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Vista Antivirus 2014

Also Known As: Vista Antivirus 2014 scam
Damage level: High

What is Vista Antivirus 2014?

Vista Antivirus 2014 is fake antivirus software originating from a family of rogues called Braviax/FakeRean. This bogus program targets the Windows Vista operating system and infiltrates computers using detected security vulnerabilities.

Following infection, this fake security scanner blocks execution of all installed software, disables the Task Manager, modifies the operating system registry files, and configures itself to start automatically on each system start-up. 

Vista Antivirus 2014 is merely an imitation of a legitimate antivirus program - this rogue software holds no virus definition database or any other features found in legitimate antivirus software.

vista antivirus 2014 fake antivirus program

This program generates fake security warning messages and malware and virus detection lists to scare PC users into believing that their computers are affected by high-risk security infections. In fact, none of the indicated security threats are genuine - Vista Antivirus 2014 mimics the detection of identical security threats on all computers infiltrated.

This rogue software is capable of changing its name according to the infected operating system. For example, for a computer running the Windows 7 operating system, the rogue software appears as Win 7 Antivirus 2014; Windows XP users observe it as XP Antivirus 2014.

Vista Antivirus 2014 is designed to convince PC users into believing that their computers are at risk with the intention to sell a license key. Express caution when purchasing security software to protect your computer - the Internet is full of fakes, and therefore, do some research before buying an antivirus program.

If you have purchased this bogus software, contact your credit card company and dispute the charges, explaining that you have been tricked into buying a fake antivirus program. Furthermore, you should question the safety of your banking information, since cyber criminals could use these details for further theft from your account.

If you observe Vista Antivirus 2014 on your computer, consider all security scans and warning messages produced by it to be fake - this program is a scam and should be eliminated from your computer.

Examples of fake security warning messages displayed by Vista Antivirus 2014:

“System security threat was detected. Viruses and/or spyware may be damaging your system now. Prevent infection and data loss or stealing by running a free security scan”

 

“Vista Antivirus 2014 has blocked a program from accessing the internet - This program is infected with Trojan-BNK.Win32.Keylogger.gen Private data can be stolen by third parties, including credit card details and passwords”

 

“Vista Antivirus 2014 Alert - System Hacked! Unknown program is scanning your system registry right now! Identity theft detected”

 

“Tracking software found! Your PC activity is being monitored. Possible spyware infection. Your data security may be compromised. Sensitive data can be stolen. Prevent damage now by completing a security scan”

Vista Antivirus 2014 rogue antivirus performing a fake computer security scan:

vista antivirus 2014 performing a fake computer security scan

Vista Antivirus 2014 blocking Internet access:

Internet Explorer alert. Visiting this site may pose a security threat to your system!
Possible reasons include:


Dangerous code found in this site’s pages which installs unwanted software into your system.
Suspicious and potentially unwanted network activity detected.
Spyware infection in your system.
Complaints from other users about this site.
Port and system scans performed by the site being visited.

Things you can do:


Get a copy of “Vista Antivirus 2014” to safeguard your PC while surfing the web (RECOMMENDED)
Run a spyware, virus and malware scan
Continue surfing without any security measures (DANGEROUS)

vista antivirus 2014 blocking Internet access

Vista Antivirus 2014 blocking execution of installed programs:

Vista Antivirus 2014 has blocked a program from accessing the Internet. This program is infected with Trojan-BNK.Win32.Keylogger.gen Private data can be stolen by third parties, including credit card detail and passwords.

vista antivirus 2014 blocking execution of installed programs

Vista Antivirus 2014 displaying a fake Windows Security Center:

Vista Antivirus 2014 reports that it is temporarily turned off.

 vista antivirus 2014 displaying a fake Windows Security Center

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Quick menu:

Vista Antivirus 2014 removal:

Start your computer in Safe Mode. Click Start, click Shut Down, click Restart, click OK. During your computer starting process, press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until you see the Advanced Boot Options menu, then select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.

Booting Windows vista in Safe Mode with Networking

After booting your computer in Safe Mode with Networking, try downloading and running the recommended antimalware software. If the download is blocked, follow the instructions presented below.

IMPORTANT! Vista Antivirus 2014 rogue antivirus damages Windows Security Center and Windows Defender services. After removing this fake antivirus program, download the registry fixes presented below. After downloading, double-click each and click Yes (when asked to merge data).

Windows Vista braviax/fakerean registry fix

 

NOTE: If you cannot run the remover, try to right-click on it and select "Run as administrator". If the installation of the malware remover fails, or you cannot open the .exe files, try one of the alternative download locations below:

  • Location 1 (the file is renamed to "iexplore.exe", since most spyware does not block this file)
  • Location 2

If, after or before, removal of this fake antivirus you are unable to run any of your installed software, Vista Antivirus 2014 has modified your operating system's .exe file associations. To fix this, download the registry fix (link below). Save it to your computer, double click it, click "Yes", and then "OK". After rebooting your PC, file associations should function normally.

If you cannot open your browser (Internet Explorer,  Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome):

Vista Antivirus 2014 hijacks Internet browsers, modifies registry settings, and disables execution of programs. In such cases, our developers have created a custom installer - useful when you are unable to browse the Internet or execute .exe files. It starts like an MS-Dos program, runs some registry fixes, and then initiates execution of an installer.

This installer was tested on the Windows 7, Windows Vista, and XP operating systems infected with the most common spyware infections.

To use this installer, click the Windows logo button, in the Search field type "run".

Downloading installer using Windows Vista run command step 1 In the Search field, enter this link:  www.pcrisk.com/installer.com and then press ENTER.

Downloading installer using Windows Vista run command step 2

Vista Antivirus 2014 will generate a fake warning after pressing ENTER. Please ignore this and click "No, stay unprotected..." on this message.

File download dialogue will appear reporting that you are downloading the file, installer.com. Click Run, wait for download to complete, and then follow the on-screen instructions. Windows may warn you that opening unknown files may be unsafe. Please ignore these warnings.

If your Internet browsers work, use this button to download the customized installer.

IMPORTANT! Vista Antivirus 2014 rogue antivirus damages Windows Security Center and Windows Defender services. After removing this fake antivirus program, download the registry fixes presented below. After downloading, double-click each and click Yes (when asked to merge data).

 

If installation or downloading fails:

If you are still unable to run or download the removal tool, download the registry fix file. It enables normal execution of applications and fixes web browser errors. Click on the link below, and when download completes, click run, click yes, and then OK.

If the installation of the malware remover fails, try our Customized installer built by our technicians to bypass infections and install removers regardless.

If you cannot access your Internet browsers using the infected computer, use a clean system to download this remover and use removable media (such as a CD, USB, etc.) to transfer it to the infected PC.

Note that this rogue also blocks execution of programs. If you are using a clean PC to download the remover, also download the registry fix (download link below) provided. Transfer both files to the infected machine, first run the registry fix, and then run the full scan with the recommended remover.

Vista Antivirus 2014 removal (optional method):

Vista Antivirus 2014 rogue blocks execution of all installed software - this makes its removal complicated. The best way to eliminate this rogue is to login to an unaffected user account and run a security scan from it. If available, please login to a "Guest" account and follow the removal steps provided below. If your "Guest" user account is not activated, follow these steps:

Click the Windows logo button ("Start") and select "Control Panel".

Turning on Guest account on Windows Vista step 1 - aceessing Control Panel

In the opened window, click "Add or remove user accounts" (under "User Accounts and Family Safety").

Turning on Guest account on Windows Vista step 2 - clicking add or remove user accounts

In the opened window, click "Guest".

Turning on Guest account on Windows Vista step 3 - clicking Guest account

In the next window, click the "Turn On" button.

Turning on Guest account on Windows Vista step 4 - clicking Turn On

Restart your PC, when the Windows log on screen appears, select the "Guest" user, then continue with the removal steps provided below.

After logging into your Guest account, download recommended malware removal software and run a full system scan to completely eliminate this fake antivirus software from your PC.

Manual Vista Antivirus 2014 removal instructions

Some spyware can block the downloading of spyware removers. If you cannot download it using the default location, try one of the alternative download locations below:

  • Location 1 (the file is renamed to "iexplore.exe", since most spyware does not block this file)
  • Location 2

If installation of the remover fails, please  try downloading the customized installer, which was built by our technicians to bypass spyware infections. Download customized installer

If you still cannot download or run the spyware removing software, please perform these steps:

Step 1
Download the registry fix for Vista Antivirus 2014 malware. This fix removes registry entries that disallow execution of programs in some variants of this spyware. To download it, click the link below. After downloading, double click vista_av_fix.reg file, click Yes when asked, and then click OK.

Step 2
Some variants of this spyware modify the system proxy settings so that you are unable to access the Internet (or website addresses are redirected to malicious or phishing websites). To reset the proxy settings to default, download and run this tool:

Step 3
Vista Antivirus 2014 modifies the system Hosts file. The Hosts file is used to resolve canonical names of websites to IP addresses. When it is changed, the user may be redirected to malicious sites, despite seeing legitimate URLs in address bar. It is difficult to determine whether sites are genuine when the Hosts file is modified.

To fix this, download the Microsoft Fix It tool, which restores your Hosts file to the Windows default. Run this tool when downloaded and follow the on-screen instructions. Download link below:

Step 4
That's It! You can now try to download the Malware remover or install and run it if already downloaded.

IMPORTANT! Vista Antivirus 2014 rogue antivirus damages Windows Security Center and Windows Defender services. After removing this fake antivirus program, download the registry fixes presented below. After downloading double-click each and click Yes (when asked to merge data).

Downloading installer using Windows Vista run command step 2

 

Other tools known to remove Vista Antivirus 2014:

Summary:

The fake antivirus programs (also known as "rogue antivirus programs" or "scareware") are applications that tries to lure computer users into paying for their non-existent full versions to remove the supposedly detected security infections (although the computer is actually clean). These bogus programs are created by cyber criminals who design them to look as legitimate antivirus software. Most commonly rogue antivirus programs infiltrate user's computer using poop-up windows or alerts which appear when users surf the Internet. These deceptive messages trick users into downloading a rogue antivirus program on their computers. Other known tactics used to spread scareware include exploit kits, infected email messages, online ad networks, drive-by downloads, or even direct calls to user's offering free support.

A computer that is infected with a fake antivirus program might also have other malware installed on it as rogue antivirus programs often are bundled with Trojans and exploit kits. Noteworthy that additional malware that infiltrates user's operating system remains on victim's computer regardless of whether a payment for a non-existent full version of a fake antivirus program is made. Here are some examples of fake security warning messages that are used in fake antivirus distribution:

Fake pop-up used in rogue antivirus distribution example 1

Fake pop-up used in rogue antivirus distribution example 2

Computer users who are dealing with a rogue security software shouldn't buy it's full version. By paying for a license key of a fake antivirus program users would send their money and banking information to cyber criminals. Users who have already entered their credit card number (or other sensitive information) when asked by such bogus software should inform their credit card company that they have been tricked into buying a rogue security software. Screenshot of a web page used to lure computer users into paying for a non-existent full version of vista antivirus 2014 scam and other rogue antivirus programs:

example of a webpage used to collect payments for fake antivirus programs

To protect your computer from vista antivirus 2014 scam and other rogue antivirus programs users should:

  • Keep their operating system and all of the installed programs up-to-date.
  • Use legitimate antivirus and anti-spyware programs.
  • Use caution when clicking on links in social networking websites and email messages.
  • Don't trust online pop-up messages which state that your computer is infected and offers you to download security software.

Symptoms indicating that your operating system is infected with a fake antivirus program:

  • Intrusive security warning pop-up messages.
  • Alerts asking to upgrade to a paid version of a program to remove the supposedly detected malware.
  • Slow computer performance.
  • Disabled Windows updates.
  • Blocked Task Manager.
  • Blocked Internet browsers or inability to visit legitimate antivirus vendor websites.

If you have additional information on vista antivirus 2014 scam or it's removal please share your knowledge in the comments section below.

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About the author:

Tomas Meskauskas

Tomas Meskauskas - expert security researcher, professional malware analyst.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of over 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an author and editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest online security threats. Contact Tomas Meskauskas.

PCrisk security portal is brought by a company RCS LT. Joined forces of security researchers help educate computer users about the latest online security threats. More information about the company RCS LT.

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About PCrisk

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Malware activity

Global malware activity level today:

Medium threat activity

Increased attack rate of infections detected within the last 24 hours.

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