius.exe (Malware detected)
Name:Driver Genius
Path:C:\Program Files\driver-soft\drivergenius\drivergenius.exe
MD5:ef5eb689e408a53ab97a4501b76b5e29
Additional files:
  • Driver Genius.exe - Driver Genius Professional Edition (Driver Genius Professional Edition Setup)
  • drvgenpro.exe
  • TaskTray.exe - Driver Genius Task Scheduler
  • Uninstall.exe - Driver Genius v12.0.0.1306
  • (Malware detected) StarterW3i.exe - Driver Genius Starter
  • SystemBooster.exe - System Booster
  • DG_Setup.exe - Driver Genius (Driver Genius Setup)
  • DriverGeniu_org.exe
  • NvDriverTweak.exe - NvDriverTweak (NVIDIA Driver Tweak)
  • (Malware detected) WwW.Elbramg.CoM.DriverGenius.exe
  • xDriverGenius.exe
  • SSDSpeeder.exe - SSD Speeder
  • liveupdate.exe - LiveUpdate
  • (Malware detected) LiveUpdate1.exe
  • HWi32.exe - HWi32
  • DriverGenius_RU.exe - DriverGenius 12 Installation
  • codejockcontrols.ocx (by Codejock Software) - Xtreme Suite ActiveX Control Module
  • CodejockCommandBars.ocx (by Codejock Software) - Xtreme CommandBars ActiveX Control (Xtreme CommandBars ActiveX Control Module)
  • Style.dll - Office 2016 Theme Resource DLL
  • CodejockReportControl.ocx - Xtreme Report Control ActiveX (Xtreme Report Control ActiveX Module)
  • xceedzip.dll (by Xceed Software Inc (450) 442-2626 [email protected] www.xceedsoft.com) - Xceed Zip Compression Library
  • (Malware detected) LiveDBUpdater.exe (by ADMIN@CRACK Shareware KILLER :)) - Driver Genius LiveBDUpdater
  • hwinfo32.dll (by Martin Malík - REALiX) - HWiNFO32 Client Library (HWiNFO32 Dynamic Link Library)
  • clmultidx7.ocx (by Clever Components) - Clever Internet Suite (Clever Internet ActiveX Suite)
  • alphaimagecontrol.ocx - AlphaImageControl
  • unins000.exe - Inno Setup (Setup/Uninstall)
  • zlib1.dll - zlib (zlib data compression library)
  • aspr_ide.dll - ASProtect IDE Helper
  • unins001.exe

Program behaviorsBehaviors exhibited

3 Scheduled Tasks
  • DriverGenius.exe is scheduled as a task named 'Driver Genius Skip UAC'.
  • unins000.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{598B6615-4F29-4FB1-8521-D3DEAA680C70}' (runs on registration).
  • StarterW3i.exe is scheduled as a task with the class '{9F9F47EE-62A6-4071-B666-A4A00B18012E}' (runs on registration).
Scheduled Task (Boot/Login)
  • DriverGenius.exe is automatically launched at startup through a scheduled task named Driver Genius Scheduler.
3 Startup Files (All Users Run)
  • DriverGenius.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'Driver Genius' which loads as C:\Program Files\Driver-Soft\DriverGenius\DriverGenius.exe systray.
  • TaskTray.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'TaskTray' which loads as C:\Program Files\Driver-Soft\DriverGenius\TaskTray.exe.
  • StarterW3i.exe is loaded in the all users (HKLM) registry as a startup file name 'Starter' which loads as C:\Program Files\Driver-Soft\DriverGenius\StarterW3i.exe.
Windows Firewall Allowed Program
  • DriverGenius.exe is added as a firewall exception for 'C:\Program Files\Driver-Soft\DriverGenius\DriverGenius.exe'.

Program resource utilizationResource utilization averages

StarterW3i.exe
Memory:966 KB
21.09 MB average
Total CPU:0.0044758887%
0.031193% average
Kernel CPU:0.00357497%
0.016088% average
User CPU:0.00090092%
0.015104% average

How do I remove Driver Genius?

You can uninstall Driver Genius from your computer by using the Add/Remove Program feature in the Window's Control Panel.
  1. On the Start menu (for Windows 8, right-click the screen's bottom-left corner), click Control Panel, and then, under Programs, do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall a Program.
    • Windows XP: Click Add or Remove Programs.
  2. When you find the program Driver Genius, click it, and then do one of the following:
    • Windows Vista/7/8/10: Click Uninstall.
    • Windows XP: Click the Remove or Change/Remove tab (to the right of the program).
  3. Follow the prompts. A progress bar shows you how long it will take to remove Driver Genius.
  4. If for some reason uninstallation fails, please install Microsoft's uninstall fixer utility which will help fix problems with programs that can't be uninstalled at support.microsoft.com.
OS VERSIONS
Win 7 (SP1) 54%
Win 8 0%
  
HOW IT STARTS
Automatically starts? Yes
(Found in the run registry)
  
USER ACTIONS
Uninstall it 70%
Keep it 30%

Windows OS versionsWindows

Which Windows OS versions does it run on?
Windows 7 59.25%
Windows 10 33.85%
Windows XP 4.51%
Windows Vista 2.35%
Windows Server 2003 0.04%
Which OS releases does it run on?
Windows 7 Ultimate 25.46%
Windows 7 Home Premium 21.32%
Windows 7 Professional 10.19%
Windows 8.1 Pro 6.18%
Windows 8.1 5.47%
Windows 10 Pro 4.73%

Distribution by countryGeography

22.38% of installs come from Germany
Which countries install it?
  Germany 22.38%
  United States 21.99%
  France 6.08%
  Italy 4.35%
  United Kingdom 2.47%
  Canada 2.31%
  Spain 2.26%
  Netherlands 2.01%
  Brazil 1.65%
  Austria 1.65%
  MA 1.42%
  Mexico 1.33%
  DZ 1.31%
  Saudi Arabia 1.29%

OEM distributionPC manufacturers

What PC manufacturers (OEMs) have it installed?
Hewlett-Packard 23.01%
Acer 19.42%
Dell 16.74%
ASUS 12.70%
GIGABYTE 9.60%
Toshiba 5.54%
Samsung 3.86%
Lenovo 2.86%
Medion 2.58%
Intel 1.58%
American Megatrends 1.23%
MSI 0.89%
Common models
ASUS All Series 7.46%
HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook ... 5.84%
HP Pavilion g6 Notebook P... 4.46%
HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook ... 3.61%
Dell Inspiron N5110 2.92%
HP Pavilion g7 Notebook P... 2.08%

About (from Driver-Soft Inc.)

Our company owns many years of software developing experiences, advanced production designing and researching experiences.
Publisher URL: www.driver-soft.com

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