Remove Personal Anti Malware Center (Uninstall Guide)
Posted by Lawrence Abrams on February 16, 2010 @ 04:25 PM · Views: 6,010
What this infection does:
Personal Anti Malware, or Personal Anti Malware Center
if it is registered, is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as
Antivirus'09.
This rogue is advertised through the use of aggressive advertising and false
scan results in order to trick you into thinking that you are infected. When
installed, Personal Anti Malware will configure itself to start automatically
when you login to Windows. Once running it will scan your computer and display
a variety of supposedly infected items on your computer. In reality, the files
it detects are all legitimate programs. In fact, the only items it detected
that are malware are the Personal Anti Malware files themselves. Therefore,
please do not delete any of the files it states are infections as it will cause
legitimate programs to not operate properly.
Personal Anti Malware screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 6 images you can view.
While the program is running you will also see a constant barrage of security
alerts and nag screens on your desktop. These alerts range from stating that
you are being hacked to malware processes being detected running on your machine.
An example of the type of alert you will see is:
Personal Anti Malware
Your system is infected with version of Spy-1840.
This malicious program is a Trojan.
It infected capinfos.exe.
This Trojan attempts to steal and corrupt your private information.
Click here to save your private information!
Critical System Warning!
Personal Anti Malware also installs a program called C:\WINDOWS\system32\SysShield.exe
that displays a window called Security Essentials. This window
pretends to be a security information resource, but in reality only promotes
the Personal Anti Malware program. Just like the scan results, the information
in the Security Essentials window and the fake security alerts are all fake
and should be ignored.
Without a doubt, Personal Anti Malware Center was created to scam you out of
your money by making you think your computer has a security problem. Do not
purchase this program, and if you already have, please contact your credit card
company and dispute the charges. Last, but not least, to remove this program
and any related malware, please use the removal guide below.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View Personal Anti Malware Center files.
View Personal Anti Malware Center Registry Information.
Entries for this program found in the Add or Remove Programs control panel:
AMC
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
HijackThis entries from the unregistered version:
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Personal Anti Malware] C:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\PAM.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Windows applications server] C:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\SysShield.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [%Temp%\delInstav2009.bat] %Temp%\delInstav2009.bat
HijackThis entries from the registered version:
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Personal Anti Malware Center] C:\Program Files\AMC\BIN\AMC.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delInstav2009.bat] C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delInstav2009.bat
O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delav2009.bat] C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delav2009.bat
O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delUpdav2009.bat] C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delUpdav2009.bat
O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delInstavp2009.bat] C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delInstavp2009.bat
Guide Updates:
02/16/10 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for Personal Anti Malware Center 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
Personal Anti Malware Center
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
Personal Anti Malware Center
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
Personal Anti Malware Center
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
Personal Anti Malware Center
. 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
Personal Anti Malware Center
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
Personal AntiMalware Center
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
Personal AntiMalware Center
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 Personal Anti Malware Center Files:
Files from the unregistered version:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware\Personal Anti Malware.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware\Support.lnk
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\add.exe
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\AVP_Update.exe
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\PAM.exe
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\scanopt.sys
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\Support.url
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\svo.scf
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\sysdata.sys
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\SysShield.exe
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\Uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\vlist
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\warning.mht
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nag8b1c.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nag8b1o.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nag8b1u.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nag8b2c.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nag8b2o.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nag8b2u.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagcodeok.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagcodewrong.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagop.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb1c.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb1o.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb1u.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb2c.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb2o.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb2u.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb4c.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb4o.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\nagopb4u.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\nagsr\showvirus.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\payment
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\payment\pay_main.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\payment\pay_part.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\Exit.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\ExitS.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\FullScan.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\FullScanS.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\Open.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\OpenS.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\Register.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\RegisterS.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\Update.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\tray\UpdateS.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmhelpc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmhelpo.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmhelpu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmrecc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmreco.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmrecu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmsecc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmseco.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmsecu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmsetc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmseto.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmsetu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmssc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmsso.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\bmssu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\closec.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\closeo.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\closeu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\main.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\minimizec.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\minimizeo.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\minimizeu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\registerc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\registero.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\registeru.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\splash.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\updatec.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\updateu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\options
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\options\checkc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\options\checku.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\options\options.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\options\Thumbs.db
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Recover
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Recover\radioc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Recover\radiou.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Recover\recokc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Recover\recoko.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Recover\recoku.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Recover\recover.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secau.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secb1.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secgs.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secscannowc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secscannowo.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secscannowu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secsp.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secupdc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secupdnowc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secupdnowo.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secupdnowu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secupdu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\secvp.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\Security\Thumbs.db
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\PBEmpty.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\PBFull.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\removec.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\removeo.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\removeu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\RiskLevelHi.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\RiskLevelLow.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\RiskLevelMid.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\savec.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\saveo.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\saveu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\ScanWnd.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\selectc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\selecto.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\selectu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\ssscanagainc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\ssscanagaino.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\ssscanagainu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\Thumbs.db
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\unselectc.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\unselecto.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\unselectu.bmp
c:\Program Files\Personal Anti Malware\bitmaps\windows\sustemscan\window.bmp
Files from the registered version:
c:\Program Files\AMC
c:\Program Files\AMC\Support.url
c:\Program Files\AMC\Web.url
c:\Program Files\AMC\bin
c:\Program Files\AMC\bin\AMC.exe
c:\Program Files\AMC\bin\CreateProcessLib.dll
c:\Program Files\AMC\bin\libclamav.dll
c:\Program Files\AMC\bin\pthreadVC2.dll
c:\Program Files\AMC\bin\Uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\AMC\data
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\main.cvd
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\ext
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\ext\.dll
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\ext\.exe
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\ext\.sys
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help\1.rtf
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help\2.rtf
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help\3.rtf
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help\4.rtf
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help\5.rtf
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help\6.rtf
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\help\main.rtf
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\temp
c:\Program Files\AMC\data\temp\clamav-1ebcd6f302aff5add724ec7dca98d0d2
c:\Program Files\AMC\quarantine
c:\Program Files\AMC\quarantine\qinfo.dat
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware Center
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware Center\On the Web.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware Center\Personal Anti Malware Center.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware Center\Support.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Personal Anti Malware Center\Uninstall Anti Malware Center.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Personal Anti Malware Center.lnk
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 Personal Anti Malware Center Windows Registry Information:
Registry entries from the unregistered version:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AV2009
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AVP09
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Personal Anti Malware"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Windows applications server"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\User Agent\Post Platform "AVP09"
Registry entries from the registered version:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\AMC
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Personal Anti Malware Center"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce "C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delav2009.bat"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce "C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delInstavp2009.bat"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce "C:\DOCUME~1\Bleeping\LOCALS~1\Temp\delUpdav2009.bat"
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