How to remove Antivirus XP Pro (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Grinler on January 18, 2009 @ 09:58 PM · Views: 20,961

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What this programs does:

Antivirus XP Pro is a rogue anti-malware program that displays fake results when scanning your computer. AntivirusXP Pro is advertised through the use of advertisements masquerading as an online anti-malware scanner. These advertisements will pretend to scan your computer, and when finished, state that you have a variety of security risks and that you should download Antivirus XP Pro in order to protect yourself. It is important to realize that this is just advertisements and has no way of knowing what is actually running on your computer.

If Antivirus XP Pro is installed on your computer, it will be configured to start automatically when Windows loads. Once started it will scan your computer and list a variety of infections that cannot be removed untill you first purchase the program. These infections consist of filenames such as C:\Windows\xsearch.dll, C:\Windows\Config\PWS-Legmir.dll, C:\Windows\VisualGuard.exe, as well as many others. The interesting thing about these results are that none of the reported files actually exist on your computer. They are only being shown in order to scare you into thinking you are infected, and thus you buy the program.

When the program is running you will also see an occasional security alert appear from your Windows taskbar. These alerts state that your computer may be at risk and provide a dire warning about the types of security risks that may be on your computer. If you click on this alert, it will then start Antivirus XP Pro in order to scan your computer. The current text of the alert that you will see from the taskbar is shown below.

Your Computer might be at Risk!
Viruses have been detected!
Possible:

- Unauthorized access to your files, documents.
- Stealing from your banking accounts.
- Reading you private correspondence.
- Spam-mailing from your PC.

Highly recommended to destroy them immediately.

Just like the fake infectios the program detects when scanning your computer, these alerts are just being used to scare you into purchasing the software. Please ignore these alerts and instead use the free removal guide below.

Antivirus XP Pro Screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 4 images you can view.

This guide will walk you through removing the Antivirus XP Pro program and its associated malware for free.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View Antivirus XP Pro files.
View Antivirus XP Pro Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Framework Windows] frmwrk32.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [AntivirusXP.exe] C:\Program Files\AntivirusXP\AntivirusXP.exe
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\docume~1\bleeping\locals~1\temp\ntdll64.dll
O10 - Unknown file in Winsock LSP: c:\docume~1\bleeping\locals~1\temp\ntdll64.dll

Guide Updates:

01/18/09 - Initial guide creation.
05/11/09 - Updated for new files and malware.

Automated Removal Instructions for Antivirus XP Pro 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 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 Antivirus XP Pro 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 AntivirusXP Pro 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 AntivirusXP Pro 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 Antivirus XP Pro Files:

c:\Program Files\AntivirusXP
c:\Program Files\AntivirusXP\AntivirusXP.exe
c:\Program Files\AntivirusXP\Infected
c:\Program Files\AntivirusXP\Suspicious
c:\WINDOWS\system32\ahtn.htm
c:\WINDOWS\system32\frmwrk32.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\init32.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\test.ttt
c:\WINDOWS\system32\uniq.tll
c:\WINDOWS\system32\warning.gif
c:\WINDOWS\system32\win32hlp.cnf
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\AntivirusXP.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\AntivirusXP.lnk
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\mousehook.dll
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\ntdll64.dll
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\stylrit0.tmp
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\AntivirusXP
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\AntivirusXP\AntivirusXP.lnk

Associated Antivirus XP Pro Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AntivirusXP
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\AntivirusXP
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ActiveDesktop "NoChangingWallpaper" = "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer "NoActiveDesktopChanges" = "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer "NoSetActiveDesktop" = "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "DisableTaskMgr" = "1"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "AntivirusXP.exe"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\ActiveDesktop "NoChangingWallpaper" = "1"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer "NoActiveDesktopChanges" = "1"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer "NoSetActiveDesktop" = "1"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Framework Windows"