Windows PC Defender is a new rogue from the same family as Ultimate System Guard and Windows Guard Pro. Windows PC Defender is promoted through the use of pop-ups that appear when browsing the web. These pop-ups will state that malware was detected on your computer and that you should perform an online anti-malware scan. Regardless of what button you press on this pop-up you will be brought to a page that shows what appears to be an online scanner that is scanning your computer. This scanner, though, is only an advertisement and has no way of scanning your computer, let alone telling you if there are infections on it. When the advertisement is finished it will state that you are infected and then prompt you to download Windows PC Defender to your computer.

 

Windows PC Defender screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 10 images you can view.

 

If you decide to download and install Windows PC Defender, it will be configured to start automatically when your computer starts. The installer will also create numerous harmless files on your computer that are used to impersonate malware files. Once the program is running it will scan your computer and then display these files as infections, but will not allow you to remove them until you purchase the program. The files that the program is detecting are not capable of harming your computer, but are only being shown to validate the scan results. Regardless of what the scan displays, you should not purchase Windows PC Defender.

While the program is running you will also see numerous security alerts appear on your desktop and from your Windows taskbar. The taskbar alerts typically will contain some sort of message stating that Windows PC Defender has found malicious software running. The desktop alerts appear as windows that are shown over your running programs and will not minimize until you respond to them. These desktop alerts typically contain more dire alerts such as your computer is being hacked by a remote computer. Just like the scan results, these fake security alerts are just another tactic being used to scare you into purchasing the program.

As you can see, Windows PC Defender was created just to scam you out of your money by making you think that your computer is infected. In reality, though, Windows PC Defender is the infection itself. If you find that you are infected with this program, then please use the removal guide below to remove Windows PC Defender and any related malware from your computer.

 

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

 

Advanced information:

View Windows PC Defender files.
View Windows PC Defender Registry Information.

 

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

 

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 4-open-davinci.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 securitysoftwarepayments.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 privatesecuredpayments.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 secure.privatesecuredpayments.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 getantivirusplusnow.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 secure-plus-payments.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 www.getantivirusplusnow.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 www.secure-plus-payments.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 www.getavplusnow.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 www.securesoftwarebill.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 secure.paysecuresystem.com
O1 - Hosts: 74.125.45.100 paysoftbillsolution.com
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Windows PC Defender] "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\WP345d.exe" /s /d

 

Guide Updates:

09/16/09 - Initial guide creation.

 

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

c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\8424.mof
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\mozcrt19.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\sqlite3.dll
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\WP345d.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\WPCD.ico
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\WPCDSys
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\345d567\WPCDSys\vd952342.bd
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WPCDSys
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\WPCDSys\wpcd.cfg
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Windows PC Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Windows PC Defender
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Windows PC Defender\cookies.sqlite
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Windows PC Defender\Instructions.ini
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Windows PC Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Recent\cid.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\CLSV.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\ddv.dll
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\eb.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\energy.sys
%UserProfile%\Recent\exec.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\fix.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\FS.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\kernel32.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\PE.tmp
%UserProfile%\Recent\ppal.exe
%UserProfile%\Recent\runddlkey.drv
%UserProfile%\Recent\tempdoc.dll
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Windows PC Defender.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Windows PC 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/7/8, and c:\winnt\profiles\<Current User> for Windows NT.

 

Associated Windows PC Defender Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{3F2BBC05-40DF-11D2-9455-00104BC936FF}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WP345d.DocHostUIHandler
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchScopes "URL" => "http://search-gala.com/?&uid=201&q={searchTerms}"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer "PRS" = "http://127.0.0.1:27777/?inj=%ORIGINAL%"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "UID" = "201"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\5.0\User Agent\Post Platform "89770891803"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Windows PC Defender"

 

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BleepingComputer.com can not be held responsible for problems that may occur by using this information. If you would like help with any of these fixes, you can ask for malware removal assistance in our Virus, Trojan, Spyware, and Malware Removal Logs forum.

If you have any questions about this self-help guide then please post those questions in our Am I infected? What do I do? and someone will help you.