XP-Guard is a rogue anti-spyware program from the same family
of rogues as XP-Shield.
XP Guard promotes itself through the use of false advertising in the form of
web sites pretending to be malware scanners. When visiting certain web sites
you will be presented with a pop-up stating that your computer is infected.
Regardless of the buttons that you press to close this pop-up, you will then
be presented with another web site that pretends to scan your computer for malware,
and when it is complete, will state that you are infected with a variety of
malware. This is a scam as there is no way for a web site to know if your computer
has infections without there first being a piece of software installed on your
computer. They do this, though, to scare you into clicking on the download button
and installing their software.
If you decided to download and install XP-Guard, the program will be set to
run on your computer automatically when the computer starts. It will then scan
your computer and list a variety of malware that cannot be removed unless you
first purchase the software. These found infections, though, are all fake. In
reality, these items are legitimate Microsoft programs and configuration files
that are being falsely identified as infections in order to further scare you
into purchasing the software.
XP Guard screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 4 images you can view.
This guide will walk you through uninstalling the XP Guard rogue and any related
malware that may be installed with it.
Threat Classification:
Advanced information:
View XP-Guard files.
View XP-Guard Registry Information.
Tools Needed for this fix:
Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [XPGuard] C:\PROGRA~1\XPGuard\XP-Guard.exe
Guide Updates:
08/17/08 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for XP-Guard 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
XP-Guard
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 XPGuard 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 XPGuard 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 XP-Guard Files:
c:\Program Files\XPGuard
c:\Program Files\XPGuard\INSTALL.LOG
c:\Program Files\XPGuard\UNWISE.EXE
c:\Program Files\XPGuard\XP-Guard Web Site.url
c:\Program Files\XPGuard\XP-Guard.exe
%UserProfile%\Desktop\XP-Guard.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\XPGuard
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\XPGuard\XP-Guard Web Site.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\XPGuard\XP-Guard.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/7/8, and c:\winnt\profiles\<Current User> for Windows NT.
Associated XP-Guard Windows Registry Information:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\XPGuard
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\XP-Guard
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "XPGuard"
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.
