Windows Pro Defence

How to remove Windows Pro Defence from your PC?

Windows Pro Defence is a rogue antivirus program which displays false information in order to trick PC users into thinking that their computers are infected with malware and viruses. Internet criminals who are responsible for creating this scam are hoping that you will fall for the trickery displayed by Windows Pro Defence and that you will purchase it's licence key (activate ultimate protection). To achieve this misleading goal this bogus program shows fake security scans and generates fake security warning pop-ups, furthermore this rogue modifies your operating system's registry entries and blocks your Task Manager.

When added all together these processes and modifications make the situation seem that your PC has severe virus infections and that Windows Pro Defence is the only security program that could help resolve these issues. In reality none of the security infections that are detected by this program actually exist on your PC, this rogue software uses generated warning po-ups to scare you. This malicious program shows identical detection list on all the computers that it infiltrates. Internet criminals who created Windows Pro Defence are distributing this bogus program using fake online security scans or warning pop-ups, this strategy is used to trick PC users into downloading this rogue. Other widely used method to spread this fake security scanner is using misleading websites which uses security vulnerabilities in users PC and installs such rogue software.

Windows Pro Defence is not unique - it comes from a family of fake antivirus programs called "FakeVimes", predecessors of this rogue software were named Windows Control Series, Windows Advanced Toolkit, Windows Proactive Safety and more than one hundred other.  All of these fake security scanners are released by the same Internet criminals who changes the names of their rogue software while keeping the distribution methods and user interface the same. You shouldn't trust Windows Pro Defence, ignore all the security scans and warning messages - they are fake, if you have already payed for this program you should contact your credit card company and dispute the charges explaining that you have been tricked into buying a fake antivirus program. Use this removal guide to help you eliminate Windows Pro Defence from your PC.

Windows Pro Defence 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 Pro Defence removal:

Before downloading the remover for Windows Pro Defence 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 Pro Defence

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.

Manual Windows Pro Defence removal instructions:

Step 1
Start your computer in safe mode. Click Start, then click Shut down. Select Restart and click OK. During your computer starting process press F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until Windows Advanced Options menu shows up, then select Safe mode with networking from the list and press ENTER.

Step 2

Now we need to remove proxy settings. Windows Pro Defence adds a proxy to your Internet connection settings to show various errors when you try to access Internet. To do this, open Internet explorer, click Tools and select Internet Options. Then select the "Connections" tab.

In the "Connections" tab, click LAN settings, if a "Use a proxy server for your LAN" is checked, uncheck it and press OK.

Step 3
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 iexplore.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):

O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Inspector] %AppData%\Protector.exe (Protector.exe file may have 3 or more random characters at the end of it's file name like ProtectionGQY.exe)

After selecting required entries, click "Fix Checked" and these entries will be removed. After this procedure you can close HijackThis and proceed to the next removal step.

Step 4
Download a legitimate anti-spyware software to fully remove Windows Pro Defence from your computer.

Step 5
After removing Windows Pro Defence, 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:

Finish
After doing all these steps your computer should be clean. Windows Pro Defence will be removed.

Other tools known to remove Windows Pro Defence:

• iS3 STOPzilla
• Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

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.

If you can't access Internet:

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, un-check 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.

Manual Windows Pro Defence removal:

If you were unable to remove Windows Pro Defence 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 Pro Defence 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 Pro Defence 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 Pro Defence files:

%StartMenu%\Programs\Windows Pro Defence.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 Pro Defence.lnk

Other tips, that might help remove Windows Pro Defence

• 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 do the following steps:
• 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 or other known executable file.
• 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 log in 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.