How to remove Total Virus Protection (Uninstall Instructions)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on February 19, 2009 @ 09:40 PM · Views: 13,640

 

What this infection does:

Total Virus Protection is a rogue anti-spyware program whose point of origin is the Russian Federation. This program is classified as a rogue because it uses aggressive advertising and displays false scan results. When installed this program will scan your computer and list a variety of infections that cannot be removed unless you have already purchased the software. These infections, though, are all legitimate programs and are actually required for the proper operation of Windows. Some of the detected scan results are:

• C:\Windows\System32\diskperf.exe is detected as Backdoor.Netdevil
• C:\Windows\System32\6to4svc.dll is detected as Dialer.Palazzo
• C:\Windows\System32\hypertrm.dll is detected Trojan.USBsteal
• C:\Windows\System32\kbdno.dll is detected as Trojan.Anits

In reality, though, all of these files are required system files for the proper operation of Windows. If these files are deleted then certain Windows programs and services will no longer work properly.

 

Total Virus Protection screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 8 images you can view.

 

When the program is installed you will also find that your computer begins to operate slower. This is because the program is always running in the background using your computer's resources. It will also constantly barrage you with nag screens and fake security alerts that pop-up over your running applications. These alerts are being shown to scare you into thinking that you are infected in the hopes that you will purchase a license of Total Virus protection. When you see these alerts, please do not purchase the software. Instead use the following guide in order to remove Total Virus Protection for free.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View Total Virus Protection files.
View Total Virus Protection Registry Information.

 

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

Total Virus Protection 1.0.8.0 (remove only)

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Total Virus Protection] C:\Program Files\TotalVirusProtection\TotalVirusProtection.exe

 

Guide Updates:

02/19/08 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for Total Virus Protection 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 Total Virus Protection 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 TotalVirusProtection 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 TotalVirusProtection 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 Total Virus Protection Files:

c:\Program Files\TotalVirusProtection
c:\Program Files\TotalVirusProtection\TotalVirusProtection.exe
c:\Program Files\TotalVirusProtection\TotalVirusProtection.xml
c:\Program Files\TotalVirusProtection\Uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\TotalVirusProtection\WebMonitor.exe
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Total Virus Protection.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Total Virus Protection.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Total Virus Protection
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Total Virus Protection\Total Virus Protection.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 Total Virus Protection Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Total Virus Protection
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Total Virus Protection\WebMonNotifier
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Total Virus Protection
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Total Virus Protection
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "UXPVP 1.0.8.0"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Total Virus Protection"