Windows Virus Hunter

How to eliminate Windows Virus Hunter from your PC?

Windows Virus Hunter is a malicious antivirus program which uses trickery in order to sell it's useless licence key for unsuspecting PC users. This fake software originates from a family of fake antivirus programs named "FakeVimes", this family is infamous for the number of rogue programs that it posses - Internet criminals has released over one hundred bogus programs which infiltrated Internet user's computers and shows fake security scans.

You can easily recognize a rogue antivirus program from this family - if it looks like the one in the provided screenshot (this time it's named Windows Virus Hunter) and it constantly interrupts your work by showing security warning po-ups stating that your PC is infected and that you should activate "ultimate" protection you can be sure that you are dealing with a rogue antivirus from FakeVimes family. Cyber criminals are actively distributing Windows Virus Hunter using misleading websites which tricks PC users into downloading this scam by showing fake online security scans or false security warning messages. Don't trust online security warning pop-ups - there's no way they could know of any security threats that could be on your PC, these messages are commonly used by Cyber criminals to promote their fake security scanners. Windows Virus Hunter uses misleading information which it generates on computer that it infiltrates to scare PC users into believing that their computers are infected with high risk spyware and viruses. This rogue makes the situation seem like it's the only program that could help you remove these security threats while in reality none of the detected security infections exist on your PC.

Windows Virus Hunter is a scam, you shouldn't even consider purchasing it's licence key, you will send your money to Cyber criminals. The best way to treat this program is remove it. You can ignore all of the spyware and malware detection lists that this program shows you - they are generated and none of the infections exist on your PC. Previously released variants of Windows Virus Hunter were called Windows Web Commander, Windows Interactive Security, Windows Proprietary Advisor and many other. Don't pay for Windows Virus Hunter's "ultimate" protection, use this removal guide to help you eliminate this scam from your computer.

Windows Virus Hunter 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"

"Microsoft Security Essentials detected potential threats that might compromise your privacy or damage your computer. You need to clean your computer immediatly to prevent the system crash"

"Trojan-PSW.Win32.launch Hack Tool:Win32/Welevate.A Adware.Win32.Fraud"

Windows Virus Hunter removal:

Before downloading the remover for Windows Virus Hunter 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 Virus Hunter

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 Virus Hunter 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 Virus Hunter 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 Virus Hunter from your computer.

Step 5
After removing Windows Virus Hunter, 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 completing all these steps your computer should be clean.

Other tools known to remove Windows Virus Hunter:

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 Virus Hunter removal:

If you were unable to remove Windows Virus Hunter 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 Virus Hunter 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 Virus Hunter 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 Virus Hunter files:

%StartMenu%\Programs\Windows Virus Hunter.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 Virus Hunter.lnk

Other tips, that might help remove Windows Virus Hunter

• 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.