Antispyware Master Removal Challenge

Being one of many other scam extortions circulating on the Web these days, antispyware master definitely boasts more infected personal computers and laptops than almost any other SmitFraud. Existing in several variations, it mutates and changes its code to adapt to the new algorithms of popular antivirus programs. That's just one of the reasons why removing this malware may easily require hours spent working on the manual procedure, since very few tools can help to delete the infected modules automatically.

On the end-user's side, the process of removing pieces of the malware is relatively streamlined and easy to follow. Almost any PC user with experience at Intermediate level or higher can successfully clean out the parts of antispyware master.

However, there is a number of complications that can potentially interfere with the removal procedure because of several unexpected factors, such as:

This malware rarely resides in the system alone; most of the time antispyware master virus shares the memory and space with other Trojans and rogue security programs. A bundle of SmitFraud infections can significantly harden the healing of the system, often making it nearly impossible;

The nature of this virus allows it to ruin the active security shields of installed anti-virus applications, thus beating down its first and major enemy;

Modifications made to the registry allows the scam to prevent certain services from ever running again; those services usually belong to security programs, which are unable to even load up to start scanning;

Disabling the Task Manager and corrupting settings of system attributes makes antispyware master the uncrowned boss of the system; it's not uncommon to see users unable to log on normally into desktop environment.

This is where the Safe Mode of Windows helps a lot to identify the malicious processes and delete the associated files. A free utility from Trend Micro, called HiJackthis, conveniently shows startup processes, instances of code injection into system files, affected registry entries and modified browser helper objects. Because antispyware master is relatively harmless in Safe Mode, this regime of Windows is a true saver for many PC users. After manual removal of malicious pieces if the malware, HiJackthis gives the options to fix suspiciously looking registry keys.

Finally, the fight can be won using a free anti-malware command-line scanner provided by a-squared, or yet another anti-malware tool from Malwarebyte's. These programs "polish" the system to restore the safety of installed programs and user's settings. DrWeb offers one more command-line antimalware scanner for those comfortable with non-GUI applications.

It is worth noting that command-line scanners are not as complicated as many novice PC users think. However, security tools of this kind have a set of very sound advantages over their traditional counterparts with graphic interfaces and mouse support. First, DOS-like tools do not require installation. Because sometimes malware corrupts the Windows installation routine making it impossible to install any removal program, this is the only way to wipe out the infections without going for bootable recovery CD's. Second, command line scanners are free. They do not require Internet connection to authenticate. They are flexible in configuration, yet suitable both for expert users and novices. Finally, they are lighter on system resources than most desktop programs.

My substantial experience proves that even newbies with basic knowledge about Windows maintenance finally manage to get rid of the Antispyware master bug.