How to remove Privacy Watcher

Posted by Grinler on April 23, 2008 @ 06:04 PM · Views: 524

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What this programs does:

Privacy Watcher is a rogue privacy protection program that displays false positives or exaggerated results as a goad to have you purchase a license of their software. Once installed, Privacy Watcher will scan your computer and list a variety of privacy risks found on your computer. In order to remove these risks, though, you must first purchase a license of the software.

In reality, though, all of the risks found are either exaggerated or fake and are only being shown to scare you. For example, in a scan I did while evaluating this software, Privacy Watcher stated that I had a critical security risk. When I double-clicked on that entry to see what the risk was, it stated that it was the file C:\Windows\Downloaded Program Files\desktop.ini. The file shown, though, is a perfectly legitimate file from Microsoft and not a risk in any way.

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

Privacy Watcher Screenshot

Privacy Watcher False Positive

This guide will walk you through removing the Privacy Watcher program.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs

Advanced information:

View Privacy Watcher files.
View Privacy Watcher Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Privacy Watcher] C:\Program Files\Privacy Watcher\Privacy Watcher.exe

Guide Updates:

04/23/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Privacy Watcher 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 Privacy Watcher 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 PrivacyWatcher 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 PrivacyWatcher 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 Privacy Watcher Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Privacy Watcher\Privacy Watcher Uninstall.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Privacy Watcher\Purchase License.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Privacy Watcher\Start Privacy Watcher.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Privacy Watcher\Support Page.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Application Data\Privacy Watcher\Privacy Watcher.ini
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Application Data\Privacy Watcher\Selection.dat
c:\Documents and Settings\forensics\Desktop\Privacy Watcher.lnk
c:\Program Files\Privacy Watcher\Buy.url
c:\Program Files\Privacy Watcher\Help.url
c:\Program Files\Privacy Watcher\HowToBuy.txt
c:\Program Files\Privacy Watcher\License.txt
c:\Program Files\Privacy Watcher\Privacy Watcher.exe
c:\Program Files\Privacy Watcher\Uninstall.exe

Associated Privacy Watcher Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Privacy Watcher"