Fake Anti-Virus Software

 

Today, thousands of users access the internet for convenience and for expression. It is inevitable that people will experience having virus problems that may hinder the internet access pleasure. Anti-viruses are softwares that are designed to protect computers from harmful virus, malware and adware. Unfortunately, there are scams that pretend to be anti-virus softwares, but in reality are fake antivirus malware. An infamous example – the MS Removal Tool

 

What is the MS Removal Tool?

This is a fake antivirus malware that deceives the user into believing that the computer is infected with several virus and malware. The MS Removal Tool displays fake security alerts and scan results. This will immediately reboot the computer the moment it is installed.

 

Afterwards, this fake antivirus will launch programs without the consent of the user. The MS Removal Tool will then prevent the user from accessing the desktop and prevent the Internet Explorer. To make things worse, the user will become unable to activate the Task Manager.

 

If you have already installed this in Windows XP…

Of course, the next thing to think about is getting rid of this fake antivirus. However, it should be noted that once the user chooses to uninstall this malware, further damage may commence.  Professional help should be sought for further assistance.

 

First is to boot your computer to safe mode. To do this, you have to press and hold F8 key while the booting is commencing.  After doing this, you will be presented with the Windows Advanced Options menu. Look for the Safe Mode then choose Enter. Click the Start button once you’re in the Safe Mode then click Run.

 

After doing this, type cmd and choose OK. This will lead you to the command prompt window. Locate the Application Data folder in the Documents and Settings then perform the following:

 

Type cd c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\ and then press Enter; then, type dir and press Enter again. By doing this, the computer will show the MS Removal Tool including the 18 characters that contain random names. Spot the random name and type rd/s/q (random name) and press Enter then replace the (random name) with the 18 character name. After this, you may now type reg delete hkcu\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\runonce/v(random name) /f.  Press Enter. You may now proceed to the reboot function.

 

If you have installed this in Windows Vista and Windows 7…

Do the following instructions to remove MS Removal Tool: type cd c:\ProgramData\ then press the Enter key; then, type dir and press the Enter key again. After this, you may type cd c:\Users\All Users\ then press the Enter key. Again, you will see the random names of MS Removal Tool. For each that you can find, type rd/s/q (random name) then press Enter and replace (random name) with 18-character name.

Then, enter the reg delete hkcu\software\microsoft\windows\currentversion\runonce/v(random name) /f and press the Enter key. This will allow you to reboot the computer.

 

A Lesson Learned

Now that the MS Removal Tool is out of the computer system, you don’t want to repeat the same mistake. This time, protect your computer from harmful malware, viruses and scams.

 

One thing’s for sure, make sure that your computer is installed with the latest updates in order to protect yourself from harmful elements that you can get from the internet – from cybercrime to viruses. Another thing, you should also keep your computer system updated in order to shield from updated virus and scam versions. You may not see it, but even viruses and scams are continually updated in order to get into the computer system.

 

Make sure that your computer has an active firewall that can protect the system from traffics. More importantly, download legitimate antivirus software that will protect your computer. It’s advisable to check reviews of an antivirus to make sure that you’re on the right track.  Do not allow your computer to be victimized by malicious malwares. It’s safe to download directly from the official website of the antivirus software. Keep in mind as well that emails may contain harmful malwares and viruses, so be careful in opening suspicious attachments.