How to remove PC Defender 2008 (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Grinler on October 17, 2008 @ 05:48 PM · Views: 6,603

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What this programs does:

PC Defender 2008 is a rogue anti-spyware software from the same family as XP Antispyware 2009 and XP Antivirus 2008. Like its predecessors, PC Defender 2008 promotes itself via malware, SPAM, and misleading web sites. The web sites that promote this program pretend to be online anti-malware scanners, that when finished scanning, state that your computer is infected and that you should download and install PC Defender. The malware that promotes this program will issue fake security alerts from your Windows taskbar stating that your computer is under attack, or infected, and that you should install PC Defender 2008 to protect yourself. Regardless of how the program is promoted, the main goal is to scare you into downloading and installing the software.

If you decide to install PC Defender, the program will be configured to run automatically when you start Windows. Once running, it will scan your computer and list a variety of fake infections on your computer that cannot be removed unless you first purchase the software. For example, when I tested the program on my computer, which is a freshly installed Windows XP version, it stated that I had 2909 infections on the computer. The program does not, though, tell you what files are infected. That is because there is nothing infected on the computer and it is only displaying these results to scare you into thinking you are and thus purchase the software.

PC Defender 2008 screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 2 images you can view.

This guide will walk you through removing the PCDefender 2008 rogue anti-spyware program and any associated malware that may have been installed with it.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View PC Defender 2008 files.
View PC Defender 2008 Registry Information.

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

pcdefender2008

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SMthcrkrj0etfg] C:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\thcrkrj0etfg.exe

Guide Updates:

10/17/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for PC Defender 2008 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 PC Defender 2008 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 PCDefender 2008 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 PCDefender 2008 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 PC Defender 2008 Files:

Note, some of these names may be random:

c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\database.dat
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\license.txt
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\MFC71.dll
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\MFC71ENU.DLL
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\msvcp71.dll
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\msvcr71.dll
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\thcrkrj0etfg.exe
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\thcrkrj0etfg.exe.local
c:\Program Files\thcrkrj0etfg\uninstall.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\PC Defender 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Defender 2008
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Defender 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Defender 2008\How to Register PC Defender 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Defender 2008\License Agreement.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Defender 2008\PC Defender 2008.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Defender 2008\Register PC Defender 2008.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\PC Defender 2008.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Autorun
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Autorun\HKCU
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Autorun\HKCU\RunOnce
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Autorun\HKLM
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Autorun\HKLM\RunOnce
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Autorun\StartMenuAllUsers
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Autorun\StartMenuCurrentUser
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\BrowserObjects
%UserProfile%\Application Data\thcrkrj0etfg\Quarantine\Packages

Associated PC Defender 2008 Windows Registry Information:

Note, some of these names may be random:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\thcrkrj0etfg
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\thcrkrj0etfg
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform "pcdefender2008"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SMthcrkrj0etfg"