Windows Privacy Counsel

Instructions to remove Windows Privacy Counsel

Windows Privacy Counsel is jet another fake antivirus program from a family of rogues called "FakeVimes". This rogue family is infamous for it's number of malicious applications - Internet criminals who are responsible for releasing this misleading family are adding new fake anti-viruses to it daily. Today there are over one hundred fake anti-viruses from this family which all shares the same user interface and are promoted using similar misleading methods. Windows Privacy Counsel is created with a sole purpose of scaring PC users into believing that their computers are infected with various high risk malware and viruses. Internet criminals are distributing this rogue hoping that unsuspecting PC users will fall for the trickery shown by this malicious software and will purchase it's licence key.

Previous versions of Windows Privacy Counsel were called Windows Custom Safety, Windows Privacy Module, Windows Maintenance Suite and many other. If you notice an annoying security program that looks similar to the one in the screenshot you can be sure that you are dealing with a rogue antivirus software. Don't even consider purchasing this program, it's a scam created to trick you into purchasing it's licence key to remove non existent security infections from your computer.

Windows Privacy Counsel is spread using fake online pop-ups - most commonly Internet criminals are using fake online security messages and false scans which states about supposedly found malware on users computer and asks PC user to download and install some security software to eliminate these infections. To prevent your computer from being infected with such fake antivirus programs as Windows Privacy Counsel you shouldn't trust any of such online security pop-ups, they are fake and Cyber criminals are using them to distribute their rogue programs. Don't trust any of the information shown by Windows Privacy Counsel - it uses pre-generated security scans and warning messages to force you into purchasing it's useless licence key. None of the security infections that are indicated by this software actually exist on your PC. Use this removal guide and eliminate Windows Privacy Counsel from your computer.

Windows Privacy Counsel generates such fake warning messages:

"Warning! Virus Detected Threat detected: FTP Server Infected file: C:\Windows\System32\dllcache\wmploc.dll"

"Warning! Identity theft attempt Detected Hidden connection IP: 58.82.12.124 Target: Your passwords for sites"

"Error Key-logger activity detected. System information security is at risk. It is recommended to activate protection and run a full system scan"

Windows Privacy Counsel removal:

Before downloading the remover for Windows Privacy Counsel click a question mark icon at the top of the main window of this program, choose "Activate Now" and enter this registration code: 0W000-000B0-00T00-E0020 This will enable blocked Windows functions and will make the further removal process much easier, after entering the activation code continue to downloading the spyware remover.

remover for Windows Privacy Counsel

If you can't download or run spyware remover try running registry fix (link below). It enables execution of programs. download registryfix.reg file, double click it, click YES and then OK.

After removing Windows Privacy Counsel, you will need to reset your Hosts file. Don't skip this step, this malware modifies your Hosts files, and you will encounter browser redirect problems if malicious entries will not be removed from hosts file.

Hosts file 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 Fix It tool, that restores your hosts file to Windows default. Run this tool when downloaded and follow the on-screen instructions. Download link below:

After doing all these steps your computer should be clean. Windows Privacy Counsel will be removed.

If you can't use Internet or your browser is closed after a few moments when you open it  (Internet explorer, Firefox, Opera, Chrome)

Depending on the version of this infection, Windows Privacy Counsel may close your browser when you open it and you can't download removal software. 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 Windows Privacy Counsel and it will think, that you are trying to run Internet Explorer.

Manual Windows Privacy Counsel removal:

If you were unable to remove Windows Privacy Counsel using the steps above, 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. Be careful and use it only if you are an experienced computer user. (Instructions on how to end processes, remove registry entries...)

End these Windows Privacy Counsel processes:

random.exe
Protector.exe (Protector.exe file may have 3 or more random characters at the end of it's file name like ProtectionGQY.exe)

Remove these Windows Privacy Counsel registry entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\_avp32.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\ashLogV.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\beagle.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\jedi.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\msa.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\ntvdm.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\rav7.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\spoler.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\vir-help.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Image File Execution Options\wupdt.exe
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings "WarnOnHTTPSToHTTPRedirect" = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "DisableRegedit" = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "DisableRegistryTools" = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "DisableTaskMgr" = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Inspector"
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Settings "net

Delete these Windows Privacy Counsel files:

%StartMenu%\Programs\Windows Privacy Counsel.lnk
%AppData%\Protector.exe (NOTE: this file may have various symbols at the end of it's name. Look for the similar file name pattern and remove it)
%AppData%\result.db
%Desktop%\Windows Privacy Counsel.lnk

Other tools known to remove Windows Privacy Counsel:

• iS3 STOPzilla
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware