How to remove PC Protection Center 2008 (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Grinler on August 5, 2008 @ 04:08 PM · Views: 746

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What this programs does:

PC Protection Center 2008 is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as Power Antivirus 2009. This software is advertised via the use of malware, that once installed on your computer, will constantly display fake security alerts and messages stating that your computer is infected and that you should use PC Protection Center 2008 in order to remove these infections. If you then download and install PC Protection Center, it will find the malware that installed it in the first place, but not allow you to remove anything unless you first purchase the software. Though unconfirmed, even if you register the software it will most likely not remove anything based upon past behaviour with these types of products. Under no circumstances should you purchase this software and instead you should follow the free removal instructions listed below.

PC Protection Center 2008 screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 1 images you can view.

This guide will walk you through removing the PC Protection Center 2008 programs and any associated malware for free.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs

Advanced information:

View PC Protection Center 2008 files.
View PC Protection Center 2008 Registry Information.

Add/Remove Programs control panel entry:

PC Protection Center 2008 1.00.0018

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [PC Protection Center] C:\program files\PC Protection Center 2008\PcProtection.exe

Guide Updates:

08/05/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for PC Protection Center 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 PC Protection Center 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 PCProtection Center 2008 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 PCProtection Center 2008 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 PC Protection Center 2008 Files:

c:\WINDOWS\system32\vbzlib2.dll
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\options.ini
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\PcProtection.exe
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\PcProtection.exe.MANIFEST
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\uninstall.log
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\vbase.ini
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\lang
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\lang\english.lng
c:\Program Files\PC Protection Center 2008\lang\russian.lng
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\PC Protection Center 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Protection Center 2008
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Protection Center 2008\PC Protection Center 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Protection Center 2008\Remove PC Protection Center 2008.lnk

Associated PC Protection Center 2008 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Antivirus Software
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\PC Protection Center 2008
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "PC Protection Center"