Antivirus 10 is a scareware program that pretends to an anti-virus program, but in reality is just a Trojan trying to scare you into purchasing it. This program is classified as a rogue because it deliberately displays false or misleading scan results, fake or misleading security warnings, and prevents you from running programs in Windows. As all of the detected threats are fake, please ignore the scan results and proceed with the rest of the removal guide to remove this Trojan.
While Antivirus 10 is running it will also display fake security warnings that are worded to make you think your computer is under attack or that infections have been detected. Examples of these warnings are:
System Information
Your system is infected. Last system scan found infected objects on your PC. It is highly recommended to remove infected objects as soon as possible.
System Alert
Malware has been detected on your computer. Click here to protect your PC with Antivirus 10
System Information
Antivirus10 has found viruses on your computer. It is recommended to disinfect files as soon as possible.
Windows Security Alert
Antivirus software is not activated. Your system is at risk now. Windows highly recommends you to activate your antivirus software to protect your system against malicious intrusions from the Internet.
Furthermore, Antivirus 10 will terminate the notepad, chrome, firefox, opera, mbam, taskmgr, and wordpad programs if they are running or when started. When it terminates these programs it will display a message stating that it is infected. It does this to further scare you into thinking your applications are infected so that you then purchase the program. An example message you may see when one of the above processes is terminated is:
Warning
This app has been blocked for your protection.
Windows has blocked the execution of this application to prevent further infections on your PC.
Program name: chrome.exe
Publisher: Google Inc
Status: Infected
Just like the fake scan results, these warnings are just another tactic to scare you into purchasing the program and should be ignored.
Antivirus 10 will randomly open up Viagra.com and Porntube.com using Internet Explorer in order to make you think your computer has infections that display popups. When it opens one of these sites, it will display one of the following two fake alerts:
System Warning
Attention! The security of your computer has been compromised! Microsoft Windows files are now corrupted. Malicious software, which can lead to irreversible damages to your hard drive have been found on your system! The destruction of important files in C:\\WINDOWS could lead to data loss, system errors and hard drive failure! Click YES to remove malicious software and protect your PC. (Recommended)
System Danager
Warning! Windows has detected virus infection! Somebody is trying to get access to your system files and steal your passwords! Prevent identity theft and remove viruses now (highly recommended
Last, but not least, Antivirus10 will randomly display a message that prompts you to purchase the program with a clever little catch phrase that was stolen from ESET Antivirus advertising. This advertisement states:
Your children catch colds. Your computer catches viruses. Protect your computer as if it was your own. Protect your system with effective antivirus solution. Powered by Antivirus 10.
How did Antivirus 10 get on my computer?
Antivirus 10 is currently being spread through SPAM posted on forums such as BleepingComputer.com. These SPAM posts will contain links that go to a now non-working site that promotes the Antivirus 10 software. It is also possible that it is being distributed through other means.
As you can see, Antivirus 10 was created solely to scare you into thinking your computer is infected so that you will then purchase the program. With that said, please do not purchase Antivirus 10 for any reason, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and state that the program is a computer infection and a scam and that you would like to dispute the charge. To remove this infection and related malware, please follow the steps in the guide below.
Antivirus 10 Removal Options
Self Help Guide
If you are uncomfortable making changes to your computer or following these steps, do not worry! Instead you can get free one-on-one help by asking in the forums.
To remove Antivirus 10, follow these steps:
- STEP 1: Print out instructions before we begin.
- STEP 2: Reboot into Safe Mode with Networking
- STEP 3: Use Rkill to terminate suspicious programs.
- STEP 4: Use Malwarebytes AntiMalware to Scan for Malware and Unwanted Programs
- STEP 5: Use AdwCleaner to remove adware from a computer.
- STEP 6: Use HitmanPro to scan your computer for badware
- STEP 7: Run Secunia PSI to find outdated and vulnerable programs.
This removal guide may appear overwhelming due to the amount of the steps and numerous programs that will be used. It was only written this way to provide clear, detailed, and easy to understand instructions that anyone can use to remove this infection for free. Before using this guide, we suggest that you read it once and download all necessary tools to your desktop. After doing so, please print this page as you may need to close your browser window or reboot your computer.
Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking using the instructions for your version of Windows found in the following tutorial:
How to start Windows in Safe Mode
When following the steps in the above tutorial, select Safe Mode with Networking rather than just Safe Mode. When the computer reboots into Safe Mode with Networking make sure you login with the username you normally use. When you are at your Windows desktop, please continue with the rest of the steps.
To terminate any programs that may interfere with the removal process we must first download the Rkill program. Rkill will search your computer for active malware infections and attempt to terminate them so that they wont interfere with the removal process. To do this, please download RKill to your desktop from the following link.
Rkill
When at the download page, click on the Download Now button labeled iExplore.exe. When you are prompted where to save it, please save it on your desktop.
Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe icon in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with Antivirus 10 and other malware. Please be patient while the program looks for various malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will automatically close and a log file will open. Please review the log file and then close so you can continue with the next step. If you have problems running RKill, you can download the other renamed versions of RKill from the rkill download page. All of the files are renamed copies of RKill, which you can try instead. Please note that the download page will open in a new browser window or tab.
Do not reboot your computer after running RKill as the malware programs will start again.
Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
Double-click on the icon on your desktop named MBSetup-1878.1878-4.0.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, a welcome screen will be displayed.
At this screen, click on the Get Started button where you will be prompted to buy and activate a license. To continue using it for free, click on the 'Maybe Later' option and then select 'Use Malwarebytes Free'.
It should be noted that the free version will scan for and remove malware, but not provide real-time protection from threats that occur when not performing a scan.
Finally, you will be shown a screen asking you to sign up for their newsletter. Just click on the 'Open Malwarebytes Free' option to start the program.
MBAM will now start and you will be at the main screen as shown below.
We now need to enable rootkit scanning to detect the largest amount of malware and unwanted programs that is possible with MalwareBytes. To do this, click on the Settings gear on the top left side of the screen and you will be brought to the general settings section.
Now click on the Security option at the top of the screen. You will now be shown the settings MalwareBytes will use when scanning your computer.
Scroll down until you see Scan option as shown below.
At this screen, please enable the Scan for rootkits setting by clicking on the toggle switch so it turns blue.
Now that you have enabled rootkit scanning, click on the X button to close the settings to get back to the main screen.
You should now click on the Scan button to begin scanning your computer for malware.
This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan to see when it is finished.
When MBAM is finished scanning it will display a screen that displays any malware, adware, or potentially unwanted programs that it has detected. Please note that our guide's scan results image may look different than the one you are shown in this version of Malwarebytes as it was created with an older version.
You should now click on the Quarantine button to remove all the selected items. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the program's quarantine.
When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
You can now exit the MBAM program.
Now please download AdwCleaner and save it to your desktop. AdwCleaner will scan your computer for adware programs that may have been installed on your computer without your knowledge. You can download AdwCleaner from the following URL:
AdwCleaner
When AdwCleaner has finished downloading, please double-click on the AdwCleaner.exe icon that now appears on your desktop. Once you double-click on the icon the AdwCleaner program will open and you will be presented with the program's license agreement. After you read it, click on the I agree button if you wish to continue. Otherwise, click on the I disagree button to close the program. If Windows prompts you as to whether or not you wish to run AdwCleaner, please allow it to run.
If you selected to continue, you will be presented with the start screen as shown below.
Now click on the Scan button in AdwCleaner. The program will now start to search for known adware programs that may be installed on your computer. When it has finished it will display all of the items it has found in Results section of the screen above. Please look through the results and try to determine if the programs that are listed contain ones that you do not want installed. If you find programs that you need to keep, then uncheck the entries associated with them.
For many people, the contents of the Results section may appear confusing. Unless you see a program name that you know should not be removed,please continue with the next step.
To remove the adware programs that were detected in the previous step, please click on the Clean button on the AdwCleaner screen. AdwCleaner will now prompt you to save any open files or data as the program will need to close any open programs before it starts to clean.
Please save your work and then click on the OK button. AdwCleaner will now delete all detected adware from your computer. When it is done it will display an alert that explains what PUPs (Potentially Unwanted Programs) and Adware are. Please read through this information and then press the OK button. You will now be presented with an alert that states AdwCleaner needs to reboot your computer.
Please click on the OK button to let AdwCleaner reboot your computer.
When your computer reboots and you are logged in, AdwCleaner will automatically open a log file that contains the files, registry keys, and programs that were removed from your computer.
Please review this log file and then close the Notepad Window.
If your computer is still in Safe Mode with Networking, you can reboot your computer back to normal mode. Once your computer is rebooted and you are back at the desktop, you can proceed with the rest of the instructions.
Now you should download HitmanPro from the following location and save it to your desktop:
HitmanPro
When you visit the above page, please download the version that corresponds to the bit-type of the Windows version you are using.
Once downloaded, double-click on the file named HitmanPro.exe (for 32-bit versions of Windows) or HitmanPro_x64.exe (for 64-bit versions of Windows). When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below.
Now click on the Next button to continue with the scan process.
You will now be at the HitmanPro setup screen. If you would like to install the 30 day trial for HitmanPro, select the Yes, create a copy of HitmanPro so I can regularly scan this computer (recommended) option. Otherwise, if you just want to scan the computer this one time, please select the No, I only want to perform a one-time scan to check this computer option.
Once you have selected one of the options, please click on the Next button.
HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for infections, adware, and potentially unwanted programs. When it has finished it will display a list of all the items that Hitman has found as shown in the image below. Please note that the items found may be different than what is shown in the image.
You should now click on the Next button to have HitmanPro remove the detected items. When it is done you will be shown a Removal Results screen that shows the status of the various programs that were removed. At this screen you should click on the Next button and then if prompted you should click on the Reboot button. If HitmanPro does not prompt you to reboot, please just click on the Close button.
Once your computer has has restarted or you pressed the Close button, you should now be at your Windows desktop.
As many malware and unwanted programs are installed through vulnerabilities found in out-dated and insecure programs, it is strongly suggested that you use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs on your computer. A tutorial on how to use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs can be found here:
How to detect vulnerable and out-dated programs using Secunia Personal Software Inspector
Your computer should now be free of the Antivirus 10 program. If your current security solution allowed this program on your computer, you may want to consider purchasing the full-featured version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future.
If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:
Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help
Are Your Protected?
While Malwarebytes Anti-Malware & HitmanPro will scan and clean a computer for free, the free versions do not offer real-time protection. If you want to be fully protected at all times then it is recommended that you purchase a premium version.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
Purchase the full-featured version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, which includes real-time protection, scheduled scanning, and website filtering, to protect yourself against these types of threats in the future!
HitmanPro
Purchase the full-featured version of HitmanPro, which includes discover viruses, trojans, rootkits, spyware and other malware on up-to-date and fully protected computers using cloud protection and behavioral detections, to protect yourself against these types of threats in the future!
Disclaimer: While we do earn a commission from the sale of the above products, rest assured we only recommend them due to their effectiveness.
