Is "Cleversoft PC Tuneup Maestro" malware?

Posted by Barend on Super User See other posts from Super User or by Barend
Published on 2011-12-09T13:27:27Z Indexed on 2012/11/11 23:04 UTC
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windows-xp

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malware

I found a desktop icon for something called PC TuneUp Maestro on my parents' laptop. Googling it yields pages upon pages of freeware download sites, but I couldn't find anything legitimately confirming or clearing it of malware status. I distrust these programs by default, but Microsoft Security Essentials seems to think it's legit. Does anyone know what this program is and if it's up to anything surreptious? Can I uninstall it or do I write off the entire OS install as tainted?

The system hosts file is intact (no funny unicode lookalikes either), so that red flag, at least, hasn't been raised.

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