Remove MaCatte Antivirus 2009 (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Grinler on November 4, 2009 @ 05:10 PM · Views: 2,723

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What this programs does:

MaCatte Antivirus 2009 is a rogue anti-spyware program that display fake security alerts and scan results as a method to trick you into thinking you are infected. This program also attempts to emulate the legitimate McAfee anti-virus program by using a similar name and web site template. When installed, MaCatte Antivirus will be configured to start automatically when you boot up Windows. Once started, it will scan your computer and then display numerous infections, but will not remove them until you first purchase the program. The reality is that the scan results it shows are all fake and are only being shown to trick you into thinking you are infected so that you will then purchase the program. It goes without saying that you should not do this.

MaCatte Antivirus 2009 screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 2 images you can view.

When MaCatte Antivirus 2009 is running it will also display various security alerts from your Windows taskbar. These alerts will state that your computer is infected, that malware is sending private data to a remote location, or that a password stealing Spyware has been detected. An example of an alert you will see is:

MaCatte
Spyware activity alert!
Spyware.IEMonster activity detected. It is spyware that attempts to steal passwords from Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Outlook and other other programs, including logins and passwords from online baking sessions, eBay, PayPal.

Just like the fake scan results, these security alerts are false and are only being shown to scare you into thinking that your computer has a security problem.

If you find that MaCatte Antivirus 2009 is installed on your computer, then please do not purchase it as it is a scam. If you have already purchased the program, then we advise you to contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. Last, but not least, to remove this infection and any related malware, please use the removal guide below.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View MaCatte Antivirus 2009 files.
View MaCatte Antivirus 2009 Registry Information.

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

msca

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [wsc] C:\Program Files\msca\mstdl.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [msc] C:\Program Files\msca\msc.exe

Guide Updates:

11/04/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for MaCatte Antivirus 2009 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 full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for MaCatte Antivirus 2009 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 MaCatte Antivirus 2009 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 MaCatte Antivirus 2009 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 MaCatte Antivirus 2009 Files:

C:\Program Files\msca\
C:\Program Files\msca\msc.exe
C:\Program Files\msca\msca.ico
C:\Program Files\msca\mstdl.exe
C:\Program Files\msca\Viruses.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\msca
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\msca\msca.ico
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\msca\mcull.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\msca\msc.exe
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\msca\Viruses.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media\WPtect.dll
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\msca.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\msca
C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\msca\msca.lnk

Associated MaCatte Antivirus 2009 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\msca
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{459b6bf8-5320-4c41-8833-85baedf31086}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{A73890FC-177F-4198-AE3D-C64F7D9E69D8}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ControlPanel\NameSpace\{459b6bf8-5320-4c41-8833-85baedf31086}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{459b6bf8-5320-4c41-8833-85baedf31086}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\{459b6bf8-5320-4c41-8833-85baedf31086}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\NetworkNeighborhood\NameSpace\{459b6bf8-5320-4c41-8833-85baedf31086}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce "msca"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "wsc"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "msc"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\msca
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WarnOnPost "0"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WarnOnPostRedirect "0"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WarnonBadCertRecving "0"