Remove Presto Tuneup (Removal Guide)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on May 22, 2009 @ 03:26 PM · Views: 4,104

 

What this infection does:

Presto TuneUp is a scareware program that pretends to be a Windows optimization program. It includes features such as a Disk Doctor, a Startup Manager, Privacy Guard, and the System Doctor. The problem is that none of these tools actually do what they are said to do. Instead this program will scan your computer and list a variety of problems that will not be fixed unless you first purchase the program. This is why Presto TuneUp is classified as a Scareware, or rogue, program; because it attempts to scare you into thinking you are infected in the hopes that you purchase it. While the program is running you will also see alerts being displayed from your Windows taskbar. These alerts are further attempts to scare you into thinking that your computer has a problem. One of the alerts states:

Needless programs and files have been detected on your PC.

Click here to remove them immediately with Presto TuneUp.

 

Main screen of Presto Tuneup
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 6 images you can view.

 

If you are infected with Presto TuneUp, then please use the removal guide below to remove this program for free.

 

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View Presto TuneUp files.
View Presto TuneUp Registry Information.

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Presto TuneUp] "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\PrestoTuneUp.exe" /s /d

 

Guide Updates:

05/23/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for Presto TuneUp 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 (Download page will open in a new window)
   
   


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 Presto TuneUp 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 PrestoTuneUp 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 PrestoTuneUp 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

 

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Associated Presto TuneUp Files:

Please note that this application uses random folder names.

%UserProfile%\Application Data\Presto TuneUp
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Presto TuneUp.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Presto TuneUp\Autorun.ico
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Presto TuneUp\cookies.sqlite
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Presto TuneUp\places.sqlite
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Presto TuneUp\Process.ico
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Presto TuneUp\Service.ico
%UserProfile%\Desktop\AutorunManager.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Presto TuneUp.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\ProcessManager.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\ServiceManager.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Presto TuneUp.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Presto TuneUp.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SystemBackup
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\mozcrt19.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\PrestoTuneUp.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\sqlite3.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\working.log
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\SystemBackup
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SystemBackup\backup.dat

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 Presto TuneUp Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3F2BBC05-40DF-11D2-9455-00104BC936FF}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PrestoTuneUp.DocHostUIHandler
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "URPRTUP[]"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Presto TuneUp"