How to remove Antivirus 2008

Posted by Grinler on April 30, 2008 @ 04:04 PM · Views: 66882

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What this programs does:

Antivirus 2008 is a rogue anti-malware program that displays false results and requires you to first purchase the software before you can remove anything. When installed, Antivirus 2008 will scan your computer and list a variety of infections found on your computer. When most anti-malware programs, and even rogue ones, scan your computer they will list the infections as specific registry keys or files. Antivirus 2008 moves away from this tradition and instead is very general about what is infected. For example, you can see in the scan results screenshot below that Antivirus 2008 states there are a variety of infections in the C:\Windows folder. What it does not tell you are the specific files that are bad. Maybe it does this because all of this programs results are fake and they are just trying to scam you into purchasing the software?

Below are screen shots of Antivirus2008 and one of its false positives.

Antivirus 2008 Screenshot

Antivirus 2008 False Positive

This guide will walk you through removing the Antivirus 2008 program.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs

Advanced information:

View Antivirus 2008 files.
View Antivirus 2008 Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Antivirus] C:\Program Files\Antivirus 2008\Antvrs.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [3P_UDEC] "C:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Desktop\AtnvrsInstall.exe" 0;C;
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Antivirus2008y] C:\Program Files\Antivirus2008y\antvrs.exe

Guide Updates:

04/30/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Antivirus 2008 using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:

1. Print out these instructions as we will need to close every window that is open later in the fix.
   
   
2. Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location and save it to your desktop:
   
   Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link
   
   


3. Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
   
   
4. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named Download_mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
   
   
5. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure you leave both the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button.
   
   
6. MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform quick scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Antivirus 2008 related files.
   
   
8. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
9. When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the Antivirus2008 removal process.
   
   
10. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
    
    
11. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine.
    
    
12. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
    
    
13. You can now exit the MBAM program.
    

Your computer should now be free of the Antivirus2008 program. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future.

If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:

Preparation Guide For Use Before Posting A Hijackthis Log

Associated Antivirus 2008 Files:

c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2008
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2008\Antvrs.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Start Menu\Antivirus
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Desktop\antvrs.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Application Data\Antivirus
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Start Menu\Antivirus\Antivirus 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Start Menu\Antivirus\Uninstall Antivirus.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\0L6FS9QR\instlog[1].htm
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\IQJ9X5GB\antvrs[1].exe

Associated Antivirus 2008 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Antivirus
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Antivirus
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Antivirus"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Antivirus2008y"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce "3P_UDEC"