By George Norman
Added on 19 Feb 2010(716 Views)



classification: Rogue AntiSpyware Programs
The irony here is that the name WiniFighter would lead you to believe this is a security software application that will keep malware from the Winisoft family at bay. WiniFighter is actually a rogue from the Winisoft family of rogues.
The rogues from the Winisoft family are usually installed by Trojans. A Trojan manages to compromise the user’s computer, then installs the WiniFighter rogue without the user’s consent. The Trojan also sets up the rogue to automatically run at startup; and it creates a bunch of files that WiniFighter will later detect as malware. Once installed on the user’s computer, WiniFighter will automatically launch when the user boots up his computer. Once up and running, the rogue will use various scare tactics to trick the user into thinking his computer is infected – scare tactics like fake system scans, phony security alerts, browser hijacking, and so on. Once the user is nice and scared, the WiniFighter rogue offers to remove the infection it detected – but only after the user purchases a license first.

Do not pay for a thing! Pay and you would be paying for a fake security software application that has zero security software capabilities. Even if it could detect and remove malware, the infection it detected is made-up. What you should do is remove the rogue from your system immediately.

Automatic removal guide
Step 1. If you have a printer, make sure to print out this tutorial. If you do not have a printer, save this tutorial, go out to a copy center and print it out there. If you do not have a printer and do not want to go out, then use the pen and paper method: grab a pen and a piece of paper and write down the instruction presented in the steps below. In the process of eliminating WiniFighter from your machine you will need to shut down the browser. And since this will also shut down the tutorial, you need to know what you should do next.

Step 2. You will have to install Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. In this regard you need to download the software’s setup executable. Just click this link and save the .exe file on your computer (preferably on your desktop).

Step 3. Double click the Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware setup executable. It should be on the desktop under the name mbam-setup. This will launch the installation process. If you already know how to install a piece of software, proceed to step 4. If you do not know how to do this, we’ll walk you though it all:



- The Select Setup Language window should have popped up. By default, the language in which the software will be installed is set to English, but you can change this. The software provides support for 30+ languages. After selecting the language of your choice, click OK. It would be best to just leave it set to English though.



- The Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware Setup Wizard will now popup. Just click Next.



- You will be presented with the License Agreement. Click I accept the agreement and then click Next. If you do not accept the agreement you will not be able to continue.



- Keep clicking Next until you get to the Ready to install window. Now click Install. After the installation process completes click Finish. Do not uncheck the boxes next to Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware or Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware.















Step 4. The Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware application will launch automatically. The Perform quick scan option should be checked by default – if it isn’t then check it and then click Scan. You are well advised to close all running apps before clicking scan. This will ensure the scan for WiniFighter will complete swiftly.



Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will start scanning your files for signs of WiniFighter. This may take a while, so be patient. It all depends on how powerful your computer is and how many files Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has to scan.



When the scan for WiniFighter is complete you will be presented with a notification box. Click OK to close the notification box and go to the main Scanner screen. Click Show Results and you will be presented with a list of all the infected files Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware has detected.





Step 5. Click Remove Selected and Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will remove all the infected files it has detected. It may be necessary to restart your computer in order to remove some of these files. After Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware is done removing all the infected files, it will open Notepad and present the scan log to you. You can review the log at your leisure – save it If you want.



Step 6. Close Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and you’re done. No traces of WiniFighter should be left on your computer.

Manual removal guide

Stop and remove the processes:

uninstall.exe
WiniFighter.exe
WiniFighterSvc.exe


Access the Windows Registry Editor and delete the following registry keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/WiniFighter
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Uninstall/WiniFighter
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/WiniFighter
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Enum/Root/LEGACY_WINIFIGHTERSVC
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet001/Services/WiniFighterSvc
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Enum/Root/LEGACY_WINIFIGHTERSVC
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/WiniFighterSvc
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run "WiniFighter"


Locate and delete the following files:


c:/Program Files/WiniFighter Software
c:/Program Files/WiniFighter Software/WiniFighter
c:/Program Files/WiniFighter Software/WiniFighter/data.bin
c:/Program Files/WiniFighter Software/WiniFighter/license.txt
c:/Program Files/WiniFighter Software/WiniFighter/uninstall.exe
c:/Program Files/WiniFighter Software/WiniFighter/WiniFighter.exe
c:/Program Files/WiniFighter Software/WiniFighter/WiniFighterSvc.exe
c:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Desktop/WiniFighter.lnk
c:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Start Menu/Programs/WiniFighter
c:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Start Menu/Programs/WiniFighter/1 WiniFighter.lnk
c:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Start Menu/Programs/WiniFighter/2 Homepage.lnk
c:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Start Menu/Programs/WiniFighter/3 Uninstall.lnk


Unregister the following DLL libraries:

C:/Windows//system32/c9d5hrza94083.dll


Block access to the domain(s):

winifighter.com




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