Remove ProtectPcs (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on December 19, 2009 @ 07:24 PM · Views: 3,619

 

What this infection does:

ProtectPcs is a rogue anti-spyware program that is promoted through the use of Trojans that pretend to be video codecs or flash updates that a web site states is required to watch one of their online videos. The interesting thing about this family of rogues is that on their own they do not display anything deceptive. It is only when the Trojan is installed in conjunction with the rogue that the rogue will actually detect anything. When the visitor downloads the Trojan and installs it, the Trojan will download and install ProtectPcs onto your computer and configure it to start automatically when you login to Windows. This same Trojan will also create numerous files on your computer with random filenames that are then detected as malware when ProtectPcs scans your computer. The program, though, will state that it will not remove these files until you first purchase it. This is obviously a scam as the program detects the files it created in the first place in order to trick you into thinking there are actual malware on your computer. In reality, these files are harmless and do not pose any risk to your computer. Thus this programs scan results should be ignored.

 

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

 

The Trojan that installed ProtectPcs will also display fake security alerts and messages on your desktop. These alerts will state that active malware has been found, that your being attacked by a remote computer, or that you are sending sensitive data to a remote location. The titles of these alerts will be Spyware Alert!, Infiltration Alert!, or Security Center Alert!. The Trojan will also display a fake Windows Security Center screen that will suggest that you purchase ProtectPcs to protect yourself. ProtectPcs will also hijack Internet Explorer so that it randomly displays a security warning when you browse the web. This security warning will state that the site you are visiting is infected or malicious and that you should purchase ProtectPcs to protect yourself. Just like the scan results, these fake warnings and messages should be ignored as they are just another attempt to make you think your computer has a security problem.

As you can see, you should not purchase this program regardless of what it may state. If you have already purchased the program, then please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. Finally, please use the guide below to remove this infection and any related malware for free.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View ProtectPcs files.
View ProtectPcs Registry Information.

 

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

ProtectPcs

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [<random>.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\<random>.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ProtectPcs.exe] C:\Program Files\ProtectPcs Software\ProtectPcs\ProtectPcs.exe

 

Guide Updates:

12/19/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for ProtectPcs 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 ProtectPcs 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 ProtectPcs 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 ProtectPcs 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 ProtectPcs Files:

c:\Program Files\ProtectPcs Software
c:\Program Files\ProtectPcs Software\ProtectPcs
c:\Program Files\ProtectPcs Software\ProtectPcs\ProtectPcs.exe
c:\Program Files\ProtectPcs Software\ProtectPcs\uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\10199virzs7a45.cpl
c:\WINDOWS\1058zsp941a5.cpl
c:\WINDOWS\107csza9se555.bin
c:\WINDOWS\system32\<random>.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\10075izus96.ocx
c:\WINDOWS\system32\10493wozm56c.bin
c:\WINDOWS\system32\10593sp9mzot654.bin
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\ProtectPcs.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ProtectPcs
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ProtectPcs\1 ProtectPcs.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ProtectPcs\2 Homepage.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\ProtectPcs\3 Uninstall.lnk

 

Associated ProtectPcs Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ProtectPcs
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ProtectPcs
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\ProtectPcs
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "ProtectPcs.exe"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "<random>.exe"