Remove Antimalware Defender (Uninstall Guide)
Posted by Lawrence Abrams on January 31, 2011 @ 08:57 PM · Views: 13,660
What this infection does:
Antimalware Defender is a rogue anti-spyware program that
is installed through the use of Trojans that pretend to be security updates
for Windows. When this Trojan is executed it will show a window that looks like
legitimate Windows update, but is instead the installer for the Antimalware
Defender rogue. The text of this installer states the following:
Antimalware security update for Windows XP
(KB961118)
Size: 433KB
This critical update will install System Security Update 2010.01.023 (Antimalware
Defender Upgrade; KB648759)
It will then prompt you to install the so-called update. Once installed, it
will launch Antimalware Defender, which will perform a scan of your computer.
When it has finished it will state that your computer is infected with a variety
of malware. If you attempt to remove these infections, though, it will state
that you must first purchase it before it will allow you to do so. This is a
scam because the infections it displays are either legitimate programs or do
not exist at all on your computer. Therefore, please do not manually delete
any of the files it shows or purchase this program thinking that it will help
you.
Antimalware Defender
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 5 images you can view.
If you have been infected with Antimalware Defender, then please do not purchase
it. If you have already purchased it then we suggest you contact your credit
card company and dispute the charges stating that it is a scam. Finally, to
remove Antimalware Defender please use the removal guide below to remove it
for free.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View Antimalware Defender files.
View Antimalware Defender Registry Information.
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O2 - BHO: {ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c} - {ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.avi
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6] "C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe" "C:\WINDOWS\system32\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.avi", start minimized
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6] "C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe" "%UserProfile%\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.avi", start minimized
O4 - Startup: ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.lnk = C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe
O4 - Global Startup: ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.lnk = C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe
Guide Updates:
01/31/11 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for Antimalware Defender using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
- Print out these instructions as we will need to close every window that
is open later in the fix.
- Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location
and save it to your desktop:
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link (Download page will open in a new window)
- Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including
this one.
- Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe.
This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
- 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.
- 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.
- On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform
full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan
button to start scanning your computer for
Antimalware Defender
related files.
- 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.
- 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 Antimalware Defender removal process.
- You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should
click on the Show Results button.
- 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.
- 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.
- You can now exit the MBAM program.
Your computer should now be free of the Antimalware Defender 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 Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help
Associated Antimalware Defender Files:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.avi
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.ico
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.mkv
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antimalware Defender
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Antimalware Defender\Antimalware Defender.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.lnk
c:\Program Files\Antimalware Defender
c:\Program Files\Antimalware Defender\Antimalware Defender.dll
c:\WINDOWS\system32\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.avi
c:\WINDOWS\system32\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.ico
%UserProfile%\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.avi
%UserProfile%\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.ico
%UserProfile%\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.mkv
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Antimalware Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Antimalware Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.avi
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.ico
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.mkv
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Antimalware Defender
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Antimalware Defender\Antimalware Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6.lnk
File Location Notes:
%UserProfile% refers to the current user's profile folder. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\<Current User> for Windows 2000/XP, C:\Users\<Current User> for Windows Vista/7, and c:\winnt\profiles\<Current User> for Windows NT.
Associated Antimalware Defender Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c}
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "ca84c702-c758-4421-974e-b02662e76d7c_6"
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