Remove PC Scout (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Grinler on October 15, 2009 @ 04:59 PM · Views: 1,522

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What this programs does:

PC Scout is a scareware program from the same developers as Protection System. When installed this program will be configured to start automatically when Windows starts. Once running it will scan your computer and display a variety of infections, but will not allow you to remove any until you first purchase the program. The problem is that the infections PC Scout detects are either false or exaggerated and are not problems at all. They are only stating they are risks in order to scare you into thinking that you are infected in the hopes that you will then purchase the program.

PC Scout screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 4 images you can view.

While PC Scout is running you will also see fake security alerts appear on your desktop. These alerts will state that Internet Explorer is infected with some sort of infection and then prompt you to purchase the program in order to fix it. The text of the alert is:

PC Scout detected the virus or the harmful program on your computer!
Internet Explorer is infected with worm Rootkit.Win32.Agent.pp. This worm can harm your computer.

The reality, though, is that Internet Explorer is not infected and that this alert is only being shown to scare you into purchasing PC Scout. If you are infected with PC Scout, then please use the free removal guide below. If you have already purchased PC Scout then we suggest you contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating the company was a scam.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View PC Scout files.
View PC Scout Registry Information.

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

PC Scout

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [PC Scout] "C:\Program Files\PC Scout\pcscout.exe" -noscan

Guide Updates:

10/15/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for PC Scout 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 PC Scout 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 PCScout 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 PCScout 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

Associated PC Scout Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\PC Scout Support.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\PC Scout.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Scout
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Scout\PC Scout Support.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Scout\PC Scout.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PC Scout\Uninstall PC Scout.lnk
c:\Program Files\PC Scout
c:\Program Files\PC Scout\core.cga
c:\Program Files\PC Scout\CoreExt.dll
c:\Program Files\PC Scout\help.ico
c:\Program Files\PC Scout\pcscout.exe
c:\Program Files\PC Scout\Uninstall.exe

Associated PC Scout Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{5E2121EE-0300-11D4-8D3B-444553540000}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\PC Scout
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\PC Scout
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "PC Scout"