How to remove SpywareRemover 2009 (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on November 23, 2008 @ 03:12 PM · Views: 8,235

 

What this infection does:

SpywareRemover 2009 is a rogue anti-spyware program that is advertised through the use of Trojans and misleading advertising found on web sites. SpywareRemover attempts to scare you into thinking that you are infected by displaying fake security alerts and performing malware scans that state that you have infections on your computer. These found infections, though, cannot be removed unless you first purchase the program. The reason why this program is a scam is that the infections it finds are actually fake and do not exist on your computer. They are only showing them because they are trying to scare you into purchasing their program. The text of a fake security alert that was shown when we were testing this software is below:

SpywareRemover2009 Alert!

Warning: someones <sic> tries to change IE security level for Local Intranet from Custom to Medium!

An undefined process wants access to IE Security Settings. Don't allow access unless you know changes were initiate <sic> by you.

When installed, SpywareRemover 2009 will be configured to start automatically on your computer. Once started, the program will scan your computer and list a variety of fake malware that cannot be removed unless you first purchase the program. While running, you may also find that your computer begins to operate slower. This is because the program is constantly running in the background and displaying nag screens asking you to register and purchase the software.

 

SpywareRemover 2009 screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 4 images you can view.

 

This guide will walk you through removing the SpywareRemover 2009 program and its associated malware for free.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View SpywareRemover 2009 files.
View SpywareRemover 2009 Registry Information.

 

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

SpywareRemover2009 1.0.165.0

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SpywareRemover2009] C:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\SR.exe

 

Guide Updates:

11/23/08 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for SpywareRemover 2009 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 SpywareRemover 2009 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 SpywareRemover2009 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 SpywareRemover2009 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 SpywareRemover 2009 Files:

c:\END
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\cn.exe
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\cn.xml
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\InstUp.exe
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\license.rtf
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\mfc80.dll
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\Microsoft.VC80.MFC.manifest
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\msvcm80.dll
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\msvcp80.dll
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\msvcr80.dll
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\PaymentPage.exe
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\pv.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\readme.rtf
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\settings.ini
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\SR.exe
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\SR.xml
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\unins000.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\unins000.exe
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\updateapp.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\updatedb.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\Updater.dll
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\UserAgent.dll
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\database
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\database\AutoProcess.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\database\enemies.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\database\Summary.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\database\vbpv.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\database\quarantine.dat
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\database\quarantine.dat\#post_quarantine
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\Quarantine
c:\Program Files\SpywareRemover2009\quaratine.dat
%UserProfile%\Desktop\SpywareRemover2009.lnk
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Temp\USRM
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpywareRemover2009
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpywareRemover2009\Data
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpywareRemover2009\Data\Abbr
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpywareRemover2009\Data\ActivationCode
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpywareRemover2009\Data\ProductCode
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SpywareRemover2009
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SpywareRemover2009\Contact customer support.url
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SpywareRemover2009\SpywareRemover2009 Online Manual.url
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SpywareRemover2009\SpywareRemover2009.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\SpywareRemover2009\Uninstall SpywareRemover2009.lnk

File Location Notes:

%UserProfile% refers to the current user's profile folder. By default, this is C:\Documents and Settings\<Current User> for Windows 2000/XP, C:\Users\<Current User> for Windows Vista/7, and c:\winnt\profiles\<Current User> for Windows NT.

 

Associated SpywareRemover 2009 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SpywareRemover2009
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\USRM_is1
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\SpywareRemover2009
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "USRM 1.0.165.0"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "SpywareRemover2009"