Antivirus 2010 Removal Info (AV2010.exe)

July 5th, 2009 | by Alex |

Antivirus 2010 Descriptions:

Antivirus 2010, also known as Antivirus2010, is a direct copy of the notorious rogue antispyware application called Antivirus 2009. Yes, this nasty fake antispyware is back with a new mask. Don’t let it fool you.

Antivirus 2010 is created by those ruthless people who try to ruin the integrity of our computing experience. It is somewhat ironic to see a fake antivirus application got upgraded. Guess we are living in an usual world and nothing really surprises us anymore. Maybe the new U.S. President would fix all these messes. Let’s keep our fingers cross!

Generally, Antivirus 2010 usually comes up after you installed a video codec that come with Trojan, malware and virus. Antivirus 2010 normally generates fake and misleading system popup error messages such as

“STOP: 0×000000D1 (0×0000000, 0xF73120AE, 0xC0000008, 0xC000000) A spyware application has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer”.

What this does is to trick the innocent people like you to spend money and purchase Antivirus 2010, which is the real spyware itself. Don’t fall into the trap!

It is more important that ever to remove all the components of of the Antivirus 2010, and all the malware and trojans that it might have come bundle with (such as zlob.trojan, trojan.vundo and Trojan.Downloader).

We don’t want someone spying on our digital life, do we? To effectively and safely remove Antivirus 2010, we have created a manual removal instructions. Be sure to back the data up before proceeding. Good luck!

av2010 Download SpyHunter* Spyware Detection Utility

Manual Antivirus 2010 Removal Instructions:

Stop Antivirus 2010 Processes:
(Learn how to do this)
AV2010.exe
AV2010[1].exe
AV2010Install.exe
Antivirus2010.exe
Antivirus 2010.lnk
Uninstall Antivirus.lnk

Find and Delete these Antivirus 2010 Files:
(Learn how to do this)
c:\Program Files\AV2010
c:\Program Files\AV2010\AV2010.exe
c:\Program Files\AV2010\svchost.exe
c:\WINDOWS\system32\IEDefender.dll
c:\WINDOWS\system32\wingamma.exe
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Desktop\AV2010.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\AV2010
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\AV2010\AV2010.lnk
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\AV2010\Uninstall.lnk%program_files%\Antivirus 2010\AV2010.exe
%startmenu%\Antivirus 2010\Antivirus 2010.lnk
%startmenu%\Antivirus 2010\uninstall Antivirus 2010.lnk
%desktopdirectory%\Antivirus 2010.lnk
%program_files%\Antivirus 2010\AV2010.exe
%UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Antivirus 2010.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Antivirus 2010.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Antivirus 2010\Antivirus 2010.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Antivirus 2010\Uninstall Antivirus 2010.lnk
%ProgramFiles%\Antivirus 2010\AV2010.exe
%System%\scui.cpl

Remove Antivirus 2010 Registry Values:
(Learn how to do this)
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{705FD64B-2B7B-4856-9337-44CA1DA86849}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects\{FC8A493F-D236-4653-9A03-2BF4FD94F643}
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\0012
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\0013
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002bE10318}\0014
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “Windows Gamma Display”
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\AV2010
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\{3C40236D-990B-443C-90E8-B1C07BCD4A68}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AppID\IEDefender.DLL
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{FC8A493F-D236-4653-9A03-2BF4FD94F643}
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\IEDefender.IEDefenderBHO
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\IEDefender.IEDefenderBHO.1
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{7BC7565C-5062-43CE-8797-DC2C271140A9}

Download SpyHunter* Spyware Detection Utility

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  1. 126 Responses to “Antivirus 2010 Removal Info (AV2010.exe)”

  2. By Barry on Oct 7, 2008 | Reply

    I don’t have Antivirus 2010 as you described here. However, Antivirus 2009 is showing up relentlessly. Same removal method?

  3. By nicknj on Oct 7, 2008 | Reply

    Antivirus 2010 and Antivirus 2009 are the same craps. They are made by the same people. They are all from the far far siberia if anybody want to go there and arrest them. Stop crying and get a real computer and that’s your MAC!

  4. By terminatoR on Oct 7, 2008 | Reply

    My computer is running Ubuntu and I never have Antivirus 2010 or whatsoever. More important, Linux is free! I don’t pay a cent for the rich boys in Microsoft and Apple.

  5. By Xavier on Oct 8, 2008 | Reply

    Please help me remove XP Antivirus 2010!

  6. By Mel on Oct 8, 2008 | Reply

    Antivirus 2010? That’s funny. We haven’t been in the year of 2009 and now the virus creator is up to year 2010. I guess they are always ahead of us. It will be so hard to fight against them because they are so technologically advanced. Antivirus 2010 sucks!!!

  7. By jimcrammer on Oct 8, 2008 | Reply

    i see av2010.exe. what’s next?

  8. By Steve on Oct 8, 2008 | Reply

    I have deleted all tiles related to AV2010 that I can find. I removed an AV2010 folder from the registry and I still receive the fake message that says visiting this site could be harmful to your computer and recommends activating AV 2010.

    What do I do now?

  9. By Ron on Oct 8, 2008 | Reply

    Steve, sounds like that you still have the infected files such as dll’s. If you do a search on the infected dil files, and follow the removal instruction, you shouldn’t receive those fake popups again. I have gone through many comments under “stop process” and many good suggestions can be found.

  10. By Dana on Oct 8, 2008 | Reply

    It is a complete disaster after infected by Antivirus 2010. My computer has become unbelievably slow and pathetically sluggish. Maybe it’s about time to think about a new Dell. I have this for 3 years. But I don’t have much money left as the financial crisis strikes us lately.

  11. By dirtyfifty on Oct 9, 2008 | Reply

    If I find out who did this to me, I would make them paid for their offensive actions! Antivirus 2010 appears mysteriously this morning. It’s becoming so annoying that I am about to beat up somebody.

  12. By linda on Dec 9, 2008 | Reply

    i want this crap off my puter!!!! especially the adds!!!!

  13. By linda on Dec 9, 2008 | Reply

    i did all this stuff and the crap keeps coming up and popups as well i want it off!!!!!

  14. By Tony on Dec 18, 2008 | Reply

    I am with you two as well (COME ON) microsoft get off you A** and fix this thing already !!

  15. By Rich on Dec 22, 2008 | Reply

    The idiots are making the internet untenable. Help Microsoft!!!!

  16. By Rich Q on Dec 22, 2008 | Reply

    This is easy to fix. Go to ALL PROGRAMS then to ACCESSORIES them SYSYEM RESTORE. Set the date to one before the Antivirus 2010 showed up. I’m an idiot and it took me less than 5 minutes.

  17. By sabith on Dec 25, 2008 | Reply

    i can’t find HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\run ieupdate
    i can only get to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion can some one tell me where it would have gone to

  18. By eddie on Dec 30, 2008 | Reply

    thats great and all i tried to do that and my computer wouldn’t allow me to do that after i got the first popup.i even went out and bought spyware to get rid of it and it stays still.

  19. By CC on Jan 9, 2009 | Reply

    Antivirus 2010 sucks. We need to find a software called anti-antivirus2010!!! It sucks!!

  20. By ba12348 on Jan 11, 2009 | Reply

    I laugh at those foolish siberians! (according to nicknj they are anyway) a page popped up saying AV2010 was scanning, with a progress bar, and i might have fallen for it, if they hadnt tried it on my last computer!

  21. By Gchil220 on Feb 7, 2009 | Reply

    Hey guys i need your help ASAP!!! I BOUGHT ANTIVIRUS2010 LIKE A FOOL! I WANT TO GET A REFUND BUT THIS THING IS ACTING STUPID. CAN ANYONE HELP ME??? =(

  22. By SuperSport on Feb 10, 2009 | Reply

    Not a chance in hell you will receive a refund. The only purpose of the program is to steal your money and your credit card info. My brother’s credit card number was stolen and used in Canada days after this program mysteriously appeared on his computer. I would suggest to everyone to NOT use your Credit Cards until you are POSITIVE that it’s completely removed. Me personally, if I were infected, I’d do a Complete reinstall from scratch after reformatting my drive. Don’t take this one lightly. I’m sure my brother is just beginning to see the results of this infection.

  23. By Angela Patterson on Feb 23, 2009 | Reply

    How to delete Antivirus 2010? It keeps crashing my computer.. Thanks..

    My email: angie10nov@yahoo.com

  24. By matt on Mar 26, 2009 | Reply

    i have no ideas how i got antivirus 2010. all i know is that my pc is running like a piece of shit. i want to buy a new mac but no extra money. you know. the economy is terrible and my job is not safe. how to delete antivirus 2010 without paying hundred of dollars? thanks in advance.

  25. By Amanda on May 24, 2009 | Reply

    I was just infected with Antivirus 2010. I’m trying to get rid of it but all I keep downloading are trial scanner things that want me to register and pay to actually remove it. Well for obvious reasons I’m not going to pop a credit card number into an infected computer. Sooo trying to uninstall it manually now but I have none of the listed processes running when I hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Is this normal? Please help! I’m at my wit’s end with this thing and it’s only been 40 minutes. Any help email drusilla126@hotmail.com please

  26. By alaa on Jun 28, 2009 | Reply

    computer is running Ubuntu and I never have Antivirus 2010 or whatsoever. More important, Linux is free! I don’t pay a cent for the rich boys in Microsoft and Apple.

  27. By terri on Aug 16, 2009 | Reply

    I did that & it didn’t work..still have it..any suggestions?

  28. By adam on Sep 13, 2009 | Reply

    yes do a system restore to a date befor you got the virus and you should be good !

    Adam A

  29. By dams on Sep 14, 2009 | Reply

    hi all,

    just try trojan remover from simplyup.. do a google search with trojan remover as keywords and this result is in the top place. download and try iinstalling it will solve 95% of your problems

  30. By MrJealousy on Oct 1, 2009 | Reply

    Only addition to the instructions above I would make is…
    Search the registry for antivirus 2010 and delete anything you find

  31. By Mahfud on Oct 2, 2009 | Reply

    Antivirus

  32. By Julie Ann on Oct 17, 2009 | Reply

    HELP! :( i was surprised to see this in my pc this morning. It is giving me problems to my computer. I do not know how it entered my pc. I tried going to CONTROL PANEL and delete it but it would not follow the command then this information would come out that my pc has been infected with trojan, worms, viruses, etc. it’s bugging my pc and meeeeeee I tried going to SEARCH and tried to delete all the names under it but it won’t delete. How did this enter my PC? PLEASE HELP ME COMPUTER NERDS OUT THERE!

  33. By Marc St-Jacques on Oct 21, 2009 | Reply

    @Julie Ann: Get Anti-Malware software from Malwarebytes.org. It works.

    —
    My question: How does one get that malware ? I’m a sysadmin for a small organization and when I look at my people’s IE history, there’s nothing notable, or “forbidden” in it – like some porn sites or what not.

    A flaw in IE, perhaps, in regards to some advertisement banners ?

    Many sites and blogs are suggesting removal solutions but little is done to track down sites that actually hosts these files …

  34. By sohan on Oct 21, 2009 | Reply

    i am sohan singh.

  35. By Andrwe on Jan 17, 2010 | Reply

    Get Zonealarm Internet Security suite, has protected and removed av2010 successfully for me, also if you’re task manager (control, alt, delete) is not working search google for “task manager has been disabled by the administrator, it’ll get it fixed

  36. By Debbie on Jan 27, 2010 | Reply

    Hi there all, I restored my computer to before it was infected. I found the virus files but I couldn’t delete them. The instructions were given by ben (many thanks) and are as follows:

    Start-
    All programs-
    Accessories-
    system tools-
    system restore-
    then it should open up though you may have to authorise. It takes 10 minutes or slow but it seems to have worked! Have trolled through to try and find any AV2010 files but they appear to have gone. Hope this helps

  37. By Iryna on Jan 27, 2010 | Reply

    Hi, just wanted to let everybody know that trojan remover from http://www.simplysup.com/ DID work. It removed antivirus xp 2010 from my PC. Back to normal now, finally!

  38. By Mac? what a joke on Jan 28, 2010 | Reply

    Mac? Just because you’re on your high throne ” I have a mac” doesn’t mean you can’t get infected with anything you ignorant smuck.

  39. By Mac? what a joke on Jan 28, 2010 | Reply

    Schmuck* <– damn the irony…

  40. By Lawrence on Jan 29, 2010 | Reply

    The process on my computer was called simply av.exe, maby they have changed the program? anyway i thought that might be useful to someone. btw i plan to use linux from now on, screw windows and these protection racket antivirus programs

  41. By Jason on Jan 30, 2010 | Reply

    I just used Spybot to get rid of it,and it seems to have worked……

  42. By JJ on Feb 2, 2010 | Reply

    Yeah I’ve somehow gotten this stupid Rouge also. Sad part is I don’t even know HOW I got it.
    Laaame.

    Anyway I’d really like a solution for removing this thing, that doesn’t include DOWNLOADING SOMETHING ELSE. Tired of not being able to trust stuff on the net.

  43. By Abruk on Feb 4, 2010 | Reply

    Somehow got this in my system last night, searched a few webpages and found this one. I tried the spyhunter you have linked in the post and it scanned like a pro, looked like some of the files you noted in here were on the list of files to be deleted so I went ahead and forked over the 30 bucks to activate it (on a different computer using a different network connection), ran the cleanup portion that you have to pay for….and nothing. Not a thing has changed as far as the antivirus popup crap, poor system performance, or any of the rest. Now when I run a spyhunter scan it doesn’t find anything, but this blasted program is sure enough in the system.

    I also saw a few pages that touted the anti-malware also noted in a reply above so I started a system scan with that before I went to work last night. Hopefully that will blast the bugger out of my system, if not I’ll try the system restore as mentioned above.

    Too bad the software you linked in the original post didn’t fix the problem, hopefully it will end up doing something to make up for the 30 bucks that appears to be wasted on it at this point.

  44. By Tom on Feb 4, 2010 | Reply

    Format c:

    done deal.

  45. By Julia on Feb 4, 2010 | Reply

    THANK YOU SO MUCH JASON!!!!!!!!! I got the XP Antivirus pro 2010 2 days ago and I spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to remove it. I read everyone’s comments and solutions but they all required too many steps and some were risky. So I downloaded Spybot which I had used before but deleted the program because it’s too slow but it seem to had done the job and now no more annoying task bar pop up’s.

  46. By Jon on Feb 5, 2010 | Reply

    It is called av.exe. I read somewhere this POS can only be removed using a special set of instruction. I hope spybot worked for you. Tell us all if you continue having problems

  47. By Alex on Feb 5, 2010 | Reply

    its happened to me and its effecting all the Windows Defender and Firewall settings.

  48. By cheekymonkey on Feb 8, 2010 | Reply

    I got this virus from a penpal website (interpals net) and it’s messed the computer up pretty bad. my brother’s tried his best to remove it from the registry, and the pop-ups have stopped, but the computer is much slower than it should be.
    i’m 100% sure it came from interpals, as my girlfriend picked up the same virus from the website, it messed up all the computers where she works :(

  49. By Virus Hunter on Feb 10, 2010 | Reply

    Just as Lawrence indicated, the program is now av.exe, and is indicated in task manager as “av.exe *32″. This is a hidden file in the folder (user)/AppData/Local. To resolve this issue, do the following:
    1. Start task manager.
    2. Right-click the file in task manager
    3. Select the option “Open containing folder”.
    4. Close task manager
    5. In the open folder window, select Tools-Folder options-View
    6. Uncheck “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)
    7. Start task manager again, then find and end the culprit process.
    8. Close task manager again, and return to the folder window.
    9. Locate and delete the culprit file.
    10. Create a blank text file “av.exe”
    11. Change the properties to read-only, and hidden.
    12. Reboot to ensure the virus is not active.

  50. By Christine on Feb 11, 2010 | Reply

    I have tried everything….i cant get rid of this! can someone explain this to me step by step as anything i have tried i cannot find the files to delete them!!!

  51. By EJ on Feb 11, 2010 | Reply

    Help me Virus Hunter! I followed your instructions to the “t”, and when everything was said and done, the virus was gone. However, now I cannot open any programs. It asks me what program I would like to use to open it with, even when choosing things such as .exe files. I am lost man.

  52. By michael07akova on Feb 12, 2010 | Reply

    I used the suggestion

    Start-
    All programs-
    Accessories-
    system tools-
    system restore-

    And I think it worked. so thanks

  53. By timothy on Feb 13, 2010 | Reply

    I had this bloody thing for a couple of days. Every 5 minutes or so I would get a pop-up. I got it after watching a movie online. I had a friend take a look and after trying no less than three other programs, Spybot finally sought and destroyed this annoyance. The ironic thing is that this thing really messes up the PC if left untouched, not something you’d expect from a supposed anti-virus application. Get Spybot and it’ll find it for you and get rid of it. http://www.safer-networking.org

  54. By Alice on Feb 16, 2010 | Reply

    thank you Virus Hunter,
    it worked!!! :) but I had to change one thing: I deleted av.exe instead of replacing it!

  55. By Chris on Feb 17, 2010 | Reply

    Hey,

    When I try to right click the file to bring up the ‘open containing folder’ option, I do not see this option.

    I have however managed to locate the av.exe file manually, and have deleted it and ended the process via task manager.

    I am now having the same problem as EJ, in that my programmes will not run correctly.

    Any help on this matter will be greatly appreciated as the problem has occured on the works till computer!

    Thanks

    Chris

  56. By Pim on Feb 17, 2010 | Reply

    I got this thing too, and now I’m starting the PC while the internet is disconnected. This makes that I get no ( task bar ) Pop-Ups. But when I click the Internet, or even Excel and Word, and so my two virus scanners, It says I’m disabled to open them. I’m online now via My Documents -> an Excel web page -> change the URL. I hope spy bot will work, I’ill try.

    Pim

  57. By Katie on Feb 18, 2010 | Reply

    in the registry part, i cant find the whole key that you have listed. help anyone?

  58. By beth on Feb 19, 2010 | Reply

    I have been trying to fix another persons laptop that has windows anti-virus vista 2010. I can’t get into the registry it says it has been disabled by the administrator. Please can someone help I have tried loads of different websites and none of them work.

  59. By Mark on Feb 19, 2010 | Reply

    Just wanted to add my voice to the others that were successful using trojan remover. Thanks to forums like this and people taking the time to help other people I can get back to work.

  60. By osman on Feb 20, 2010 | Reply

    hi, I did what the person above said, Virus Hunter, followed the instruction. And Amazingly its all gone, Thank GOD! thank you so much Virus Hunter (he’s a person, not software lol) :)

    find hi about 5-10 comments above mine

  61. By moeen on Feb 20, 2010 | Reply

    how do u get rid of this vista antivirus popup? please help!!!

  62. By David Steele on Feb 20, 2010 | Reply

    I have the one titled VISTA 2010 anti virus. I have tried the forums to remove it nothing will work I have to say this who ever the asshole is that created it can suck my balls this is completely low for someone to ruin a computer that another person payed good money for now I have to wipe out my system and start over truly wrong so if the ass wipes are reading this fuck off my computer is my lively hood and now I am truly pissed off.

  63. By angry on Feb 22, 2010 | Reply

    I get this anti virus 2010. I am so mad i want to find somebody to fight. I kicked my stupid dog dam thing wont stop telling me its infected. I try to fight it and it beats me so easy. How do u win against this tricky thing that says it wants to help and it really is tricking u. How do u make tricks like this and get away with it. I pay good money for computer and some guy makes trick.

  64. By ticked off female on Feb 22, 2010 | Reply

    I have the honor of having this antivirus vista 2010 virus….i cannot find anything to get rid of it and if I had these assholes in front off me I would smash their balls with this damn computer!
    Can’t these dumb nerds find something better to do than jack with other people? Must be sad not to have a life and fondle a computer…instead of a woman…

  65. By frank on Feb 23, 2010 | Reply

    gchil if i was u i would try and change my bank details because they might have access to your bank information as you provided it to those b*sterds. i hope those b*stards rot in hell who ever created those infections. stupid lowlives should kill themselves

  66. By Alex on Feb 23, 2010 | Reply

    I noticed this virus today, Found this site this evening and tried to do a system restore to almost a week back. That did not help. I then tried Virus Hunter’s solution. it certainly got rid of the issue, but now I’ve got the same problem as EJ and Chris.

  67. By Alex on Feb 23, 2010 | Reply

    to EJ and Chris (and anyone else having problems like with opening applications after deleting the av.exe) restoring the deleted file will allow you to be able to use your applications again, although the virus comes back as well

  68. By Cindy on Feb 23, 2010 | Reply

    my son’s laptop that has norton antivirus and firewall has been invaded by Vista Antivirus 2010. I think it is gone but when we run a check on the computer it says that the c-drive is corrupt. Desk top iconss are messed up as well as he has lost some things. What do I need to do?
    Thanks!

  69. By David on Feb 23, 2010 | Reply

    Your instructions look great, and elegant.

    Major problem: I’m running Windows XP and when I right-click on av.exe there is no open containing folder option.
    Using Explorer’s Search Companion to search and find av.exe yields nothing.
    Any other way I can find av.exe?

  70. By Randy on Feb 24, 2010 | Reply

    I just used PCTools Spyware Doctor to remove this thing. But, I’m having the same issue as Chris and EJ…I can’t directly invoke .exe’s.

    Any idea on how to fix this????

  71. By Master Chief on Feb 25, 2010 | Reply

    I will go there to kill them, I just need my fellow marines and a banshee, warthog, and pelican.

    Just kidding, I am not that violent.

    But I surely want that off my pc!!!

  72. By Specter on Feb 25, 2010 | Reply

    The AV blocked the registry, saying that it was blocked by the admin.
    what do I do now?

  73. By Specter on Feb 25, 2010 | Reply

    I think you should do a clean install of Windows
    It will be hard, but everything will be gone.

  74. By Ryan on Feb 25, 2010 | Reply

    Finally, after three nights of screwing around, I got it! I think it’s all gone! NO MORE pop-ups, etc.!!! Now if only I could run any application, ANYTHING!!! Stupid computers!!! Please, somebody help with the .exe problem. I’m tired, physically and mentally of screwing with it. One more sleepless night of this and I’m going to have to reformat, just so I can get on with my life. ANY ideas would be greatly appreciated.

  75. By bret on Feb 26, 2010 | Reply

    when i search for the firls my computer cannot find them.

    when i try to open a virus scanner, nothign happens

  76. By bret on Feb 26, 2010 | Reply

    *files

  77. By ITDude on Feb 26, 2010 | Reply

    To fix .exe problem download .reg file and merge as directed. This is for Vista.

  78. By Scott on Feb 26, 2010 | Reply

    ANOTHER solution is to download ‘Microsoft Security Essentials’ from the Microsoft downloads website.

    Install the Security Essentials software. Allow it to automatically update and scan your PC/Laptop.

    It may or may not detect the av.exe files during the scan. If it does, great, remove it by clicking the appropriate button.
    If not, just wait. Security Essentials runs silently in the background monitoring your activity for suspiciousness. The moment the trojan attempts to make it’s next appearences, Security Essentials will detect it and block it. You will then be informed and asked to remove it.
    This is how Security Essentials detected the trojan on my laptop.

    COULD I also point out that System Restore may work, but it WONT sort the problem. System Restore does not delete viruses. The virus/trojan is still on your hard-dive, lying dormant. For now.

  79. By ITDude on Feb 26, 2010 | Reply

    Link didn’t show up so try this to fix exe problem in Vista.

    1. Open notepad, paste the lines below as indicated, save it to the desktop as fixexe.reg, right click on it and select Merge then reboot.

    Copy from below this line:

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe\shell\open\command]

    [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile\shell\open\command]

    [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command]

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
    @=”exefile”
    “Content Type”=”application/x-msdownload”

    [-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secfile]

  80. By janet on Feb 26, 2010 | Reply

    i have the vista antivirus 2010
    mbam.exe wont open to install -asks me to “chose the program you want to use to open this file”
    i can’t do a system restart because o fthe same thing.

  81. By Ryan on Feb 26, 2010 | Reply

    Now that I’ve gotten rid of it, (I think/hope!?!?) I thought I’d try doing a system restore, but it says system restore was shut off by the system administrator and I don’t have administrator privelages. By the way, I had to do this from the “command” prompt (DOS Mode) since I can’t run anything from Windows anymore. It still doesn’t work. Any Ideas how to restore system or administrator privelages? OR MY SANITY??? I’m using Win XP Media Center Edition.

  82. By Randy on Feb 27, 2010 | Reply

    IT Dude’s fix didn’t work for me. I now see different behavior. For example, when I click on Firefox desktop icon I get an error dialog saying this file has nothing associated with it. use the Association control panel. Ideas?

  83. By Holly on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply

    I have been losing sleep trying to fix this thing for 3 nights. I cannot access the interent or task manager. Task manager has been disabled. I can briefly get online, but then I can’t click any sites after a search and of course cannot download anything. I tried the registry thing-adding to it and my computer wouldn’t do it because it said it had to be binary.

    My computer cannot find any files with av.exe

    Please help. I have Vista. XP Antivirus Pro 2010 is

  84. By Holly on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply

    What do you save the fix reg for vista as? What kind of encoding? Unicode, ANSI, UTF-8, Unicode big endian are the choices.

  85. By squirrel on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply

    i searched all over task manager but i could only find av.exe. i stopped the process and the pop ups stopped even the shield icon on the bottom bar is gone but every time i shut it off and turn it back on it returns. Help

  86. By Holly on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply

    Nevermind I figured it all out. Thanks for the tips here!

  87. By jerry on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply

    I need help real badddddd. So i got the virus and downloaded spybot and it got rid of the annoying “u got a virus” pop ups, but now I cant open anything. All programs, i get the .exe message. I tried to do a system restore in safe mode, but it wouldnt let me because it is an .exe file . I tried It dude’s sugesstion but cant even open note pad. I can download all the spywear all i want but cant open 1 freaking program for install, let alone open it. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME PLEASE PLEASE

  88. By Scott on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply

    If the virus has affected your normal day-to-day running of your PC or laptop, use the Administrator account to create a NEW ADMINISTRATOR account.

    Transfer your files from the existing account to the new one you just made (SCAN THEM AS SOON AS YOU TRANSFER THEM!) and then delete the previous, infected account.

    That is what I have done and now everything seems to be running smoothly. (See my previous post above on how to get rid of the virus without fumbling around with the technical details).

    Hope it helped.

  89. By Frank on Feb 28, 2010 | Reply

    Ryan I have the same problem. Was on a vacation, come back, and BAM this crap comes out of nowhere. I have spyware doctor and used ti to get rid of it which it has… HOWEVER i can not open and program now. I get an error saying that windows.exe is missing and the program cannot load….

  90. By ITDude on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

    For Vista exe problem try copying this one to a notepad file saving with a .reg extension. Right click and pick merge following the save.

    Copy from below (for Vista):

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.EXE]
    @=”exefile”
    “Content Type”=”application/x-msdownload”

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.EXE\PersistentHandler]
    @=”{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}”

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile]
    @=”Application”
    “EditFlags”=hex:38,07,00,00
    “FriendlyTypeName”=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\
    00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\
    32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
    00,2c,00,2d,00,31,00,30,00,31,00,35,00,36,00,00,00

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\DefaultIcon]
    @=”%1″

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell]

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open]
    “EditFlags”=hex:00,00,00,00

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
    @=”\”%1\” %*”
    “IsolatedCommand”=”\”%1\” %*”

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas]

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas\command]
    @=”\”%1\” %*”
    “IsolatedCommand”=”\”%1\” %*”

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex]

    [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\DropHandler]
    @=”{86C86720-42A0-1069-A2E8-08002B30309D}”

    [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe\UserChoice]

  91. By ITDude on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

    The last line in my last post should read:

    [-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe\UserChoice]

  92. By ITDude on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

    Sorry for all the re-posts but I’m trying to post the complete last line which keeps truncating. The text after the period should be “exe\UserChoice]” without the quotes.

  93. By Wills on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

    I tried system restore and it worked. No more AV.EXE showing up in task manager, or the virus popping up everytimne I start Firefox. I’m running a Malwarebytes Anti Malware program to make sure.

  94. By Will on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

    The funny thing is, as soon as I installed the SpyHunter, a popup says “AV2010 has stopped working”. I loled.

  95. By Sana on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

    hi i somehow got the antivirus vista 2010 virus on my computer. i use webroot as my antivirus protection. its been great but it wont detect it now and ive downloaded a couple different ones such as spyware doctor, spybot but they arent detecting anything either! i dont know what to do please help. ill try the one listed on this site

  96. By LP on Mar 1, 2010 | Reply

    Hey, this happened to me as well, but I overcame the spyware. This is what I did:

    First I went to task manager. You go to task manager by pressing ALT + CTRL + DEL at the same time. You do this so you can find out what the antiware’s file name is. Once you figure out its name, for example it could be “av.exe”, you go to the second step.

    Second you go to the “start” from windows, then go to “search”. After you go to search you then go to “for files or folders”. Once this window opens you type the file name that you acquired from step one in the search box within this new window. Lastly, you right click on the file and delete it, then delete it from your “trash”

    And there you have it.. fuck Antiware… They are pussies. Anyone who has suffered from this immediately cancel your credit card or debit card, because besides the $49.95 they charge they will run your card another time and use your information. Just file a dispute with your card holder and say the charges are fraud.

    And always remember “Dont believe the hype!!!!”

  97. By Mark on Mar 2, 2010 | Reply

    Hey, just thought I’d let everyone know that I have the vista version of this delightful virus and I tried many of the suggestions from above. I run all of my daily stuff from a non-administrator account, and that was the one that became infected. While trying to use the admin account to manage the problem, I went back to the other account and the popups had stopped. However I then ran into the exe. problem. The only thing that was able to fix it was using Trojan Remover. I highly suggest using this to solve your problems.

  98. By shatha on Mar 3, 2010 | Reply

    please help me icant delete antivirus2010 beacuse this make risk on my computer what ican do

  99. By veronica on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    So, here is what happened. I bought Mcafee total protection for my laptop and PC. I don’t have any problem with my PC after I download the software. The day after I download for my laptop, the next evening I’ve been having this DAMN ANTIVIRUS 2010!! I knew my laptop got screwed, caused that what happened with my old PC. I got sameone but 2009 version. I tried do restart point. But it doesn’t help.
    PLEASE HELP ME!! and CURSED YOU MICROSOFT ANTIVIRUS 2010. Whoever did this go to hell!!!

  100. By Bob on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    I will give anyone $5,000 to trace the AV.exe program back to its source within a 5 block radius of the creator of it. I am sick of mother fuckers not having lifes and trying to mess with others because there’s is miserable. I will personally cut this punk into pieces and feed him to my dog. I swear if anyone can provide me with this information and proof of there findings I WILL paypal the money to you. You don’t need to worry about anything other than I can afford to pay for what I am seeking.

  101. By Iain Simpson on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    Hi I’d like to add a point here. All of these so-called spyware firms must be making a fortune out of this damned virus — I’ve got it too. Not much hair left (going thin anyway). I can’t get rid of spyware doctor (free scan). None of the others I tried did anything. I’m now going to carry on reading blogs. I’m using my laptop as I can’t use my PC – virus won’t let me !!! I looked at the registry yesterday, 3rd. March, but couldn’t find the various ‘listed’ files. Be careful. Will come back with more if I find any info.
    Fireman Sam

  102. By Chris on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    All I have to say is that I googled “Antivirus 2010 XP” and the first set of instructions that came up was for this website.
    And,I followed the steps listed above…worked perfectly. (Only thing is that my computer is running slightly slower now, but I seriously don’t mind since the malware/spyware is GONE!)

  103. By ken mol on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    this 2010 was a tough one. I was determined to get rid of it using free programs. Malwarebytes was my first choice but 2010 would not let me install the program. Smart. I looked for a solution to that problem online. Older post said rename the the bam File (that’s the start up file for malwarebytes) that did not work. So needed another FREE program 2010 did not know about. Went to download.com and used ” a-squared free” malware removal program.
    It loaded and updated so I ran it . It found lots of problems on the PC. It found the 2010 malware and labeled as a high threat. It got rid of the 2010 malware. Great.

    but after reboot the laptop no longer open any EXE files. That means no program would open since every program starts with a EXE file to open. Made the laptop useless. Now I have no idea if a-square free messed with my registry or if 2010 took a finale parting shot and disabled open EXE files.
    There are lots of payed programs saying they can fix this. But I’m cheap so I decided to restore the laptop to the latest know working condition in the restore menu.
    That worked and the 2010 did not come back with the restore.
    problem solved and NO money changed hands.

    Malwarebytes loaded after that and would recommend to any one to load the free version and run it often.

    ken mol
    march 4 2010

  104. By tim on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    luckily norton found it on my laptop while i was trying to manually remove it.

    as for the exe thing, i found a fix here.

    hopes this helps everyone.

    http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/vistaperformance/thread/e939ba45-c6ab-499d-ab21-433e7314d344

  105. By Robert -IT Pro help you, help me on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    This is easy to fix. Go to ALL PROGRAMS then to ACCESSORIES them SYSYEM RESTORE. Set the date to one before the Antivirus 2010 showed up. If this helped save your computer and saved you from buying some expensive spyware program that doesn’t work then please donate whatever money you can to help my friend who is in need.
    Daniel Butler
    3024 W. Artebella Way
    Tucson, AZ 85742

  106. By alice on Mar 4, 2010 | Reply

    ARG!

    I got the antivirus 2010 just this morning…and now it won’t let me open anything!
    I can navigate just fine, but anytime I click on something, a message box pops up asking me what i want to open this file with – for example, with firefox (or my other internet browsers) – i can’t access it!
    any help or suggestions would be sooo great.
    Thanks!

  107. By Carlos on Mar 5, 2010 | Reply

    Not sure if your still checking this ITDude but I have the same problem about not being able to open up any programs. I cant ever open notepad to do what you’re saying. Any thing else I can try?

  108. By vis on Mar 5, 2010 | Reply

    Had this Vista Antivirus 2010 attach itself to my machine yesterday. I found the file av.exe 32, stopped the process, and saved a .txt file on top of the av.exe file.

    I then found that no .exe programs would execute.

    I then tried to do a system restore ( wanted the Registry back to what it was before I was infected). Of course, the link t System Restore was a shortcut and hence an .exe, so that didn’t work.

    So what i did then was type system restore in the start search in Start. It came up with it. I then right clicked and clicked “Run as administrator”. This worked and i was in System restore.

    I restored back after which everything started working again.

    Downloaded malwarebytes program (mentioned above somewhere) and did a full scan. Surprisingly, only came up with 5 infected files, not even sure if they had anything to do with 2010!

  109. By Roberto on Mar 6, 2010 | Reply

    My God! This is insane!!

    I am no slouch when it comes to computers and I have read all of the above; tried all of the above; tried several other solution and the best I can get to is it is all gone (antivirus vista 2010) but then none of the remaining programs will .exe, no matter what I do.

    Why in the world would they ever waste money on nuclear weapons when with this kind of nefarious talent, they could probably disable all our computer systems and bring our government to its knees very quickly.

    I am pissed to say the least and have so far today, wasted seven hours on nothing else, but I believe I am in the home stretch, give or take a couple of more hours. If it proves successful, I will post the steps in “color-me-red” order.

    Film at eleven

  110. By Birdie on Mar 6, 2010 | Reply

    I have this stupid Antivirus XP 2010, but I do not have any of those Files, nor do I have the registry value.
    Any suggestions for that?

  111. By becca on Mar 6, 2010 | Reply

    just feel like crying. My computer has all my coursework for college on it and this could cost me my future.

  112. By lol on Mar 7, 2010 | Reply

    Macs suck.

  113. By Roberto on Mar 7, 2010 | Reply

    This virus is put out by some extremely clever and computer/software savvy bastards. They are after two things (maybe more that we have not found out about yet).

    1. Get you to subscribe to their “anti-virus” program and for you to send them money. Under no circumstances should you do that or open up any of their pop-up “Alert” pages. Provide them with absolutely no authorizations of any kind whatsoever. Until you perform the solution below, every time one of their “Alert” pages pops up, simply click on the “x” at the top right of the box and get rid of it. Unfortunately, these pages will continue to appear every few minutes.

    2. The second item they are after is to try and steal your identity any way they can. And they can, and will, if you let them into your computer or subscribe to their phony “anti-virus” program. Its only purpose is to somehow (and they have several ways) to get inside your computer more than they already have.

    They have figured out most all the angles, but like all things, somebody eventually figures out a solution. What follows worked for my son’s computer, but it took me seven hours of nothing else. I tried every solution offered on this forum and several others, but none completely solved the problem. And further, at one point I actually got rid of the “antivirus vista 2010″ virus only to find out that now the rest of the computer would not function correctly. As its parting gesture, when I sent it to the virus graveyard, the “antivirus vista 2010″ virus somehow managed to shut down the functioning of every “.exe” file in my son’s computer. Nothing worked after that and I could not open any programs. In order to continue, I actually had to re-install the “antivirus vista 2010″ virus, just so the computer could basically function !! Scared the hell out of me to do so. But, in the end, I got rid of the virus and the computer is now functioning as it was built to do.

    Here are the successful steps I implemented, in “color-me-red” instructions for folks such as myself who are not computer “experts”. However, first a description of my son’s computer and operating system. It is a Toshiba Qosmio, X305, with 4 GB of RAM and 320GB hard drive @ 7200RPM. The operating system is Microsoft Vista Home Premium 6.0, Service Pack 1. Hopefully, all the instructions are identical, but other operating systems may have some subtle word changes, but the concept of my solution will be the same.

    Several people on this forum have touched on the solution, and they helped me BIG-TIME, but none hit it on the head or they wound up with only a partial, or temporary solution. Here are the proper steps which worked for me:

    1. With the computer up and running, open your “Task Master” dialogue box. Clicking on “control” + “alt” + “delete” all at the same time will open the “Task Master” dialogue box.

    2. Once the dialogue box is open, click on the “processes” button at the top of the dialogue box, and a list of all the processes will appear in the box in alphabetical order.

    3. About 3-4-5 items down the list, you will find the file “av.exe*32″. This is the culprit and you need to get rid of it. But it must be done correctly, or it turns loose all sorts of new problems.

    4. Right click on the file “av.exe*32″. A new drop down menu will appear with a list of choices. The top of the list (at least it is the top one on my menu) is a selection “open file location”, or words to that effect.

    5. Left click on the “open file location” selection and immediately, behind the “Task Master” box, another dialogue box entitled “system32 files” or “program files” will open and the file “av.exe*32″ will be highlighted. NOTE: some of these files are hidden files. If the file “av.exe*32″ is displayed in the alphabetical order listing, just proceed to paragraph 6 next. If it is not displayed, first follow instructions “A” through “H” below this paragraph;

    A. If not displayed, close the “Task Master” box and leave the “program files” box in place.

    B. At the top of the box click on menu item “Tools”. In the drop down menu, select item “folder options”. A dialogue box entitled “Folder options” will appear.

    C. At the top of the “Folder Options” dialogue box will be another menu. Select (click on) menu item “view”. A “view” box appears.

    D. In the “view” box will be another box entitled “Advanced Settings”. In the “advanced settings” box will be a list of many items. Scroll down until you come to a folder entitled “Hidden files and folders”. Double click on the “Hidden files and folders” folder. It looks like a yellow file folder.

    E. After double clicking on the “Hidden files and folders” folder, you will see two files appear. Click on the button in front of “Show hidden files and folders”

    F. After selecting “Show hidden files and folders”, scroll down further to the item “Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)”. It will show a check-mark in the check box preceding the file. Un-check the file. In other words, you now want all hidden files to be shown. They are normally hidden so nobody can mess with them and screw up the operating system.

    G. Once all that is done, open the “Task Master” dialogue box again. (“control” + “alt” + “delete”, all at the same time.

    H. Once back into the “Task Master” dialogue box, once again, right click on the file “av.exe*32″. From the drop down menu select “ open file location”. This will then open the “system 32″ or “program files” list box and after completing the “A” through “H” steps here, it should now show the highlighted file “av.exe*32″. Now proceed to paragraph 6 below, and continue.

    6. At this point, close the “Task master” dialogue box. You will be left with the larger “program files” box with the “av.exe*32″ file still highlighted.

    7. Right click on the “av.exe*32″ file and another drop down menu will appear with about fifteen selections listed. Towards the bottom of the list, you will see the selection “delete” .

    8. Left click on the “delete” selection and the file “av.exe*32″ will disappear from the “program files” box. It is now gone from your computer. The virus file is gone, but your problems are not over yet.

    9. Close the “program files” box.

    After closing the “program files” box, you will find yourself looking at your desktop page. If, at this point, all the programs on the desktop perform properly, and open as they should (a simple click on the program icon), then you are home free and you need do nothing further. The virus is gone and your computer operates normally.

    However, it is more than likely that you will not be able to open any of the programs which show icons on the desktop. With some operating systems, but not all, as its parting gesture, the virus has programming which crashes all of your “.exe” files, rendering them totally inoperable. I told you they were clever bastards. I can confirm to you that this will be the case with the Vista operating system. Not happy to lose your potential money and ability to steal your identity, they are settling for screwing up your computer. But, not to worry, there is a solution to this also.

    The virus has left instructions on your computer that remain outside of the “antivirus vista 2010″ programming, which is now removed from your computer, but the files it left behind are almost as bad. The trick now is to take your computer back to its operating instructions configuration prior to the time the bad programming (crippling your “.exe” files) invaded. This is accomplished through the your operating system’s “system restore” program. If you get it to run from the desktop, simply open it and select a “restore” date which would be a few days prior to the date you suspect that the virus invaded your computer. If you are successful with the “restore” program and the new date has been selected, re-start your computer and all should be well. If this does not work because you cannot get the system restore program to run, follow the below instructions to bypass the normal “system restore” channels.

    1 With the Vista operating system, at the bottom left corner of your desktop page, you will see/find a large, conspicuous “Start” button.

    2. Left click on the “Start” button. A new box will appear listing several of your programs and other items. One of them will be a “start search” small box with a blinking cursor at the very left end of the box (within the bigger box). In Vista, this box is immediately above the “start” button, once you have clicked on the “start” button.

    3. In the “start search” box, type the words “system restore”. As you finish typing “system restore”, a new box entitled “programs” will appear immediately above with the file “system restore” highlighted.

    4 Right click on the highlighted file “system restore”. Another drop down menu will appear with a number of items listed. Approximately three item down will be a selection “ Run as Administrator”. Left click on the selection “Run as Administrator”. The “System Restore” program box will open. Do not worry if it does not appear immediately. On my computer it took approximately five minutes before the “System Restore” program box appeared after I clicked on “Run as Administrator”. Just sit and wait for it to appear.

    5. In the “System Restore” program box, you will see a bunch of dialogue and a place to select either “Recommended restore” or “Choose a different restore point”. Select/click the “Choose a different restore point”. After making the selection, click on the bottom button “Next”. This will cause a new dialogue box to appear that lists, in chronological order, all of the most recent installation dates of program updates or programs you recently installed. Scroll down the list until you find a date that you feel precedes the virus invasion date. Be careful to remember that this action will not only uninstall the virus instructions but any valid updates to your computer which were installed after the date you select. Maybe you need to go back only a few days.

    6. After you select/highlight the right date, click on the bottom button “next”. This will take you to a new “System Restore” dialogue box entitled “Confirm your restore point”. If it shows the date you selected, then click on the bottom button “finish”. This will then open a cautionary box warning you that the restore action coming can not be interrupted and asks if you want to continue. Click “yes”.

    NOTE:

    The system restore action will require some time to complete once you tell it to go ahead. Do not be concerned. On my son’s computer, which is a very fast computer, the restore action took in excess of twelve minutes, so on a lessor speed computer, I can see it taking a goodly amount of time. After all, depending upon the date you selected, it is uninstalling a bunch of previously installed instructions. Let it go until it is finished. It will then restart the computer and all should be working correctly. If not, go back in these instructions and choose an earlier date until you find that date the virus invaded and then go back one day earlier.

    Hopefully, these “color-me-red” steps will cure your problems. I normally would not take the time to type all of this, but having been exposed to this malicious bunch of bastards (and I am biting my tongue not to use my normal complement of adjectives) I know how utterly frustrating it can be to the normal “non-expert” computer user like myself

    I would post my email for any questions, but I am fearful that it would incur the wrath of our Asian friends and I cannot afford that. Never forget how truly computer savvy they are. When it is all said and done, they are nothing more than a group of sleazy thieves. Any questions you have or any clarifications you need, post herein, and I will keep checking for awhile and respond in this forum. All I can say is it worked for me and hopefully, it helps somebody else in the same situation.

  114. By Bron on Mar 7, 2010 | Reply

    What I did was stop/kill the process in task
    manager, processes tab. The file on mine was
    AV2010.exe then I did a system restore (START -
    ALL PROGRAMS- ACCESSORIES – SYSTEM
    TOOLS – SYSTEM RESTORE) you only need
    to set the restore back to a date b4 the attack.
    Doing a system restore doesn’t affect any of your
    documents, emails, pictures or other personal data.
    And it’s reversible too. The EASIEST way to get rid
    of this shit of a program. Well it worked for me.

  115. By WAS on Mar 8, 2010 | Reply

    I don’t care if there are 2 or 20 of these bastards that are responsible for creating and maintaining this antivirus xp 2010, i am with that Bob guy, I would shoot every one of them in their heads. I wish i knew where they were! maybe once you fall victim and pay for the virus removal form them that info can be tracked back to them. Nothing would make me happier than to shoot all of them in their heads…… Fucking pieces of shit, if anyone has their info please give it up.

  116. By Someone Who Hunts Malware on Mar 9, 2010 | Reply

    First things first. Most infections now are Rogue Antispyware, not viruses. They hold you system hostage till you pay them, or get them removed. I should know, I work on removing them every day, for a company none of you would ever expect.

    But let me tell you what we do, and these are ALL free tools.

    1. Boot in Safe Mode w/ Networking – so important, as this can make the malware sterile for the boot session, makes it easier for them to be removed.

    2. Now run these programs in this order:

    a. run ATF-cleaner and the built in cleanmgr.exe. You wan to blow out all temp files, this is where 90% of your malware likes to hide.

    b. Run a MalwareBytes QuickScan (make sure it updates) this can remove most infections. If you get over 500 hits, you may wish to also run a full scan on ALL non-removable drives.

    c. GMER (only need to run initial scan) This are good for discovering RootKits, which will bring the infections back. Unless you know what you’re doing, DO NOT REMOVE ANYTHING via this program. You can brick your computer.

    d. AutoRuns (make sure to select options, and hide all microsoft and verify) this will show you everything that opens during boot. Anything with a missing file, uncheck. Anything with no information, uncheck. AutoRuns is nice, because if you need to add something back, you just need to check it.

    e. MSCONFIG – In services, check Hide Microsoft. Anything with blank information and/or that looks suspecious, uncheck. In Startups, same thing. Blanks are BAD.

    You may wish to turn OFF system restore as well, before running these steps. Some of the newer threats like to hide there.

    Google will provide you with most information on files that look suspicious. Use it. Anything that returns nothing, uncheck it.

    Remove ALL toolbars. It has been proven that even the Google Toolbar can be exploited to spread malware. You don’t need them, especially 5 of them. (I’ve seen 20, and they took up 1/2 the screen)

    Get an ACTIVE Anti-malware program. Free programs are very useful for removing malware, but they don’t do anything to stop them from coming in. Pay the $$ or research. I use Clam on my systems, as it supports Win*, *nix, and Mac. (all 3 on one MPB 15″)

    And when all is said and done, download MyDefrag and do a Monthly Defrag. It’s very thorough. Then do a Consolidation. This will help speed up your system some.

    There are more tools out there that may be needed, but these are my hammer and screwdrivers. With these, and a little research, you could make a mint cleaning out peoples’ computers. And understand why places like Best Buy charge so much.

  117. By Someone Who Hunts Malware on Mar 9, 2010 | Reply

    Also, keep in mind most infections have a very small windows of removal time; like an egg, they incubate and hatch.

    72 hours seems to be the avg. time for these. As it gets closer tot hat time mark, you’ll get more and more popups, and soon will get them even in Safe Mode.

    Once you realize you are infected, you need to move fast.

  118. By sam on Mar 9, 2010 | Reply

    Two questions:

    1, I did find the av file by the above steps, bt I cannot delete it;

    2. The system restore thing took like forever, I bet someething is wrong, but I followed the steps, but I did not get the ‘next’ or ‘choose different restore pint’.
    thanks a lot!

  119. By sam on Mar 9, 2010 | Reply

    Can you tell me how I can set the resore point? I wanna set it as 3/7/2010 5:00:00 PM
    but it kept it as the current one, how can I do it?
    thanks!

  120. By melinda on Mar 10, 2010 | Reply

    I have the same problem as someone posted back in Feb 2009.

    “Help me Virus Hunter! I followed your instructions to the “t”, and when everything was said and done, the virus was gone. However, now I cannot open any programs. It asks me what program I would like to use to open it with, even when choosing things such as .exe files. I am lost man.”

    Help!!!

    Thanks.

  121. By mya on Mar 10, 2010 | Reply

    we found the file in re-image which was a programe downloaded to remove it

  122. By mfr on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply

    hey did u ever recieved u refund i did the same think and bought it not thing happen

  123. By D’Real Michael on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply

    Thanks for all of the good information. I was able to get the crap off of my machine with the system restore approach. It is unfortunate that folks with this level of skill opt to use it for ill. They probably even sit around reading these comments. Overcompensation for other “short”comings. Rather than shooting them in the head, I suggest “tea-bagging” or “snorkeling”. That seems more appropriate for these disenfranchised trolls. Just a thought.

  124. By Ricky on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply

    Hey, I have a really big problem please help me.
    This is what happened I got the virus 2days ago,
    but i got rid of it using many anti viruses but now any time i try and open anything a window pops up saying what program do you want to use to open the program. The xp anti virus icon in the toolbar is gone tho. someone please help me!

  125. By Oli on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply

    whatever asshole that has no life and does this annoying shit should hang himself. SERIOUS

  126. By Oli on Mar 11, 2010 | Reply

    whoever made this wasnt too bright because my mcafee av found it in a minute tops. Wow……..

  127. By born yesterday on Mar 12, 2010 | Reply

    I was plagued by the Antivirus Vista 2010 messages but I was still able to run programs. I used msconfig but was not able to find any AV2010 stuff in the startup or processes areas. I updated and ran spyware doctor but it did not detect AV 2010. So I tried System Restore and went back about a week. This took a while but so far my computer is back to normal and working well. I have not been able to find any AV2010 files to delete, so I don’t know if the problem will re-appear but so far so good. Good luck everyone….

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