How to Remove ProtectDefender | ProtectDefender Removal Guide
ProtectDefender is yet another recent rogue antivirus application from the wini family. As with many of the other entrants from this family, it is installed through the use of bogus flash updates and purported video codec downloads. Typically a computer user will run across a site that claims to host a well sought after video and when they arrive at the page there is a claim that an extra video codec or flash player update in order to view the video. Once installed on the system it will create numerous files in c:\Windows and c:\windows\system32. These files are harmless, but it will later claim that these files are infected with viruses and other malware. It will also run at windows startup and claim that the only way to fix the problems on your system is to purchase the software. This is essentially a scam…. read on for how to remove protectdefender.
Among the alerts you will see on your system associated with protectdefender is the following:
Spyware Alert!
Your computer is infected with spyware. It could damage your critical files or expose your private data on the Internet. Click here to register your copy of ProtectDefender and remove spyware threats from your PC.
If possible, the easiest way to remove this rogue is to go to the control panel and use the add/remove programs applet to uninstall protectdefender. If it works, congratulations – follow up this wonderful progress with a scan from a malware removal tool such as superantispyware or malwarebytes antimalware. Then follow THAT up with a trusted antivirus scan such as AVG/Avira/Trendmicro/etc.
If the uninstall didn’t work, that is not uncommon for these rogues, continue with the following to get rid of protectdefender: The easiest approach is likely now the portable scanner from superantispyware. There is a link to download it from the virus removal toolkit page. Once you have downloaded the portable scanner all you should need to do is run it. One of the advantages of the portable scanner for this purpose is that each download is given a different filename so make sure to note the name of the file as it downloads so you can find it after it downloads to run it.
If you need to perform a more manual removal of protectdefender you should note the following filenames associated with protectdefender:
%user%\Desktop\ProtectDefender.lnk
%user%\Start Menu\Programs\ProtectDefender.lnk
%progfiles%\ProtectDefender Software
%progfiles%\\ProtectDefender Software\ProtectDefender
%progfiles%\\ProtectDefender Software\ProtectDefender\ProtectDefender.exe
%progfiles%\\ProtectDefender Software\ProtectDefender\Uninstall.exe
%win%\10492zacktool650.dll
%win%\1059zwo5m236.ocx
%win%\10980haczt9ol3e5.bin
%win%\system32\3328downlo5dez11979.bin
%win%\system32\339zbackdoor1975.bin
%win%\system32\3499zir5s6ef.ocx
After all the above files are gone, you should follow up with another scan from a malware removal tool (malwarebytes antimalware and superantispyware are two good choices.) Also scan the system with a reputable antivirus. (AVG/Norton/Avira/Avast/McAfee/TrendMicro are among the names I would suggest to be used. This isn’t an exclusive list, but given the prevalence of rogues… you should be cautious and look for antivirus with a good reputation.)