Remove System Adware Scanner 2010 (Uninstall Guide)
Posted by Lawrence Abrams on December 15, 2009 @ 03:50 PM · Views: 6,158
What this infection does:
System Adware Scanner 2010 is a rogue anti-spyware program
that uses aggressive protection techniques and false scan results to trick you
into purchasing the program. When this rogue is installed it will also create
a driver that acts as a bodyguard for the rogue application. This driver is
called noterminate and it will display fake security alerts
as well as stop you from running various applications including MalwareBytes.
When the rogue is installed it will be configured to start automatically when
Windows starts. Once started, it will perform a scan and display numerous threats
on your computer, but will tell you it won't remove them until you first purchase
the program. In reality, the threats it states exists on your computer are either
fake or legitimate Windows files. Therefore, please ignore the scan results
and do not try to remove any of the files it states are infections are it may
affect the proper operation of your computer.
System Adware Scanner 2010 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 protection service and the rogue will also display numerous fake security
warnings on your computer. These warnings will state that a particular web site
or file being downloaded is dangerous, that malware has been detected, and that
programs are sending personal data to the Internet. The text of two of these
messages is:
System Adware Scanner 2010 Warning
Intercepting programs that may compromise your privacy and harm your system
have been detected on your PC. Click here to remove them immediately with
System Adware Scanner 2010
Warning: Your computer is infected
Windows has detected infection!
Click this message to install the last update of Windows Security Software!
Just like the scan results, these alerts are all fake and should be ignored.
Without a doubt, System Adware Scanner 2010 was created to scam you out of
your money and make it very difficult to remove. If you are infected with this
rogue, please do not purchase the program, and if you already have, I advise
you to contact your credit card company and dispute the charges. Finally, to
remove this infection and any related malware please use the removal guide below.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View System Adware Scanner 2010 files.
View System Adware Scanner 2010 Registry Information.
Entries for this program found in the Add or Remove Programs control panel:
SystemAdwareScanner2010
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [<random>] C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\<random>.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [<random>] C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\<random>.exe
Guide Updates:
12/15/09 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for System Adware Scanner 2010 using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
- Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is
open later in the fix.
- Before we can do anything we must first end the processes that belong to
System Adware Scanner 2010
so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, please
download RKill to your desktop from the following link.
RKill
Download Link - (Download page will open in a new tab or browser window.)
When at the download page, click on the Download Now button
labeled iExplore.exe download link. When you are prompted
where to save it, please save it on your desktop.
- Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe
icon in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with
System Adware Scanner 2010
and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the program looks for various
malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will
automatically close and you can continue with the next step. If you get a
message that RKill is an infection, do not be concerned. This message is just
a fake warning given by
System Adware Scanner 2010
when it terminates programs that may potentially remove it. If you run into
these infections warnings that close RKill, a trick is to leave the warning
on the screen and then run RKill again. By not closing the warning, this typically
will allow you to bypass the malware trying to protect itself so that rkill
can terminate
System Adware Scanner 2010
. So, please try running RKill until the malware is no longer running. You
will then be able to proceed with the rest of the guide. Do not reboot
your computer after running RKill as the malware programs will start again.
If you continue having problems running RKill, you can download the other
renamed versions of RKill from the RKill
download page. Both of these files are renamed copies of RKill, which
you can try instead. Please note that the download page will open in a new
browser window or tab.
- Now you should 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)
- Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including
this one.
- Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe.
This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
- 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 and is at the last screen, make
sure you uncheck both of the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware check
boxes. Then click on the Finish button. If Malwarebytes'
prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
If you receive a code 2 error while installing Malwarebytes's, please press
the OK button to close these errors as we will resolve them
in future steps. The code 2 error will look similar to the image below.
- As this infection deletes a core executable of Malwarebytes' we will need
to download a new copy of it and put it in the C:\program files\Malwarebytes'
Anti-Malware\ folder. To download the file please click on the following
link:
Malwarebytes'
EXE Download
When your browser prompts you where to save it to, please save it to the C:\program
files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\ folder. When downloading the file,
it will have a random filename. Please leave the filename the way it is as
it is important that it is not changed. You may want to write down the name
of the file as you will need to know the name in the next step.
- Once the file has been downloaded, open the C:\program files\Malwarebytes'
Anti-Malware\ folder and double-click on the file you downloaded
in step 8. MBAM will now start and you will be at the main program screen
as shown below.
- Before you can perform a scan, you must first update the program. To do
this click on the Update tab, and that at the new screen
click on the Check for Updates button. Malwarebytes' will
now check for new updates and download and install them as necessary. When
the update is completed, you will be prompted with a message stating either
that you already have the latest updates or that they have been updated. Either
way, you should now click on the OK button to continue.
- Now click on the Scanner tab and make sure the the Perform
full scan option is selected. Then click on the Scan
button to start scanning your computer for
System Adware Scanner 2010
related files.
- 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.
- 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
System Adware Scanner 2010
removal process.
- You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should
click on the Show Results button.
- 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. If your computer
does not reboot on its own, which may happen with this malware, you will need
to press the Reset button on your computer to reboot it. If you do not have
a reset button, hold the power button until the computer turns off and then
turn it back on. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please
continue with the rest of the steps.
- 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.
- You can now exit the MBAM program.
- Due to the fact that this infection deletes certain MalwareBytes' files,
and we had to work around this, if you wish to continue using MalwareBytes'
Anti-Malware, which we suggest you do, then you should uninstall and then
install it again so that the files are created properly.
Your computer should now be free of the System Adware Scanner 2010 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
Associated System Adware Scanner 2010 Files:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\<random>
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\<random>.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\<random>.i
%UserProfile%\Desktop\System Adware Scanner 2010.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\System Adware Scanner
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\System Adware Scanner\System Adware Scanner 2010.lnk
c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\<random>.sys
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 System Adware Scanner 2010 Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\SystemAdwareScanner2010
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\<random>
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\noterminate
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "<random>"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "<random>"
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