How to remove Smart Protector (Removal Guide)

Posted by Grinler on August 1, 2009 @ 12:00 PM · Views: 9,679

Add to Favorites!    Print Guide!

What this programs does:

Smart Protector is a rogue security program that deliberately uses false scan results in order to trick you into thinking that your computer is infected. Please note that this infection should not be confused with the legitimate program of the same name that uses the same pathnames as this rogue. When Smart Protector is installed it will be configured to automatically start when you login to your computer. Once started, the program will scan your computer and list a variety of infections that cannot be removed unless you purchase the program. These infections, though, are all fake and do not actually exist on your computer. They are only being shown to scare you into thinking you are infected to try and trick you into purchasing Smart Protector.

Smart Protector screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 3 images you can view.

Smart Protector is a scripted rogue, which means that the developers hard coded the program to show the same infections regardless of the computer it is run on. The supposed infections that it will detect are determined by the contents of the c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\mainbase.adb and c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\virusbase.adb files. These files contain a list of the filenames and descriptions of each of the infections it will state is found on your computer. So if you opened those files in Notepad and deleted the contents, the next time you ran Smart Protector it would not detect anything on your computer.

As you can see, Smart Protector is designed to trick you into thinking you are infected in the hopes that you purchase their program. If you find you are infected with Smart Protect please use the removal guide below to remove this rogue and any associated malware for free.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View Smart Protector files.
View Smart Protector Registry Information.

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

Smart Protector

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [smartprotector] C:\Program Files\Smart Protector\smartprotector.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [smrtprt] C:\Program Files\Smart Protector\smrtprt.exe
O21 - SSODL: SysiNet - {0C955DE5-2D3C-45EA-A879-3113C888BAB6} - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft AData\sysinet.dll

Guide Updates:

08/01/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Smart Protector 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 Smart Protector 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 SmartProtector 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 SmartProtector 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 Smart Protector Files:

c:\Program Files\Smart Protector
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\q
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\config.scf
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\mmbase.sdb
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\q.sdb
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\queue.sdb
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\smrtprt.exe
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\uninstalls.exe
c:\Program Files\Smart Protector\vvbase.sdb
c:\WINDOWS\certsystem.exe
c:\WINDOWS\microsoftdef.dll
c:\WINDOWS\regred.exe
c:\WINDOWS\securits.com
c:\WINDOWS\spoov.exe
c:\WINDOWS\usexplorer.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\winsc.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft AData
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft AData\catmon.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft AData\setup.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft AData\sysinet.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Microsoft AData\t.sid
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Index\Drivers
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Microsoft\Media Index\internet.dll
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Smart Protector.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Smart Protector
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Smart Protector\Smart Protector.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Smart Protector\Uninstall.lnk

Associated Smart Protector Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Smart Protector
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Smart Protector
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control\Class\{4D36E96E-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\S
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "smartprotector"
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0C955DE5-2D3C-45EA-A879-3113C888BAB6}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "smrtprt"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad "SysiNet"