PCoptimizer 2010 is a rogue security program that pretends
to analyze your computer for virus infections and system errors. When installed,
PCoptimizer 2010 will issue an alert that states that one of your running processes
is a security issue and will then prompt you to clean your computer. Regardless
of what you press on the alert you will be brought to a screen where PrivacyGuard
will pretend to scan your computer for viruses and other system errors. When
finished it will state that it has fixed these errors and viruses, but that
there are other issues it could not fix until you license, or purchase, the
program. This is obviously a scam and you should not purchase the program regardless
of what it tells you.
PCoptimizer 2010 screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 5 images you can view.
PCoptimizer 2010 will also randomly terminate programs when you attempt to
run them. When it terminates a program you will be shown an alert that states
that the program is trying to perform some sort of malicious activity. The text
of these alerts include:
Warning!
Security alert
Name: taskmgr.exe
Location: C:\WINDOWS\System32
Attempt to modify register key entries is detected. Register entries analysis
is recommended.
Deny or Enable Protection.
Warning!
Security alert
Name: taskmgr.exe
Location: C:\WINDOWS\System32
Potentially harmful script execution is detected. It is strongly recommended
to run total System scanning.
Deny or Enable Protection.
Regardless of the button you press, you will be brought to the main PCoptimizer 2010 screen where it will prompt you to purchase a license of the program.
Without a doubt, PC optimizer 2010 was created to display fake security alerts
in order to scare you into purchasing the program. It goes without saying that
you should definitely not purchase this program, and if you have, you should
contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating that the purchase
was actually a computer infection and a scam. To remove this infection and related
malware, please follow the steps in the guide below.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View PCoptimizer 2010 files.
View PCoptimizer 2010 Registry Information.
Entries for this program found in the Uninstall Programs control panel:
PCoptimizer 2010
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Protect] C:\Program Files\PC\PCoptimizer 2010\PCoptimizer2010.exe
Guide Updates:
12/04/10 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for PCoptimizer 2010 using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:
- Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is
open later in the fix.
- It is possible that the infection you are trying to remove will not allow
you to download files on the infected computer. If this is the case, then
you will need to download the files requested in this guide on another computer
and then transfer them to the infected computer. You can transfer the files
via a CD/DVD, external drive, or USB flash drive.
- Before we can do anything we must first end the processes that belong to
PCoptimizer 2010
so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, please
download RKill to your desktop from the following link.
RKill
Download Link - (Download page will open in a new tab or browser window.)
When at the download page, click on the Download Now button
labeled iExplore.exe download link. When you are prompted
where to save it, please save it on your desktop.
- Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe
icon in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with
PCoptimizer 2010
and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the program looks for various
malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will
automatically close and you can continue with the next step. If you get a
message that RKill is an infection, do not be concerned. This message is just
a fake warning given by
PCoptimizer 2010
when it terminates programs that may potentially remove it. If you run into
these infections warnings that close RKill, a trick is to leave the warning
on the screen and then run RKill again. By not closing the warning, this typically
will allow you to bypass the malware trying to protect itself so that rkill
can terminate
PCoptimizer 2010
. So, please try running RKill until the malware is no longer running. You
will then be able to proceed with the rest of the guide. If you continue
having problems running RKill, you can download the other renamed versions
of RKill from the rkill
download page. All of the files are renamed copies of RKill, which you
can try instead. Please note that the download page will open in a new browser
window or tab.
Do not reboot your computer after running RKill as the malware programs will
start again.
- Now you should 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)
- Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including
this one.
- Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe.
This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
- 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. If MalwareBytes' prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
- 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.
- 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
PCoptimizer 2010
related files.
- 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.
- 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
PCoptimizer2010
removal process.
- You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should
click on the Show Results button.
- 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.
- 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.
- You can now exit the MBAM program.
- As many rogues and other malware are installed through vulnerabilities found
in out-dated and insecure programs, it is strongly suggested that you use
Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs on your computer. A tutorial on
how to use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs can be found here:
How to
detect vulnerable and out-dated programs using Secunia Personal Software Inspector
Your computer should now be free of the
PCoptimizer2010
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 PCoptimizer 2010 Files:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\PCoptimizer 2010.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PCoptimizer 2010\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\PCoptimizer 2010\PCoptimizer 2010.lnk
c:\Program Files\PC\
c:\Program Files\PC\PCoptimizer 2010\
c:\Program Files\PC\PCoptimizer 2010\1.ico
c:\Program Files\PC\PCoptimizer 2010\PCoptimizer2010.exe
c:\WINDOWS\Tasks\At1.job
Associated PCoptimizer 2010 Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PC
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\PC\PCoptimizer 2010
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Protect"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Protection
This is a self-help guide. Use at your own risk.
BleepingComputer.com can not be held responsible for problems that may occur by using this information. If you would like help with any of these fixes, you can ask for malware removal assistance in our Virus, Trojan, Spyware, and Malware Removal Logs forum.
If you have any questions about this self-help guide then please post those questions in our Am I infected? What do I do? and someone will help you.
