How to get rid of the Spyware Protect 2009 alert Virus

This virus attacks your computer and pops up a Spyware Alert that will show "Vulnerabilities Found" .. "Your computer is infected by spyware - 34 (or any number) serious threats have been found ... activate Realtime secure
protection against future intrusions."

You'll also see a "Spyware Protect 2009 alert" in the bottom right corner of your screen indicating "Your computer is being attacked by an Internet Virus. It could be a password-stealing attack, a trojan, dropper or similar."

Don't activate anything, and do not select YES for the question, "Do you want to block this attack?"

This virus is similar to the "XP AntiVirus 2008" worm. It works in the same vicious manner. Follow the steps listed below to eliminate the 2009 version.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. 

   Navigate to: Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - System Restore .. this is the first step to try when you see this virus. Attempt to restore your computer back to an earlier date. If this doesn't work, continue with the following.
   
   What is it?
   
   Spyware Protect 2009 is a fake anti-spyware program that installs itself on your computer's hard drive via Trojans when you visit their rogue websites, or when you download freeware or shareware. Once it's on your computer you will be bombarded with false security pop ups and numerous attempts to purchase the bogus software. The virus also redirects the web addresses' (URL) you type in your address bar to a "page cannot be displayed" screen.

2. Click the Start menu, select Run. Type taskmgr.exe into the the Run command box, and click ok. This will launch the Task Manager. You can also select Task Manager by pressing keys CTRL + Shift + ESC.

3. Click Processes tab, and find the Spyware Protect 2009 processes that are running on your computer. Once you’ve found the Spyware Protect 2009 processes, right-click and select 'End Process'. This will terminate Spyware Protect 2009. Look for 'Sysguard' and right click to end this process as well. This will get rid of the box in the bottom right corner of your screen.

4. Click on the Start menu, select search, and search for 'Spyware Protect' .. once found delete all files associated with Spyware protect. You will have to delete them individually as a "Ctrl A" to select all and delete doesn't work.
   
   Then do a search on 'sysguard' and delete the 4 or so files associated with this rogue program. You will see 2 that look like this:
   
   kaka://C>\WINDOWS\sysguard.exe/htmlMain.htm
   
   Delete both. Restart your computer. After restarting search for and delete, if necessary, the same aforementioned files and folders.

5. Last step involves getting rid of the Hijacker that 'redirects' your URL to another site, or a "Page cannot be displayed" screen.
   
   Delete your cache (temporary internet files and cookies). Remove all spyware from your computer by downloading the "Spybot - Search and Destroy 1.4 and Ad-Aware (see resource links to download).
   
   This is a tough bug to get rid of but if you follow these steps to the letter, you should be able to eliminate the Spyware Protect 2009 alert Virus.

Tips & Warnings

• The Spyware Protect 2009 worm affects the Internet Explorer Browser. Once you clean your computer of the virus, it may be a good idea to use Mozilla Firefox until IE works the kinks out.

Resources

• Remove the Spyware Protect 2009 Alert Virus
• Spybot - Search and Destroy 1.4
• Article to remove XP AntiVirus 2008 Virus
• Ad-Aware - Remove Adware Components

[cousear]

on 10/14/2009 Thanks for a well informed article!

[sylvestri09]

on 8/6/2009 Thanks for this great tip....I had experience this once on my old computer...I had to eventually replace it.

[Psalmist4M]

on 8/3/2009 Well developed, written, informing and helpful. Thanks for sharing How to get rid of the Spyware Protect 2009 alert Virus. 5*s

[warrenlittle]

on 7/17/2009 This article is very, very well done.

The actionable steps are easy t follow & very relevant.

5 stars & rec.

[mweise]

on 6/21/2009 Thanks for this information - very thorough!