Remove Protection System (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Grinler on June 14, 2009 @ 11:23 AM · Views: 38,181

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What this programs does:

Protection System is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family as CoreGuard 2009. Protection System uses false scan results and fake security warnings as a method to make you think you are infected. To make matters worse, in order to protect itself from legitimate anti-malware programs it will attempt to automatically uninstall the following programs without your permission:

• F-Secure
• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
• NOD32
• avast!
• AntiVir
• AVG
• Norton Internet Security

When Protection System is installed it will be configured to start automatically when Windows starts. Once started, the program will perform a scan and then list a variety of infections that it will not remove until you purchase the program. These infections, though, either do not exist on your computer or are legitimate programs being identified as infections. In fact, some of these legitimate files are necessary Windows files that if deleted will cause problems with the normal operation of your computer. Therefore, do not delete any files that this program states are infections, as what it displays cannot be trusted.

Protection System screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 9 images you can view.

While the program is running, Protection System will also display numerous security warnings and nag screens. The security warnings that are shown as either pop-ups on your desktop or balloon alerts from the Windows taskbar. These security warnings range from an alert stating that your computer is being attacked from a remote PC to a warning stating that Internet Explorer is infected with a rootkit. All of these warnings are false as they are scripted to be shown regardless of what is running on your computer. The program will also constantly show you alerts asking you to register the program. These alerts will stay on top of any running application and will only go away when you manually close them. As they are shown so frequently this can become quite an annoyance.

With all of this said, if you are infected with Protection System, please do not purchase this program. Instead, use the guide below to remove this infection and any related malware for free.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View Protection System files.
View Protection System Registry Information.

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

Protection System

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O2 - BHO: BhoApp - {0CB66BA8-5E1F-4963-93D1-E1D6B78FE9A2} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\wingenocx.dll
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Protection System] C:\Program Files\Protection System\psystem.exe

Guide Updates:

06/14/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Protection System 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 Protection System 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 ProtectionSystem 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 ProtectionSystem 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 Protection System Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Protection System
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\Protection System.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Protection System\Protection System.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Protection System\Uninstall Protection System.lnk
c:\Program Files\Protection System
c:\Program Files\Protection System\blacklist.cga
c:\Program Files\Protection System\core.cga
c:\Program Files\Protection System\coreext.dll
c:\Program Files\Protection System\firewall.dll
c:\Program Files\Protection System\psystem.exe
c:\Program Files\Protection System\uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\support.png
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\unreg.html
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\delete.png
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\info.png
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\plus_circle.png
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\tick.png
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\warn.png
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\buttons
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\buttons\offline.gif
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\buttons\online.gif
c:\Program Files\Protection System\Help\images\buttons\voice.gif
c:\WINDOWS\system32\wingenocx.dll

Associated Protection System Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Protection System
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\BhoNew.BhoApp
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\BhoNew.BhoApp.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0CB66BA8-5E1F-4963-93D1-E1D6B78FE9A2}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{425882B0-B0BF-11CE-B59F-00AA006CB37D}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{5E2121EE-0300-11D4-8D3B-444553540000}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{0CB66BA8-5E1F-4963-93D1-E1D6B78FE9A2}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Protection System
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Protection System"