Friday
2008-11-28, 18:00
The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "Spyware Cleaner" manually.
Use this guide at your own risk; software should usually be better suited to remove malware, since it is able to look deeper.
If this guide was helpful to you, please consider donating towards this site (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=donate).
Threat Details:
Categories:
malware
Description:
When Spyware Cleaner is installed on the computer it finds a lot of malware (that does not really exit) and that can only be removed after buying a licence
Supposed Functionality:
Spyware Cleaner pretends to be valid antispy software.
Removal Instructions:
Desktop:
Please remove the following files from your desktop.
To check where they are pointing to, right-click them and choose "Properties" from the context menu appearing.
Shortcuts named "Spyware Cleaner.lnk" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\SpywareCleaner.Exe".
Autorun:
Please use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd), RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) or msconfig.exe to remove the following autorun entries.
Entries named "Spyware Cleaner" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\SpywareCleaner.Exe".
Installed Software List:
You can try to uninstall products with the names listed below; for items identified by other properties or to avoid malware getting active again on uninstallation, use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd) or RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) to locate and get rid of these entries.
Products that have a key or property named "Spyware Cleaner".
Folders:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these folders.
The directory at "<$PROGRAMS>\Spyware Cleaner".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\Backup".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\Options Files".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\Quarantine".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Spyware Cleaner uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
You will have to use a global search for files without a name specified. Be extra careful, because just the name might not be enough to identify folders!
Registry:
You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleaner.exe" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\".
Delete the registry key "Spyware Cleaner" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Eventlog\Application\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Application\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\".
If Spyware Cleaner uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=regalyzer), RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
Final Words:
If neither Spybot-S&D nor self help did resolve the issue or you would prefer one on one help,
Please read these instructions (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=288) before requesting assistance,
Then start your own thread in the Malware Removal Forum (http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22) where a volunteer analyst will advise you as soon as available.
Use this guide at your own risk; software should usually be better suited to remove malware, since it is able to look deeper.
If this guide was helpful to you, please consider donating towards this site (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=donate).
Threat Details:
Categories:
malware
Description:
When Spyware Cleaner is installed on the computer it finds a lot of malware (that does not really exit) and that can only be removed after buying a licence
Supposed Functionality:
Spyware Cleaner pretends to be valid antispy software.
Removal Instructions:
Desktop:
Please remove the following files from your desktop.
To check where they are pointing to, right-click them and choose "Properties" from the context menu appearing.
Shortcuts named "Spyware Cleaner.lnk" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\SpywareCleaner.Exe".
Autorun:
Please use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd), RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) or msconfig.exe to remove the following autorun entries.
Entries named "Spyware Cleaner" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\SpywareCleaner.Exe".
Installed Software List:
You can try to uninstall products with the names listed below; for items identified by other properties or to avoid malware getting active again on uninstallation, use Spybot-S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=spybotsd) or RunAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=runalyzer) to locate and get rid of these entries.
Products that have a key or property named "Spyware Cleaner".
Folders:
Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these folders.
The directory at "<$PROGRAMS>\Spyware Cleaner".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\Backup".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\Options Files".
The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\Spyware Cleaner\Quarantine".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If Spyware Cleaner uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
You will have to use a global search for files without a name specified. Be extra careful, because just the name might not be enough to identify folders!
Registry:
You can use regedit.exe (included in Windows) to locate and delete these registry entries.
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleaner.exe" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\".
Delete the registry key "Spyware Cleaner" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\Eventlog\Application\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Services\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Application\".
Delete the registry key "SpywareCleanerService" at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\".
If Spyware Cleaner uses rootkit technologies, use our RegAlyzer (http://www.safer-networking.org/index.php?page=regalyzer), RootAlyzer (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=8) or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins (http://forums.spybot.info/downloads.php?id=3).
Final Words:
If neither Spybot-S&D nor self help did resolve the issue or you would prefer one on one help,
Please read these instructions (http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=288) before requesting assistance,
Then start your own thread in the Malware Removal Forum (http://forums.spybot.info/forumdisplay.php?f=22) where a volunteer analyst will advise you as soon as available.