How to remove Secure Expert Cleaner (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Grinler on November 27, 2008 @ 11:33 AM · Views: 2,817

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What this programs does:

Secure Expert Cleaner is a rogue privacy program that uses exaggerated scan results and misleading advertisements in order to sell itself. SecureExpertCleaner is typically advertised through use the pop-ups when you are browsing the web. These pop-ups will state that your computer has privacy issues and will ask if you would like to run an online scanner to find these issues. Regardless of whether you choose to do the scan, you will still be brought to a page showing an advertisement that pretends to be an online scanner that scans your machine and finds a variety of privacy and security issues. It will the prompt you to download and install Secure Expert Cleaner in order to remove these problems. It is important to understand that these online scanners are just advertisements and that they have absolutely no way of knowing what is running on your computer.

If you decide to download and install Secure Expert Cleaner, the program will be configured to start automatically when you login to Windows. Once running, Secure Expert Cleaner will scan your computer and list a variety of privacy violations on your computer that cannot be removed unless you first purchase the program. In reality, though, these privacy risks are highly exaggerated and pose no threat to your privacy at all. They are simply showing these exaggerated results as a tactic to scare you into purchasing their software. While running, you will also see pop-ups on your desktop advertising other rogue products such as Personal Antispy. These pop-ups can be ignored as well as they are stating false information.

Secure Expert Cleaner screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 5 images you can view.

This guide will walk you through removing the Secure Expert Cleaner program and its associated malware for free.

Threat Classification:

Advanced information:

View Secure Expert Cleaner files.
View Secure Expert Cleaner Registry Information.

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

QuickInstallPack
SecureExpertCleaner 1.0.10.8

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O2 - BHO: iercptbho - {D4CDC21D-43BE-4101-A1EF-E379F134771E} - %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\qip\iercpt.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SecureExpertCleaner] C:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\sec.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Reminder] C:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\Reminder.exe

Guide Updates:

11/27/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Secure Expert Cleaner 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 quick scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for Secure Expert Cleaner 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 SecureExpertCleaner 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 SecureExpertCleaner 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 Secure Expert Cleaner Files:

c:\uninstallinfo.txt
c:\My Downloads
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\mfc80.dll
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.MFC.manifest
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\Reminder.exe
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\SEC.exe
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\SEC.ico
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\SEC.xml
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\unins.ico
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\unins000.dat
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\unins000.exe
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcp80.dll
c:\Program Files\SecureExpertCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcr80.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SEC
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SEC\base.dat
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\Secure ExpertCleaner.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SecureExpertCleaner
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SecureExpertCleaner\Launch SecureExpertCleaner.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SecureExpertCleaner\Uninstall SecureExpertCleaner.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\SecureExpertCleaner.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\SecureExpertCleaner
%UserProfile%\Application Data\SecureExpertCleaner\Logs
%UserProfile%\Application Data\SecureExpertCleaner\Logs\scns.log
%UserProfile%\Desktop\QuickInstallPack.lnk
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\qip
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\qip\data.ini
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\qip\iercpt.dll
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\qip\QuickInstallPack.exe
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\qip\SecureExpertCleaner_Pandora_Dual_En.exe.ini
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\QuickInstallPack
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\QuickInstallPack\QuickInstallPack on the Web.url
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\QuickInstallPack\QuickInstallPack.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\QuickInstallPack\Uninstall QuickInstallPack.lnk

Associated Secure Expert Cleaner Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SEC
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SEC
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SecureExpertCleaner
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\{3A9377A6-BE7F-485D-908C-D44114691389}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\iercpt.DLL
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{D4CDC21D-43BE-4101-A1EF-E379F134771E}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\iercpt.iercptbho
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\iercpt.iercptbho.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{59C345BA-3D5E-44E3-9D10-D3848AF15D73}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{A6FBD2E4-1C7E-4EAB-80DD-01DE2645566A}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{D4CDC21D-43BE-4101-A1EF-E379F134771E}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\3P_USEC_is1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\QuickInstallPack
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "QuickInstallPack"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "3P_USEC 1.0.10.8"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Reminder"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SecureExpertCleaner"