Remove BadWare Protector (Removal Instructions)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on April 25, 2009 @ 04:05 PM · Views: 2,922

 

What this infection does:

Badware Protector is a a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as XP Antivirus 2008. Badware Protector uses false scan results as a trick to make you think that you are infected. In reality, though, these supposed infections do not actually exist on your computer. When installed, Badware Protector will be configured to start automatically when you turn on your computer. Once running, it will scan your computer and then display fake results, but will not allow you to remove them until you purchase the program. As you can see this is just a tactic being used to scare you into thinking you are infected in the hopes that you will purchase the program. It goes without saying that you should not do so.

 

Badware Protector screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 1 images you can view.

 

Though this program is currently not being promoted via malware, past experiences with malware from this family suggests that it will be in the near future. Therefore if you are seeing alerts for Badware Protector or the program itself is running on your computer, then there is a chance you may have other malware programs installed as well. Last but not least, while this program is installed you may find that your computer has begun to run slower. This is because Badware Protector is using up the resources of your computer that other legitimate programs could be using. With all of this said, if you have Badware Protector on your computer, please use the free removal guide below in order to remove it and any associated malware.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View Badware Protector files.
View Badware Protector Registry Information.

 

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

Badware Protector

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [0113DE8367022C285A1AF91E4E1C285C] C:\Documents and Settings\Bleeping\Desktop\badware-protector.exe

 

Guide Updates:

04/25/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for Badware Protector 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 (Download page will open in a new window)
   
   


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 full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Badware Protector 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 Badware Protector 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 Badware Protector 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

 

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Associated Badware Protector Files:

Note: Some of these entries may be random.

%UserProfile%\Start Menu\BP
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\BP\BP.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\BP\Help.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\BP\Registration.lnk
c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Uninstall
c:\Program Files\Common Files\System\Uninstall\Uninstall BP.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\BP.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\BP.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\badware-protector.exe

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 Badware Protector Windows Registry Information:

Note: Some of these entries may be random.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\0113DE8367022C285A1AF91E4E1C285C
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\BP
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "0113DE8367022C285A1AF91E4E1C285C"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "AV3"