Remove Windows Enterprise Defender (Uninstall Guide)

Posted by Lawrence Abrams on October 10, 2009 @ 01:37 PM · Views: 29,100

 

What this infection does:

Windows Enterprise Defender is a rogue anti-spyware, or scareware, program from the Virus Doctor family. When installed, this program will be configured to start automatically when you load Windows as well as making a series of harmless files with the following names:

%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\ddv.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\pal.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\ppal.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\tempdoc.tmp

When Windows Enterprise Defender scans your computer, it will detect the above files as infections and state that you need to purchase the program before it will remove them. The reality is that these files are all harmless and can have no effect on your computer. They are only being created, and then detected, to scare you into thinking you have actual infections on your computer. As you can see this is a scam and you should not purchase the program for any reason.

 

Windows Enterprise Defender screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 4 images you can view.

 

While Windows Enterprise Defender is running it will display security alerts on your desktop stating that your computer is under attack or that active malware has been detected. These alerts are just another tactic where they are trying to convince you that your computer has a problem and should be ignored. As you can see, Windows Enterprise Defender purposely uses fake alerts and false scan results as a method to scare you into purchasing the software. It goes without saying that you should not do so, and if you already have we suggest you contact your credit card company to dispute the charges. If you are infected with this malware, then please use the guide below to remove it from your computer.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View Windows Enterprise Defender files.
View Windows Enterprise Defender Registry Information.

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Windows Enterprise Defender] "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\WindowsEDefender.exe" /s /d

 

Guide Updates:

10/10/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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Automated Removal Instructions for Windows Enterprise Defender 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 Windows Enterprise Defender 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 Windows Enterprise Defender 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 Windows Enterprise Defender 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 Windows Enterprise Defender Files:

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\83.mof
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\mozcrt19.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\sqlite3.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\unins000.dat
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\WED.ico
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\WindowsEDefender.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\WEDDSys
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\c9ba\WEDDSys\vd952342.bd
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WEDDSys
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WEDDSys\wed.cfg
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Windows Enterprise Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Windows Enterprise Defender
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Windows Enterprise Defender\cookies.sqlite
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Windows Enterprise Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Recent\cb.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\ddv.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\pal.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\ppal.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\tempdoc.tmp
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Windows Enterprise Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Windows Enterprise Defender.lnk
c:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins\search.xml

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 Windows Enterprise Defender Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3F2BBC05-40DF-11D2-9455-00104BC936FF}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WindowsEDefender.DocHostUIHandler
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes "URL" => "http://search-gala.com/?&uid=7&q={searchTerms}"
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-18\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes "URL"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "[xSP_2:61a6083b6194a2314e3dd54cf9615e36_7]"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "876902803"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Windows Enterprise Defender"