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Antivirus System Pro is a rogue anti-spyware that uses false
scan results, fake security alerts, and Internet Explorer hijacking in order
to have you purchase this program. It is because of these actions that we classify
Antivirus System Pro as a rogue anti-spyware program. When installed, Antivirus
System pro will be configured to start automatically when you log into Windows.
Once running it will scan your computer and display numerous infections that
do not actually exist. Furthermore, it will state it will not remove these infections
unless you first purchase the program. This method of stating there are infections,
but not removing it until you purchase it, is just another tactic to have you
purchase the software.
Antivirus System Pro screen shot For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above. There are a total of 6 images you can view.
While running, you will also be constantly barraged with fake security alerts
stating that your computer is under attack or that you have viruses on your
computer. For example, one alert is labeled Infiltration Alert and it states
that your computer is being attacked by an Internet Virus. Another alert prompts
you to scan your computer and when you click on it, will automatically launch
Antivirus System Pro and then prompt you to purchase it. The text of this alert
is:
Windows Security alert
Windows reports that computer is infected. Antivirus software helps to protect
your computer against viruses and other security threats. Click here for the
scan you computer. Your system might be at risk now.
Last, but not least, Antivirus System Pro will install a Internet Explorer
Browser Helper Object that will hijack Internet Explorer so that when you are
browsing web sites, instead of going to the page you want, you will be shown
a warning message. This warning message will state that the site you are going
to is harmful to your computer and that you should purchase Antivirus System
Pro to protect yourself.
As you can see, this program utilizes many tactics to make you think you are
infected and thus tricking you into purchase the program. Please do not purchase
this program as it will not protect your computer in any way. Instead, use the
guide below to remove this infection and any related malware for free.
06/05/09 - Initial guide creation.
11/12/09 - Updated to use new removal technique due to new variant.
11/29/09 - Updated removal technique due to new protection system used by Antivirus System Pro
Automated Removal Instructions for Antivirus System Pro using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is
open later in the fix.
It is possible that the infection you are trying to remove will not allow
you to download files on the infected computer. If you run into this problem
when following the steps in this guide you will need to download the files
requested in this guide on another computer and then transfer them to the
infected computer. You can transfer the files via a CD/DVD, external drive,
or USB flash drive.
Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking using
the instructions for your version of Windows found in the following tutorial:
When following the steps in the above tutorial, select Safe Mode with
Networking rather than just Safe Mode. When the computer reboots
into Safe Mode with Networking make sure you login with the username you normally
use. When you are at your Windows desktop, please continue with the rest of
the steps.
This infection changes your Internet Explorer settings to use a proxy server
that will not allow you to browse any pages on the Internet. Therefore, if
you only have Internet Explorer installed, we will first need need to fix
this problem so that we can download the utilities we need to remove this
infection. If you already have another browser installed, then you can skip
to step 8 to proceed with the removal instructions. I
still advise that you do all of these steps so that Internet Explorer works
as well.
Please start Internet Explorer, and when the program is open, click on the
Tools menu and then select Internet Options
as shown in the image below.
You should now be in the Internet Options screen as shown in the image below.
Now click on the Connections tab as designated by the blue
arrow above.
You will now be at the Connections tab as shown by the image below.
Now click on the Lan Settings button as designated by the
blue arrow above.
You will now be at the Local Area Network (LAN) settings screen as shown
by the image below.
Under the Proxy Server section, please uncheck the checkbox labeled Use
a proxy server for your LAN. Then press the OK button
to close this screen. Then press the OK button to close the
Internet Options screen. Now that you have disabled the proxy server you will
be able to browse the web again with Internet Explorer.
Now we must end the processes that belong to
Antivirus System Pro
so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, download
the following file to your desktop.
If you are unable to connect to the site to download rkill, please go back
and do steps 3-6 again and make sure the infection has not reenabled the proxy
settings. You may have to do this quite a few times before you can get the
rkill.com file downloaded. If you still cannot download the rkill.com program
on the infected computer, you should download it to a clean computer and copy
it to the infected one via a USB flash drive or CDROM.
Once it is downloaded, double-click on the rkill.com in
order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with
Antivirus System Pro
and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the program looks for various
malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will
automatically close and you can continue with the next step. If you get a
message that rkill is an infection, do not be concerned. This message is just
a fake warning given by
Antivirus System Pro
when it terminates programs that may potentially remove it. If you run into
these infections warnings that close Rkill, a trick is to leave the warning
on the screen and then run Rkill again. By not closing the warning, this typically
will allow you to bypass the malware trying to protect itself so that rkill
can terminate
Antivirus System Pro
. So, please try running Rkill until malware is no longer running. You will
then be able to proceed with the rest of the guide.
Do not reboot your computer after running rkill as the malware programs will
start again.
Now you should download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following
location and save it to your desktop:
If you are unable to connect to the site to download Malwarebytes', please
go back and do steps 3-6 again and make sure the infection has not reenabled
the proxy settings.
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. If MalwareBytes' prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
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
Antivirus System Pro
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
Antivirus System Pro
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
Antivirus System Pro
program. You may want to consider purchasing
the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to protect against these types
of threats in the future, as if you had the real-time protection component,
that comes with the paid for version, activated it would not have allowed this
infection to install.
If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:
BleepingComputer.com can not be held responsible for problems that may occur by using this information. If you would like help with any of these fixes, you can post a HijackThis log in our HijackThis Logs and Analysis forum.
Have a problem and would like to ask us for help? To learn how to ask your question Click Here!
Do you have popups or other malware infecting your computer? If so, Start Here!
Are you having trouble using this site? Then you should visit the New User Orientation Center!
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