What is Driver Tonic and is it safe to use? [Windows 10]

Third-party driver updater software for Windows 10 scans for outdated drivers on your PC and updates them.

The best driver updater utilities provide a quick and straightforward way to update your drivers. However, Driver Tonic is a driver updater utility held in some suspicion.

Is Driver Tonic a virus and should I uninstall it?

Is Driver Tonic safe to use?

Driver Tonic isn’t a virus, and it most likely won’t cause any damage to your system. However, Driver Tonic is unwanted software that comes bundled with other applications.

The application basically works as an advertisement, and it requires you to purchase a license if you want to use it. Many users claim that Driver Tonic won’t fix computer problems, so it’s basically a scam.

Although the application won’t cause damage to your PC, it can become tedious with its aggressive advertising, so it’s recommended that you uninstall it using the following solutions.

Driver Tonic is system maintenance software for updating drivers and cleaning registries. It also includes a system startup manager and web protection feature.

The virus misconception surrounding Driver Tonic has largely arisen over its distribution. Some users spot Driver Tonic installed on their PCs when they didn’t install it themselves. One user said this:

I’ve tried to use the Win10 App menu from Control Panel to attempt to uninstall Driver Tonic, an adware/malware app that was accidentally installed on my Surface Pro. When I click the uninstall box, it pops a message that says, This app has been blocked for your protection.

Is Driver Tonic legitimate software?

There can be little doubt Driver Tonic is adware (sometimes confused as malware). Therefore, users who choose to install Driver Tonic get bombarded with ads recommending they install other software.

Another thing to note is that Driver Tonic’s free download is only a demo. Its demo package is not an entirely genuine system maintenance utility as it only does a 25 percent scan.

It incorporates ads that tell users to upgrade to the Pro version, which is available for a price/month.

Some reviews for Driver Tonic claim that the demo version’s pop-up alerts for outdated drivers aren’t always entirely genuine.

Such claims highlight Driver Tonic might not be entirely trustworthy, as it gives users misleading outdated driver notifications for drivers they can’t update with the trial version.

So, some users might be convinced Driver Tonic is a scam software. It’s not entirely surprising users have that conviction for a driver updater utility that includes false positive pop-up notifications along with ad banners.

Yet, Driver Tonic has been reviewed on software download websites. Softpedia rates DT at three out of five stars.

So, Driver Tonic is legitimate software that’s safe to use at least. However, it’s claimed DT’s system scanning detects items that don’t impact system performance.

How can I uninstall Driver Tonic?

1. Press Windows Key + I to open the Settings app.
2. Navigate to the Apps section.
   
3. Select Driver Tonic from the list and click on Uninstall.
   
4. Follow instructions on the screen to remove the software.

Few users reported that Driver Tonic blocks its uninstaller from running. If that’s the case, you need to do the following:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager.
2. Locate Driver Tonic, right-click it, and choose End Task.
   
3. Open File Explorer and go to the following folder: C:\Program Files\
4. Locate the Driver Tonic folder and delete it.
5. Now try to uninstall Driver Tonic again

Driver Tonic gets bundled with custom installers for other software, and it will no doubt be an unwanted program for most users who didn’t install it themselves.

If you don’t want Driver Tonic and its misguiding pop-up notifications, uninstall the demo package as follows.

Note: If you can’t uninstall Driver Tonic as outlined above, try removing the software with a third-party uninstaller utility.

So, if you never chose to install Driver Tonic, and aren’t impressed with its demo package, you might as well uninstall it to free up some HDD space.

However, don’t be alarmed if you discover Driver Tonic on your PC as it’s not a virus.