Windows Ultra-Antivirus is a rogue anti-spyware program that displays false scan results, fake security warnings, and uses rootkits to prevent you from terminating or deleting the program. When installed it will be configured to start automatically when you login to Windows. Once started it performs a fake scan and then states that numerous files on your computer are infections. When you attempt to use the program to clean these infections, though, it states that you first need to purchase it before it will allow you to do so. As all of the infections are false, please ignore anything this program shows and instead continue with the rest of the removal guide.
Windows Ultra-Antivirus screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 5 images you can view.
While installed Windows Ultra-Antivirus will also display fake security alerts and warnings that are designed to make you think your computer is in trouble. An example of one of these warnings is:
Security Warning!
Your computer is not checked for viruses! System scan is recommended. Press "scan" to check.
This infection will also display images of a hand juxtaposed over a warning symbol on your Windows desktop. These images and alerts are designed to scare you into thinking that there is a problem with the computer. Just like the scan results, all of these alerts are false and should be ignored.
Last, but not least, this rogue utilizes a rootkit to protect itself from being removed. Whenever Windows Ultra-Antivirus is started, the program will check if this rootkit is already installed. If it isn't, the rogue will install and activate it. The rootkit makes it so that you are unable to delete, terminate, or rename the main executable for the rogue program. If you remove the Registry entry that starts the rogue, the rootkit will also recreate it. Therefore, in order to properly remove this infection you must first remove the rootkit and then reboot into safe mode to remove the rogue program. This allows you to remove the infection without one of the components reinstalling the other one. The guide below will walk you through the proper steps to remove both the rootkit and the rogue anti-spyware program.
Without a doubt, Windows Ultra-Antivirus is a scam and uses malware to protect itself from being uninstalled. For no reason should you purchase this program, and if you have, you should
contact your credit card company to dispute the charges stating that the program is a scam and a computer virus. To remove Windows Ultra-Antivirus and related malware, please follow the steps in the removal guide
below.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View Windows Ultra-Antivirus files.
View Windows Ultra-Antivirus Registry Information.
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [<random>] <random characters>.exe
Guide Updates:
07/27/12 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for Windows Ultra-Antivirus using Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:
- Print out these instructions as we will need to reboot your computer during this cleanup process.
- This infection includes a rootkit that protects the main executable for
Windows Ultra-Antivirus
from being terminated or removed. To remove this rootkit, we need to download TDSSKiller from the following link:
TDSSKiller Download Link
Please download TDSSKiller using the Download .EXE button at the above link and save it on your desktop.
- Once the program is downloaded, double-click on it to start it. If Windows asks for your permission to allow the program to run, please allow it to do so. When you start TDSSKiller you may see a dialog appear that states that it Can't Load Driver. An example of this dialog is shown below.
This is to be expected with this infection and you can just press the OK button.
- TDSSKiller should now be started and you should click on the Start Scan button to begin scanning your computer for rootkits. When it has completed you will see a screen similar to the one below that states a locked service was found.
This locked service is the rootkit we need to remove.
- Click on the Skip menu, as shown by the blue arrow in the image above, and change it to Delete. Then click on the Continue button. At the next screen, TDSSKiller will state that it needs to reboot the computer to finish the deletion process. Before you click this button, please be aware that when TDSSKiller reboots your computer we need to go into Safe Mode with Networking instead of your normal Windows Login. Please familiarize with this tutorial to learn how to enter safe mode on your version of Windows.
How to start Windows in Safe Mode
When you are comfortable with what you need to do, please click on the Reboot computer button to start the reboot process.
- TDSSKiller will now reboot your computer, but instead of letting it go back into your normal Windows mode you must instead go into Safe Mode with Networking. To
do this, when your computer reboots and when you
see anything on the screen, start tapping the F8 key on your
keyboard. Eventually you will be brought to a menu similar to the one below:
Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, select Safe Mode with Networking
and press Enter on your keyboard. If you are having trouble
entering safe mode, then please use the following tutorial: How
to start Windows in Safe Mode
Windows will now boot into safe mode with networking and prompt you to login
as a user. Please login as the same user you were previously logged in with
in the normal Windows mode. Then proceed with the rest of the steps. If you were unable to get into Safe Mode, then please try steps 3 through 7 until you are able to do so.
- When in Safe More with Networking, you should 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. If MalwareBytes' prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
- 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
Windows Ultra-Antivirus
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
Windows Ultra-Antivirus
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.
- If after following these steps you are still having problems with this infection, then you should post a virus removal request using the steps
in the following topic so that you can get one-on-one help:
Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help Topic
- As many rogues and other malware are installed through vulnerabilities found
in out-dated and insecure programs, it is strongly suggested that you use
Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs on your computer. A tutorial on
how to use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs can be found here:
How to
detect vulnerable and out-dated programs using Secunia Personal Software Inspector
Your computer should now be free of the
Windows Ultra-Antivirus
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 Windows Ultra-Antivirus Files:
%System%\<random characters>.exe
%System%\drivers\<random characters>.sys
File Location Notes:
%System% is a variable that refers to the Windows System folder. By default this is C:\Windows\System for Windows 95/98/ME, C:\Winnt\System32 for Windows NT/2000, or C:\Windows\System32 for Windows XP/Vista/7/8.
Associated Windows Ultra-Antivirus Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "<random>"
This is a self-help guide. Use at your own risk.
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.
