How to remove Win Antivirus Vista/XP or ASC-AntiSpyware (Uninstall Guide)
Posted by Lawrence Abrams on February 16, 2009 @ 02:53 PM · Views: 8,415
What this infection does:
Win Antivirus Vista/XP is a rogue from the same developers
of ASC-AntiSpyware. In fact, both ASC-AntiSpyware and Win Antivirus are the
same program just with different names. Win Antivirus Vista/XP is advertised
through the use of Trojans that display fake security alerts on your computer.
These alerts range from a fake Windows Security Center to alerts from the Windows
taskbar stating your computer is under attack. All of these alerts will then
suggest that you purchase Win Antivirus in order to protect yourself. When Win
Antivirus Vista/XP is installed, it will be configured to start automatically
when you boot your computer. Once running, it will scan your computer and state
that you have a variety of infections on your computer and in order to remove
these infections you will need to purchase the program. The problem is that
the files it states are infections are actually legitimate Windows programs
such as msimn.exe, which is Outlook Express, and explorer.exe, which is a vital
program for the proper operation of Windows. Some of the infections it identifies
these programs as are Trojan-Keylogger.Win32.QQHelper.aoc, Net-Worm.Win32.Kido.fx,
and Trojan-PSW.Win32. OnLineGames.sxa. The reason it is showing you these files
is to scare you into purchasing the software.
Win Antivirus Vista/XP Screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 8 images you can view.
Inside the program's folder will also be a file called fastcam.exe,
which is the Trojan that displays fake security alerts on your computer. When
fastcam.exe is executed it will create a new service called AntipyWarex32_
that launches the c:\WINDOWS\svchost.exe file. When running, this program will
randomly issue security alerts and nag screens on your computer in order to
have you purchase the software. It is also possible to manually trigger these
nag screens and warnings by using the following command line switches:
-uninstal - This argument will remove the service and Trojan from your computer.
-redalert - Displays a nag screen stating you are infected and that you should
purchase the program.
-updtalert - Displays a screen stating that there is an update to the malware
definitions and that you should purchase the program in order to perform this
update.
-mainalert - Displays alert screen showing various programs that are infections.
-trymsg - Displays a balloon Windows taskbar alert stating your computer is
under attack.
-except - Displays a new type of fake alert that pretends to be svchost.exe
crashing on your computer. The current text of this alert is:
svchost.exe has encountered a problem and needs to
close. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
If you were in the middle of something, the information
you were working on might be lost.
Please tell Microsoft about this problem.
If you click on the Fix It button it will start Win
Antivirus again.
-center - Displays a fake Windows Security Center screen that is advertising
Win Antivirus.
As you can see this program deliberately attempts to trick you into thinking
you are infected so that you purchase the program. Please ignore these warnings
and instead use the free removal guide below.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View Win Antivirus Vista/XP files.
View Win Antivirus Vista/XP Registry Information.
Entries for this program found in the Add or Remove Programs control panel:
ASC-AntiSpyware
Win Antivirus VistaXP
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O2 - BHO: ICQSys (IE PlugIn) - {F54AF7DE-6038-4026-8433-CC30E3F17212} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\dddesot.dll
O4 - Startup: ASC-AntiSpyware.lnk = C:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\WinAntivirus.exe
O23 - Service: AntipyWarex32_ (AntipWinsx32_) - Unknown owner - C:\WINDOWS\svchost.exe
Guide Updates:
02/16/08 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for Win Antivirus Vista/XP using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:
- Print out these instructions as we will need to close every window that
is open later in the fix.
- 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, make sure you leave both the
Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish
button.
- 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.
- 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
Win Antivirus Vista/XP
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 ASC-AntiSpyware 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. 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.
Your computer should now be free of the ASC-AntiSpyware 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 Win Antivirus Vista/XP Files:
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\AntiSpyware_Uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\default.xml
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\fastcam.exe
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\ignore.xml
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\quarantine.xml
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\settings.xml
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\WinAntivirus.exe
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\conf
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\conf\clamd.conf
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\conf\freshclam.conf
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\data
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\data\block.reg
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\data\block_un.reg
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\data\daily.cvd
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\data\database.dat
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\Microsoft.VC80.CRT
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcm80.dll
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcp80.dll
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcr80.dll
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\modules
c:\Program Files\Win-Antivirus\quarantine
c:\WINDOWS\svchost.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\bills.dat
c:\WINDOWS\system32\dddesot.dll
c:\WINDOWS\system32\ersddat.dat
c:\WINDOWS\system32\lpsdat.dat
c:\WINDOWS\system32\setupixs.dat
c:\WINDOWS\system32\ssddat.dat
c:\WINDOWS\system32\tdferte.dat
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Win Antivirus.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Win Antivirus
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ASC-AntiSpyware.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Win Antivirus\Win Antivirus.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 Win Antivirus Vista/XP Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Softimer
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WinAntivirusVista-XP
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\WinAntivirusVista-XP\WinAntivirus
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{8BAB8541-6E7B-F904-EEBD-D2A51C6CD329}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{F54AF7DE-6038-4026-8433-CC30E3F17212}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{F54AF7DE-6038-4026-8433-CC30E3F17212}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WinAntivirus
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Enum\Root\LEGACY_ANTIPWINSX32_
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\AntipWinsx32_
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_ANTIPWINSX32_
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AntipWinsx32_
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