How to remove WinCleaner 2009 (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Grinler on February 21, 2009 @ 04:09 PM · Views: 2,927

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What this programs does:

WinCleaner 2009 is a rogue anti-malware software from the same developers as Win Antivirus Vista/XP and ASC-AntiSpyware. This particular rogue uses false advertising, exaggerated results, and Trojans to promote itself. The engine behind WinCleaner 2009 is the open source security engine called ClamWin. ClamWin is a legitimate anti-malware engine that allows developers to integrate anti-malware technology into their products. This basically allows anyone to create their own anti-malware program using the ClamWin engine and it's malware definitions. WinCleaner, though, takes it a step forward and made it so WinCleaner will also displays legitimate Windows programs as infections. To make matters worse, this program also utilizes Trojans that will display fake alerts on your computer's desktop that try to convince you that you are infected.

Wincleaner 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.

When WinCleaner is installed it will be configured to automatically start when you turn on your computer. Once started it will scan your computer and display a variety of infections, but not the infected file names, which cannot be removed unless you first purchase the software. It will then display another screen that shows a list of known Windows programs and state that they are all infected. In reality, though, none of these files are infected, but are only being shown to scare you into purchasing their software.

Please disregard any warnings this program may display. Instead use the free removal guide below to remove WinCleaner 2009 and any related malware.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View WinCleaner 2009 files.
View WinCleaner 2009 Registry Information.

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

Win Cleaner

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O2 - BHO: AntiSyware (IE PlugIn) - {2F3D01F3-2A8E-4814-AA0F-8315172D22BF} - C:\Program Files\WinCleaner\modules\IEPlugin163.dll
O4 - Startup: ASC-AntiSpyware.lnk = C:\Program Files\WinCleaner\WinCleaner.exe

Guide Updates:

02-21-09 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for WinCleaner 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 WinCleaner 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 WinCleaner2009 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 WinCleaner2009 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 WinCleaner 2009 Files:

c:\Program Files\WinCleaner
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\AntiSpyware_Uninstall.exe
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\clamscan.exe
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\default.xml
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\ExplorerMenu.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\freshclam.exe
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\IEPlugin.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\ignore.xml
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\libclamav.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\quarantine.xml
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\settings.xml
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\Update.exe
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\WinCleaner.exe
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\conf
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\conf\clamd.conf
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\conf\freshclam.conf
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\data
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\data\block.reg
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\data\block_un.reg
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\data\daily.cvd
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\data\database.dat
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\data\main.cvd
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\Microsoft.VC80.CRT.manifest
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcm80.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcp80.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\Microsoft.VC80.CRT\msvcr80.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\modules
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\modules\ExplorerMenu212.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\modules\IEPlugin163.dll
c:\Program Files\WinCleaner\quarantine
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Win Cleaner.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\WinCleaner 2009
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Startup\ASC-AntiSpyware.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\WinCleaner 2009\Win Cleaner.lnk

Associated WinCleaner 2009 Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Scan with ASC-AntiSpyware
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{2F3D01F3-2A8E-4814-AA0F-8315172D22BF}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\WinCleaner