Vista Guardian 2010

Like its relatives Vista Antispyware 2010 and Win 7 Antispyware 2010, Vista Guardian 2010 is an OS-specific fake anti-spyware that changes its name and appearance according to the Operating System it is installed on. This rogue application normally has to be manually installed by downloading it from its website which gets heavily advertised by online scammers.. However, it can get installed with other malware as well, via Trojans. Once it is established on a user’s system, it will start performing endless fake security scans, returning results that show that the system is under a major security threats. Vista Guardian 2010 will also generate a large amount of pop-ups from the Windows taskbar claiming that the user’s computer is under threat. In an attempt to get the user to pay for a software license, Vista Guardian 2010 will claim that the currently installed ‘trial’ version of the software is unable to clean the false ‘threats’ from the computer and that only the ‘full’ version given under license can. However, this is merely a scam as there is no way that the ‘full’ version of Vista Guardian 2010 could clean any computer system.

In order to remove Vista Guardian 2010, it is required to stop its processes, delete its files and folders and to remove its registry entries. That our just use your favorite security client.

File Removal Instructions

The first step needed to remove Vista Guardian 2010 is to kill the following process: ( Learn how to terminate a running process )

av.exe

Next, it is necessary to remove the following files and folders:

%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\Application Data\av.exe
%Documents and Settings%\[UserName]\Application Data\WRblt8464P

Once these steps have been completed, your hard disk no longer contains any instances of Vista Guardian 2010.

Registry Removal Instructions

After file removal has been completed, the following keys and settings should be removed from the Windows Registry: (How to Edit Registry Here)

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe\shell\open\command “(Default)” = “av.exe” /START “%1? %*
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile\shell\open\command “(Default)” = “av.exe” /START “%1? %*
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command “(Default)” = “av.exe” /START “%1? %*
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secfile\shell\open\command “(Default)” = “av.exe” /START “%1? %*
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\open\command “(Default)” = “av.exe” /START “firefox.exe”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\FIREFOX.EXE\shell\safemode\command “(Default)” = “av.exe” /START “firefox.exe” -safe-mode
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\StartMenuInternet\IEXPLORE.EXE\shell\open\command “(Default)” = “av.exe” /START “iexplore.exe”
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center “AntiVirusOverride” = “1?
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center “FirewallOverride” = “1?

Once these registry entries have been removed, your computer is safe from the harmful effects of Vista Guardian 2010. However, even if these manual procedures have been carefully followed it is still possible that certain malicious files would be left behind. For this reason, it is recommended to scan the entire computer using genuine security products such as Spyware Doctor with Antivirus.

Tips & Tricks

Inexperienced users should not attempt to remove Vista Guardian 2010 manually any wrong move could cause damage to your system.

Outside Resources:

http://www.2-viruses.com/remove-vista-guardian-2010

http://freeofvirus.blogspot.com/2010/02/vista-guardian-2010-removal-guide.html

Vista Guardian 2010