How to uninstall and remove Antivirus'09

Posted by Grinler on April 15, 2009 @ 10:42 AM · Views: 2,409

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What this programs does:

Antivirus'09, otherwise known as Antivirus 09 or Antivirus 2009, is a rogue anti-spyware program that was discovered by security researcher Bharath, This program uses aggressive advertising and false scan results in order to scare you into thinking you are infected. At this time Antivirus'09 is advertised through the use of pop-ups that appear when browsing the web. These pop-ups will state that your computer has a security issue and that you should run an online anti-malware scanner. You will then be brought to a page that displays an advertisement that impersonates an online anti-malware scanner, and when it has finished scanning will state you have a myriad of infections and that you should download and install Antivirus'09 in order to protect yourself. Though this program is not currently advertised or installed through Trojans, we expect that in the near future Antivirus'09 will start to be promoted via malware.

The Antivirus'09 Program
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 10 images you can view.

When the program is installed it will be set to start automatically when Windows starts. Then when you log into Windows, the program will automatically start and scan your computer. When the scan has finished it will display numerous infections that cannot be removed until you purchase a license of Antivirus'09. The infections it finds, though, are actually false and the files it shows are either legitimate or do not even exist. This is because the program is scripted to state that you are infected by a selection of over 3,000 infection types that it are hard coded into the program. That means that even on a freshly installed and clean computer, Antivirus'09 will still state that your computer is infected. If this program states that files are infected, please ignore what it says as you may accidentally remove a legitimate Windows program. A sample of the infections it states are on your computer are:

While the program is running you will also constantly see security alerts and nag screens appearing on your screen. These screens are very disruptive as they will stay on top of any running programs until you acknowledge them. These nag screens range from stating that you are being hacked to malware processes being detected running on your machine. An example of the type of alert you will see is:

Malware or Advertising item was detected Antivirus'09

Malicious object can corrupt your computer files and documents, and steel <sic> your personal data such as credit card info or email accounts!

Antivirus'09 also installs a program called C:\WINDOWS\system32\SysShield.exe that displays a fake Windows Security Center. This security center window will attempt to appear as a helpful screen showing the latest virus threats and the status of the security on your computer. In reality, though, all this program does is further try to convince you to purchase the program.

If you are infected or have symptoms of Antivirus'09 then please use the removal guide below in order to remove this rogue and any associated malware.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View Antivirus'09 files.
View Antivirus'09 Registry Information.

Entries for this program found in the Add or Remove Programs control panel:

Antivirus 2009

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Antivirus 2009] C:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\AV2009.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Windows applications server] C:\WINDOWS\system32\SysShield.exe

Guide Updates:

04/15/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Antivirus'09 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'09 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 Antivirus'09 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 Antivirus'09 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'09 Files:

c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\AV2009.exe
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\AV2009_Update.exe
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\scanopt.sys
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\Support.url
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\sysdata.sys
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\SysShield.exe
c:\Program Files\Antivirus 2009\Uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\SysShield.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Antivirus 2009
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Antivirus 2009\Antivirus 2009.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Antivirus 2009\Support.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Antivirus 2009\Uninstall Antivirus 2009.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Antivirus 2009.lnk

Associated Antivirus'09 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\AVP09
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\AV2009
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Antivirus 2009
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform "AVP09"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Antivirus 2009"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Windows applications server"