How to remove Vista Antivirus 2008 (Removal Instructions)

Posted by Grinler on June 4, 2008 @ 02:06 PM · Views: 71,974

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What this programs does:

Vista Antivirus 2008 is a new rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as Windows Antivirus 2008, Antivirus 2008, and System Antivirus 2008. When installed, Vista Antivirus 2008 will automatically scan your computer and state you have a variety of security risks that cannot be removed unless you first purchase the software. These security risks are either fake or false-positives and are only being displayed to scare you into thinking you are infected with the software. This program will also display fake warnings that state malware is trying to infect your computer. These warnings are just another tactic to scare you into purchasing the software.

Screen shot of Vista Antivirus 2008
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 3 images you can view.

This guide will walk you through removing the Vista Antivirus 2008 program and any related malware.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs

Advanced information:

View Vista Antivirus 2008 files.
View Vista Antivirus 2008 Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Antivirus] C:\Program Files\VAV\vav.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Antivirus] C:\Program Files\VAV\vav.exe

Guide Updates:

06/04/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Vista 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 Vista 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 VistaAntivirus2008 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. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    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. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
    
    
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 VistaAntivirus2008 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 Vista Antivirus 2008 Files:

c:\Program Files\VAV
c:\Program Files\VAV\vav.cpl
c:\Program Files\VAV\vav.exe
c:\Program Files\VAV\vav0.dat
c:\Program Files\VAV\vav1.dat
c:\WINDOWS\system32\vav.cpl
c:\Documents and Settings\Bleeping\Desktop\Vista Antivirus 2008.lnk

Associated Vista Antivirus 2008 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AntiVirus
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VAV
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Antivirus"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Antivirus"