Remove SoftSoldier (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on October 15, 2009 @ 08:26 AM · Views: 6,873

 

What this infection does:

SoftSoldier is a rogue security program from the Wini family. This rogue is promoted through the use of Trojans that masquerade as flash updates or video codecs required to view on an online video. When the Trojan is downloaded and installed it will download SoftSoldier on to your computer and then create numerous harmless files with random names in your C:\Windows and C:\Windows\System32 folders. When SoftSoldier runs it will scan your computer and detect these harmless files as malware, but not allow you to attempt to remove unless you first purchase the program. These detected malware files, though, have no harmful effect on your computer and are only created, and then detected, to scare you into thinking that your computer has active virus infections. Therefore, please do not purchase SoftSoldier based on the false scan results as it is just a scam.

 

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

 

The same Trojan that installs SoftSoldier will also display fake security alerts and windows on your desktop while you are using the computer. These security alerts will contain messages stating that your computer is under attack by a remote hacker or that an active malware has been detected. The Trojan will also display a fake Windows Security Center that, unlike the legitimate version, states that you should install SoftSoldier to secure your computer. Like the fake scan results, these alerts and warnings should all be ignored as they are just a further tactic where the developers are trying to make you think that there are active security risks on your computer.

As you can see SoftSoldier was designed to make you think that your computer has security problems when in reality the only security problem is SoftSoldier and the Trojans that installed it. Therefore, if you find that SoftSoldier is on your computer 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. Last, but not least, to remove SoftSoldier please use the guide below.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View SoftSoldier files.
View SoftSoldier Registry Information.

 

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

SoftSoldier

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [zwh4.tmp.exe] C:\WINDOWS\system32\zwh4.tmp.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SoftSoldier] C:\Program Files\SoftSoldier Software\SoftSoldier\SoftSoldier.exe -min

 

Guide Updates:

10/15/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for SoftSoldier 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 SoftSoldier 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 SoftSoldier 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 SoftSoldier 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 SoftSoldier Files:

c:\Program Files\SoftSoldier Software
c:\Program Files\SoftSoldier Software\SoftSoldier
c:\Program Files\SoftSoldier Software\SoftSoldier\SoftSoldier.exe
c:\Program Files\SoftSoldier Software\SoftSoldier\uninstall.exe
c:\WINDOWS\10158vzrus952.ocx
c:\WINDOWS\1025znot-9-virus53b.cpl
c:\WINDOWS\102909ir5s31z.cpl
c:\WINDOWS\system32\bfaz5r891.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\SoftSoldier.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftSoldier
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftSoldier\1 SoftSoldier.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftSoldier\2 Homepage.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SoftSoldier\3 Uninstall.lnk
%Temp%\zwh4.tmp.exe

File Location Notes:

%Temp% refers to the Windows Temp folder. By default, this is C:\Windows\Temp for Windows 95/98/ME, C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\<Current User>\LOCAL SETTINGS\Temp for Windows 2000/XP, and C:\Users\<Current User>\AppData\Local\Temp for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

 

Associated SoftSoldier Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SoftSoldier
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SoftSoldier
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SoftSoldier
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SoftSoldier"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "zwh4.tmp.exe"