Virus Win32 Knowledge

Are you one of the victims of the fake anti-virus program called XP Virus Protection? Did you innocently install the application thinking that it would help you deal with computer viruses and malware and got scared out of your wits by the aggressive tactics employed by the creators - such as fake scans and frequent threat alerts - to convince you to purchase a license for the program? If you are a victim of this fraud, read on to know the things that you should do to get rid of this rogue anti-malware program.

Manual XP Virus Protection removal

Best left to techie users, manually removing XP Virus Protection (and other malware) requires stopping running processes, uninstalling the program, removing offending files, and deleting registry entries. Here's how to do these:


1. Stop running processes by opening up Task Manager's Processes tab (press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to directly open the Processes tab). In the list of running processes, select 'Xpvirusprotection.exe' then click End Process. Confirm the action by clicking Yes in the warning window that appears.

2. Uninstall the program using Add/Remove Programs applet of Windows or third-party uninstallers.

3. Remove the XP Virus Protection folder (usually C:\Program Files\XPVirusProtection). As there may be other copies of XP Virus Protection files in the computer, use the Search facility to find these together with the program installer. Verify the results of the search and delete all files found to be related to the rogue program.<

4. Open Registry Editor by clicking Run and typing 'regedit' in the Run window. In Registry Editor, navigate to the following registry entries and delete these:''

* HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\XP Virus Protection
* HKEY_USERS\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run 'XP Virus Protection'
* H KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\XP Virus Protection

Remove XP Virus Protection Automatically

While doing a manual removal seems easy, remember that tinkering with the registry may bring about unwanted results: a wrong registry deletion may corrupt Windows and make it unstable or unloadable. Another problem to contend with is the thoroughness of the removal of files - some innocuous-looking files (such as Trojan files) which could resurrect the rogue application may be left behind.

It is more wise - and practical in the long run - to use reliable XP Virus Protection removal tools to deal with this problem. The tools - either full-pledged antivirus programs or specialized ones designed specifically for this purpose - automate the entire virus removal process, including the touchy registry tweaking part needed to completely eliminate the malware from the computer. These apps save time and effort for the already harassed user and don't run the risk of making a bigger problem by rendering the computer inoperable.