Smart Fortress 2012 removal guide
Smart Fortress 2012 is a fake security scanner that is distributed by Internet criminals using fake online security scanner pop-ups. This rogue program comes from the same family of misleading software as Security Sphere 2012 and Smart Protection 2012. Previous versions of Smart Fortress 2012 were spread by hijacking ad networks and displaying ads in legitimate websites which then infected unsuspecting computer users. This time the most common way of spreading Smart Fortress 2012 that we discovered is fake online security scans. When installed on your PC Smart Fortress 2012 will change the registry files, this will lead to a situation where this fake security scanner will start automatically every time you start your computer.
Smart Fortress 2012 is a rogue anti-spyware program which tries to scare you into buying it's licence. To scare you into thinking that your computer is infected with various security threats Smart Fortress 2012 will perform security scans, display security warning pop-ups and will generate a big list of detected security issues. You shouldn't trust anything displayed by this program - all that Smart Fortress 2012 does is imitates a security scan and then generates a list of non existent infection. If you click "Remove" button after such fake security scan you will be asked to purchase a licence for Smart Fortress 2012 in order to remove the detected security threats. You shouldn't buy this program - it's totally useless and is designed with sole purpose of selling you it's fake licence. As mentioned above this bogus program is spread using online security scanners, to prevent such problems in the future you shouldn't trust such online security scanner pop-ups. Internet criminals are using various misleading methods to trick computer users into installing fake programs on their computers, most common of them are spam campaigns, website hacking, malware networks and online security scanners. To prevent Smart Fortress 2012 and similar rogue program from entering your computer you should always use a legitimate security program with Internet security features to protect you. Use the information below to remove Smart Fortress 2012 from your computer.
Update: Distribution of Smart Fortress 2012 rogue antivirus was discontinued. Now makers of this malware distributes slightly changed version of Smart Fortress 2012. It is called Live Security Platinum
Such fake security warning messages are generated by Smart Fortress 2012:
"Warning: Your computer is infected Detected spyware infection! Click this message to install the last update of security software..."
"Smart Fortress 2012 Warning Intercepting programs that may compromise your privacy and harm your system have been detected on your PC. Click here to remove them immediately with Smart Fortress 2012"
All of these security warning pop-ups are fake and are only generated to scare you. After you have noticed that your PC is infected with Smart Fortress 2012 you should remove it immediately.
Automatic Smart Fortress 2012 removal:
Step 1
Before downloading automatic remover, you need to enter fake license key in registration window of this program. Click "registration" button at the top of the main window of Smart Fortress 2012 and enter this key: AA39754E-715219CE
It will not remove the infection, but will help removal process. Note, that if you copy this key to clipboard and click "registration" button Smart Fortress 2012, may automatically detect your copied key and will thank you for registration. Then it will imitate removing of fake infections and will ask you to restart your computer. Before restarting, or entering key, you can download remover (Step 2), so there won't be need to get back to this site. After restarting you'll notice that Smart Fortress 2012 icon is still in the task-bar. This icon and all the other files associated with this rogue program will be removed after running the spyware remover program. Keep in mind, that by registering fake security programs you don't break any copyright laws.
Step 2
Now you can download and install spyware remover. Note, that when you'll scan your computer, Smart Fortress 2012 may still generate fake warnings. You can ignore these warnings.
Automatic Smart Fortress 2012 remover
If you can't download or run default installation file, you can try to download alternate installer (It is renamed to iexplore.exe, because most of spyware doesn't block execution of files with this name)
If you can't use Internet or your browser (Internet explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome)
Depending on the version of this infection, sometimes Smart Fortress 2012 disables Internet browsing capabilities and you can't use your browser to download removal software or the browser doesn't work at all. If you have this problem, you may try to do the following:
Click Start then click Run. (Windows logo button on Win7/Vista)
In Windows XP, When the Run dialog appears enter this text: www.pcrisk.com/download-spyware-remover and then press ENTER. In Windows 7 and Vista you can just type this text directly in search field and press ENTER (when pressed Windows logo button)
After pressing enter, Download file dialog will appear. Click Run and follow the on-screen instructions to scan your computer. If you can't run the downloaded file, try renaming it to iexplore.exe
By renaming this file, you will trick Smart Fortress 2012 and it will think, that you are trying to run Internet Explorer.
Smart Fortress 2012 manual removal (experienced users):
1. Load your computer in safe mode with networking. Click Start, click Shut down, click Restart, click OK. During your computer starting process press F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until you see Windows Advanced Option menu, then select Safe mode with networking from the list.
2. Open Internet explorer, click Tools and select Internet Options. Select "Connections".
3.Click LAN settings, if a Use a proxy server for your LAN is checked, uncheck it and press OK.
4. Download HijackThis and save it on your desktop. Some malicious programs are able to block HijackThis so when you click the download link, in the Save dialog rename HijackThis.exe to iexplorer.exe and only then click the Save button. After saving the file on your desktop, double click it. In the main HijackThis window click “Do a system scan only” button. Select these entries (place a tick at the left of the entry):
%StartMenu%\Programs\Smart Fortress 2012.lnk
After selecting required entries, click "Fix Checked". After this procedure you can close HijackThis and proceed to the next removal step.
5. Smart Fortress 2012 modifies system hosts file. It is used to resolve some canonical names of websites to ip addresses. When it is changed, the user may be redirected to malicious site still seeing good URL in address bar. It is very hard to find out if the site is genuine or not, when hosts file is modified. To fix this, please download Microsoft FixIt tool, that restores your hosts file to windows default. Run this tool when downloaded and follow the on-screen instructions. Download link below:
6. Download and install Anti-spyware software to completely remove the infection.
Before downloading automatic remover, we need to enter fake license key in registration window of this program. Click "registration" button at the top of the main window of Smart Fortress 2012 and enter this key: AA39754E-715219CE
It will not remove the infection, but will help removal process. Note, that if you copy this key to clipboard and click "registration" button Smart Fortress 2012 may automatically detect your copied key and will thank you for registration.
Automatic Smart Fortress 2012 remover
NOTE: Some spyware can block downloading spyware removers. If You can't download it using default location, try one of the alternative download locations below:
- Location 1 (The file is renamed to "iexplore.exe" because most of spyware doesn't block this file)
- Location 2
Other tools, known to remove Smart Fortress 2012:
You can also try this registration code AA39754E-715219CE. After entering this code Smart Fortress 2012 should stop showing security warnings. This could help you in the removal process. This code disables Smart Fortress 2012 only temporary, after entering this code you should scan your computer with a legitimate anti-spyware program.
*If you can't download anti-spyware software: Click on the download link, when the save dialog opens change the file name (example: when downloading mbam-setup.exe rename it to iexplore.exe).
*If you have installed anti-spyware program but you can't run it: Click Run, type %ProgramFiles% and press Enter. Open folder of your anti-spyware program, search for executable file and rename it. (example: Open Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware folder, right-click on the main executable file (mbam.exe) then click rename. Rename the mbam.exe file to iexplore.exe, winlogon.exe firefox.exe ...
*If you can't access your anti-spyware software, try creating a new user account:
Click Start -> Settings -> Control panel.
Click User Accounts and create a new account.
Reboot your computer and login using a newly created user account.
*After this procedure you should be able to access your anti-spyware programs. Update and run a full system scan.
Additional information:
Some malicious software modifies browser settings and disables downloads of spyware and virus removing software. If you have problems downloading anti-spyware software with Internet Explorer, try downloading with Chrome, FireFox, Opera, etc.
General tips on removing Smart Fortress 2012:
Load your computer in safe mode. Click Start, click Shut down, click Restart, click OK. During your computer starting process press F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until you see Windows Advanced Option menu, then select Safe mode with networking from the list.
Start Task manager. Press ctrl+alt+del (or ctrl+shift+esc) and end task the processes of rogue program. ( if after this procedure you can't access any programs press ctrl+alt+del, click File, select New Task, and type explorer.exe then press OK.
Open Internet explorer, click Tools and select Internet Options. Select Connections, then click LAN settings, if a Use a proxy server for your LAN is checked, uncheck it and press OK.
After this procedure you should be able to access Internet. Now you can download anti-spyware software from our "Top spyware removers" section and run a full scan. Download, install and don't forget to update your selected anti-spyware program. Then run a full system scan.
If you are unable to remove Smart Fortress 2012, you can use this manual removal instruction. Use it at your own risk. If you don't have strong computer knowledge you could harm your operating system. Use it only if you are an experienced computer user. (Instructions on how to end processes, remove registry entries...)
End these Smart Fortress 2012 processes:
[random].exe
Remove these Smart Fortress 2012 registry entries:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-861567501-152049171-1708537768-1003_Classes\%s "(Default)" = "
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe "(Default)" = "
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce "
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{a2a9545d-a0c2-42b4-9708-a0b2badd77c8}
Delete these Smart Fortress 2012 files:
%CommonAppData%\
%CommonAppData%\
%CommonAppData%\
Smart Fortress 2012 is a very aggressive rogue program, when installed on your computer it will block the execution of legitimate Windows programs. You won't be able to use your task manager etc. This fake security scanner also starts when you boot your computer in safe mode - this makes it very hard to remove, the easiest way is entering a retrieved registration code. You shouldn't trust this program - it only imitates the functions of a real security program. When Smart Fortress 2012 first installs itself on your PC it will generate random files on your computer and then will detect them as being infected. This scheme is used to trick unsuspecting computer users into buying it's licence. Ignore the fake security scans and warning messages and remove Smart Fortress 2012 using a provided removal guide.