How to remove Total Protect 2009 (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Grinler on December 30, 2008 @ 08:05 PM · Views: 5,377

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What this programs does:

Total Protect 2009 is a rogue anti-malware program from the same creators as PC Protection Center 2008. This program is installed on your computer through the use of Trojans. Once the program is installed, these same Trojans will display fake security alerts stating that your computer is under attack or has a security risk and that you should purchase Total Protect 2009 in order to protect yourself. If you click on one of these alerts you will then be brought to the Total Protect 2009 home page where you will be prompted to purchase the software.

When this program is installed it will be configured to start automatically when your computer loads. Once running, Total Protect 2009 will scan your computer and list a variety of infections on your computer that cannot be removed unless you first purchase it. These programs though are either legitimate files that the rogue is stating are infections or files that do not even exist on your computer. It is only showing these false infections in order to scare you into purchasing the software. While running, your computer may also become slower. This is because Total Protect is always running in the background and using up your computer's resources that your legitimate programs could better use.

Total Protect 2009 screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 3 images you can view.

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

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View Total Protect 2009 files.
View Total Protect 2009 Registry Information.

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

Total Protect 2009 1.02.0007

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Total Protect 2009] C:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\pcpc_starter.exe
O18 - Protocol: totalprotect - {} - (no file)

Guide Updates:

12/29/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for Total Protect 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
   
   


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 Total Protect 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 Total Protect 2009 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 Total Protect 2009 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 Total Protect 2009 Files:

c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\gfx.bin
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\options.ini
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\TotalProtect2009.exe
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\TotalProtect2009.exe.MANIFEST
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\TotalProtect2009_start_setup.exe
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\tp_starter.exe
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\uninstall.log
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\vbase.ini
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\lang
c:\Program Files\Total Protect 2009\lang\english.lng
c:\WINDOWS\system32\vbzlib2.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\Run Total Protect 2009.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Total Protect 2009
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Total Protect 2009\Remove Total Protect 2009.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Total Protect 2009\Run Total Protect 2009.lnk

Associated Total Protect 2009 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\PROTOCOLS\Handler\totalprotect
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\totalprotect
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Antivirus Software
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Total Protect 2009
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Total Protect 2009"