Remove SoftCop (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Grinler on October 17, 2009 @ 09:19 PM · Views: 13,296

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What this programs does:

SoftCop is a rogue anti-virus program that utilizes Trojans and fake online scanners to promote itself. SoftCop can be encountered through sites that pretend to be online anti-malware scanners that state you are infected, but in reality are just an advertisement promoting SoftCop. It could also be installed on your computer through the use of Trojans that pretend to be a Flash update that is needed to view a video online. Regardless of how the program gets installed on your computer, the Trojan installer will configure SoftCop to start automatically when Windows starts. The Trojan will also install numerous files that will then be detected as malware when the program scans your computer. If you attempt to remove these files, SoftCop will state that you need to purchase the program in order to remove them. The reality is that these files are all harmless and are only being created to scare you into thinking that there are actual malware files on your computer.

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

While the Trojan is running it will also display security warnings and messages on your desktop. These warnings will state that active malware has been found or that a worm is trying to hack your computer. The Trojan will also display a fake Windows Security Center that will suggest you purchase SoftCop to protect yourself. Like the fake scan results, these alerts and messages are just another tactic to make you think your computer has a security problem.

Without a doubt, SoftCop is not a program that you want on your computer or that you should trust what it says. Therefore, ignore all of its warnings and do not purchase it. If you have already purchased the program then I suggest you contact your credit card company and dispute the charges as this program is a scam. To remove SoftCop and any related malware, please use the removal guide below.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View SoftCop files.
View SoftCop Registry Information.

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

SoftCop

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [ree5.tmp.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\ree5.tmp.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SoftCop] C:\Program Files\SoftCop Software\SoftCop\SoftCop.exe -min

Guide Updates:

10/17/09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for SoftCop 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 SoftCop 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 SoftCop 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 SoftCop 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 SoftCop Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\SoftCop.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftCop
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftCop\1 SoftCop.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftCop\2 Homepage.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftCop\3 Uninstall.lnk
c:\Program Files\SoftCop Software
c:\Program Files\SoftCop Software\SoftCop
c:\Program Files\SoftCop Software\SoftCop\SoftCop.exe
c:\Program Files\SoftCop Software\SoftCop\uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\10345tr5j9z.dll
c:\WINDOWS\10b9backdoor1z95.ocx
c:\WINDOWS\10ez9parse1845.cpl
C:\WINDOWS\system32\ree5.tmp.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\1020zspambo55e39.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\10834w95z101.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\10z14tro9195.cpl

Associated SoftCop Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SoftCop
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SoftCop
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SoftCop
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "ree5.tmp.exe"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SoftCop"