The following instructions have been created to help you to get rid of "AlphaWipe2008" manually.
Use this guide at your own risk; software should usually be better suited to remove malware, since it is able to look deeper.

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Threat Details:

Categories:
  • malware
  • rogue

Description:
AlphaWipe2008 is a rogue anti-spyware application. You get a 15-day period shareware that has to be purchased at the end of the evaluating period. AlphaWipe2008 only detects usage tracks that can be easily cleaned with other freeware tools. It shows popups to remind the user of buying the product that can only be closed by pressing "Buy now"-button.
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 "AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008.lnk" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\alphawipe.exe".

Start Menu:

Please remove the following items from your start menu.
To check where they are pointing to, right-click them and choose "Properties" from the context menu appearing.
  • Items named "AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner.lnk" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\alphawipe.exe".

Quicklaunch area:

Please remove the following items from your start quick launch area text to the "Start" button in the taskbar at the bottom.
To check where they are pointing to, right-click them and choose "Properties" from the context menu appearing.
  • Quicklaunch symbols named "AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008.lnk" and pointing to "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\alphawipe.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 or RunAlyzer to locate and get rid of these entries.
  • Products that have a key or property named "AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008_is1".

Files:

Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these files.
  • The file at "<$LOCALAPPDATA>\AlphaWipe\Settings\psettings.txt".
  • The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\alphawipe.exe".
  • The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\alphawipe.url".
  • The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\pkill.exe".
  • The file at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\interface\English.lng".
  • The file at "<$STARTUP>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner.lnk".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If AlphaWipe2008 uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins.
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 files!

Important: There are more files that cannot be safely described in simple words. Please use Spybot-S&D to remove them.

Folders:

Please use Windows Explorer or another file manager of your choice to locate and delete these folders.
  • The directory at "<$COMMONPROGRAMS>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008".
  • The directory at "<$LOCALAPPDATA>\AlphaWipe\Data".
  • The directory at "<$LOCALAPPDATA>\AlphaWipe\Data\run_backup".
  • The directory at "<$LOCALAPPDATA>\AlphaWipe\Logs".
  • The directory at "<$LOCALAPPDATA>\AlphaWipe".
  • The directory at "<$LOCALAPPDATA>\AlphaWipe\Quarantine".
  • The directory at "<$LOCALAPPDATA>\AlphaWipe\Settings".
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008".
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\interface".
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\Plugins".
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\Plugins\browsers".
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\Plugins\msoffice".
  • The directory at "<$PROGRAMFILES>\AlphaWipe Tracks Cleaner 2008\Plugins\windows".
Make sure you set your file manager to display hidden and system files. If AlphaWipe2008 uses rootkit technologies, use our RootAlyzer or our Total Commander anti-rootkit plugins.
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!

Final Words:

If neither Spybot-S&D nor self help did resolve the issue or you would prefer one on one help,
  1. Please read these instructions before requesting assistance,
  2. Then start your own thread in the Malware Removal Forum where a volunteer analyst will advise you as soon as available.