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This is our third Personal Antivirus removal guide. We made several guides because of all the different Personal Antvirus traces out there. One guide may work better then the other. It just kind of depends on the user and what strain the person has.
Personal Antivirus Removal
Rather then list all the running processes and file to remove along with all the hat tricks to do it we are going to be using only software to fully remove Personal Antivirus. You will need to download several programs and run several scans.
A very quick way to remove this threat is to use Spyware Doctor with Antivirus. It is well known to fully remove this threat. » Download
Another option that works well for many is to just hire a pro to remove it for them. We do recommend www.onlinecomputerrepair.org. They are one of the worlds leaders in remote computer repair over the internet and can fully remove PAV for you along with all other viruses.
Step 1. You will need to download all the toold below. If you can not download or install any of these tools then go to the Software Not Installing Section bellow
- SpywareDoctor with Antivirus ( While the trial version will not remove any threats it will block this program from re-installing and other viruses from downloaded more viruses on your computer.If you intend on purchasing the client then just register it and make the purchase. From there just run a scan and hit the remove button. That is all you have to do. » Download
- Smitfraudfix » Download
- Malwarebytes » Download
- Spybot Search and Destroy » Download
- AVG » Download
If you are unable to download all of these tools then follow the advice in the Software Not Downloading Section. Other wise got to Step 2.
Software Not Downloading : If you can not download any of these programs then chances are your hosts file is blocking the site so you can not download it. You will need to have access to another machine. Download Smitfraudfix from a different computer and then copy it onto your system using a disc or jump drive. Run the tool and select option 2. When asked to clean the registry hit Y for yes. The tool may take 10 minutes to run. If you can not even run this tool then boot into safe mode and run it there. To access safe mode press the F8 key every other second on boot-up. Then select safe mode. Once you have booted up then run the program.
If you are getting a blue screen of death message on boot then a virus has blocked you from booting up this way. When that happens you will have to boot up normal and kill whatever process is blocking the Smitfraud fix program from running. See the Software not Installing section on how to get around this.
Software Not Installing: When no software can install on your system that means that something is blocking the install. The first thing to try is to enter into safe mode and run the Smitfraud fix tool. Re-boot your computer after the tool has been ran and you will now be able to downlaod and install the clients.
If this methd fails then you will need to kill the process that is blocking you from running your software. In most cases with Personal Antivirus the process will be called something similar to PAV.exe. Right click on the Personal Antivius icon on your desktop and select properties. From there you should be able to see the whole files path and name of the runnign process. In many cases it will be something like c:\Program Files\Personal Antivirus\PAV.EXE. Now that you no the proccess name open the task Manager ( ctrl+alt+delete) and end the process. Now browse to the files location and delete the .exe file. If you get an error message then that means the process started again. In this case you are going to need to have the location were the file is handy and ready to be deleted. Then end the process again and delte the file right away. You should now be able to install your security sofware.
Step 2. Run the Smitfraudfix tool first. type the number 2 and hit enter. This will start the tool. When asked to fix the registry entries press the Y key for yes. This whole process should take about ten minutes.
Step 3. Install Spyware Doctor with Antivirus. Keep in mind if you do intend on purchasing this client then you can skip all the steps above and below. We need to install the free trial to block all the traces on your computer from re-installing and we need to ensure you have no other viruses on your computer.
Step 4. Install Malwarebytes. Update and run a scan. Hit the removal button when done.
Step 5. Install Spybot Search and Destroy. Update and run a scan. Once done hit the removal button. Spybot Search and Destroy may ask to run a scan on boot. Say yes and re-boot your computer when you are done. The program will run on boot and once done hit the removal button again.
Step 6. Install AVG and run the updates. Then run a full scan. Hit the remove button when you are done.
You can now un-install all the programs we had you download. You should be virus and spyware free now. Keep in mind that NONE of these free products provide real time protection. They will only kick in after you get infected and most of the time it's too late. Rather then waiting to get infected first we do still suggest you purchase Spyware Doctor with Antivirus. It's a far better way to go.
If this guide did not fully work for you then we have several others on this site with different tips and tricks. Use one of them.
Known traces of PAV
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Personal Antivirus_is1
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Enum\Root\LEGACY_ITGRDENGINE
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ITGrdEngine
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer “PrS”
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run “Personal Antivirus”
- pav.exe
- Uninstall Personal Antivirus.lnk
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\settings.ini
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\uill.ini
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\unins000.exe
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\Uninstall Personal Antivirus.lnk
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\config.cfg
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\Timeout.inf
- %UserProfile%\Application Data\Personal Antivirus\db\Urls.inf
- %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\log.txt
- %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\pguard.ini
- %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\services.exe
- %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\iv.exe
- %UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Windows\services.exe
- c:\Program Files\PersonalAV\
Please keep in mind that viruses mutate and change all the time. Do expect the above to change around a little. However this guide should work well for you and any experienced pro will be able to follow it and figure out the traces if they mutate. If you do not feel comfortable deleting files and the like then consider purchasing Spyware doctor with antivirus or have www.onlinecomputerrepair.org remove this and all other threats for you. |
