How to remove XPert Antivirus Enterprise

Posted by Grinler on August 21, 2008 @ 01:47 PM · Views: 4,984

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What this programs does:

XPert Antivirus Enterprise is a rogue anti-spyware program that belongs to the same family as MS Antivirus 2008 and Vista Antivirus 2008. XPert Antivirus seems to be a confused product as if you examine the programs screens carefully, you will find that it calls itself three different names. These names are XPert Antivirus Enterprise, XPert Antivirus 2008, and just plain XPert Antivirus. Regardless of what it is called, this program has one purpose and that is trick you into purchasing it. Typically, XPert Antivirus will be advertised through the use of Trojans displaying fake alerts on your computer or by you receiving a popup when browsing the web. These pop-ups state that computer is running slower than normal or that you have an infection and that you should download XPert Antivirus Enterprise for free. If you click on the OK button, you will then be brought to a page that displays an advertisement that pretends to be a antivirus scanner, and when finished, states that your computer is infected and prompts you to download and install XPert Antivirus.

If you decide to install the program, XPert Antivirus will be set to run on your computer automatically when the computer starts. This program will then scan your computer and display a variety of supposed infections that cannot be removed unless you first purchase the program. These infections, though, all fake and are being shown only to scare you into thinking you are infected. As XPert Antivirus runs in the background, it will also display fake security alerts on your computer stating that your computer is being attacked or is infected. Though these alerts are harmless, they can cause your computer to perform slower than it should as the program will continuously running in the background.

Screen shot of XPert Antivirus Enterprise
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 7 images you can view.

This guide will walk you through uninstalling the XPert Antivirus rogue and any related malware that may be installed with it.

Threat Classification:

• Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:

View XPert Antivirus files.
View XPert Antivirus Registry Information.

Tools Needed for this fix:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:

O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Antivirus] C\Program Files\XPA\XPA.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Antivirus] C:\Program Files\XPA\XPA.exe

Guide Updates:

08/21/08 - Initial guide creation.

Automated Removal Instructions for XPert Antivirus 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 XPert Antivirus 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 XPert Antivirus 2008 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 XPert Antivirus 2008 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 XPert Antivirus Files:

c:\Program Files\XPA
c:\Program Files\XPA\XPA.cpl
c:\Program Files\XPA\XPA.exe
c:\Program Files\XPA\XPA0.dat
c:\Program Files\XPA\XPA1.dat
c:\WINDOWS\system32\XPA.cpl
%UserProfile%\Desktop\XPert Antivirus Enterprise.lnk

Associated XPert Antivirus Windows Registry Information:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AntiVirus
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\XPA
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.key
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Antivirus"
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Antivirus"