How to remove Windows XP Recovery virus

Windows XP Recovery is a fake computer optimization and hard disk drive defragmenter software. It blocks legitimate Windows applications, detects fake hard drive problems and displays various fake error messages that the computer’s hard drive is corrupt in order to frighten you into purchasing this useless application. Do not pay for the bogus software! Simply ignore all that it will display you and remove Windows XP Recovery from your computer as quickly as possible!

Windows XP Recovery is promoted and installed itself on your computer without your permission and knowledge through the use of trojans or other malicious software as you do not even notice that. Moreover, the authors of of the fake program may also distribute this malware on social networks (Twitter, My Space, Facebook, etc) and spam emails. Please be careful when opening attachments and downloading files or otherwise you can end up with a rogue program on your PC.

Once installed, Windows XP Recovery will be configured to run automatically when Windows starts. Next, the rogue does a fake scan of your computer then tells you it has found numerous critical errors, e.g. “Read time of hard drive clusters less than 500 ms”, “32% of HDD space is unreadable”, “Bad sectors on hard drive or damaged file allocation table”, etc. It will require you to pay for the fake software before it “repairs” your machine of the problems. Of course, all of these errors are a fake. So, you can safety ignore the false scan results.

In addition to the above-described, while Windows XP Recovery is running, it will block legitimate Windows applications on your computer and won’t let you download anything from the Internet. Last, but not least, the rogue will display numerous fake warnings and nag screens. Some of the warnings are:

System Restore
The system has been restored after a critical error. Data integrity and hard drive integrity verification required.

Windows – No Disk
Exception Processing Message 0×0000013

Critical Error
A critical error has occurred while indexing data stored on hard drive. System restart required.

Of course, all of these warnings are a fake. This is an attempt to make you think your computer in danger. Like false scan results you can safely ignore them.

What is more, Windows XP Recovery hides files and folders on your system drive (disk C by default).
To see all hidden files and folders you need to open Folder options (Windows Vista/7: Organize->”Folder and search options”->View tab; Windows 2000/XP: Tools->Folder Options->View tab). Select “Show hidden files and folders” option and click OK button.

As you can see, obviously, Windows XP Recovery is a scam, which created with only one purpose – to steal your money. Most important, don`t purchase the program! You need as quickly as possible to remove the malicious software. Follow the removal instructions below, which will remove Windows XP Recovery and any other infections you may have on your computer for free.

Automated Removal Instructions for Windows XP Recovery

Step 1. Reboot your computer in Safe mode with networking
It is possible that Windows XP Recovery will not allow you to start the Malwarebytes Anti-malware or another malware remover. Then you will need to reboot your computer in Safe mode with networking.

Restart your computer.

After hearing your computer beep once during startup, start pressing the F8 key on your keyboard. On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple operating systems, you can press the F8 key when the Boot Menu appears.

Instead of Windows loading as normal, Windows Advanced Options menu appears similar to the one below.

Windows Advanced Options menu

When the Windows Advanced Options menu appears, select Safe mode with networking and then press ENTER.

Step 2. Unhide hidden files
Windows XP Recovery hides the folders and files on your system drive (disk C by default). To unhide those files and folders you need to complete this step.

Click Start, Run. Type cmd and press Enter. Command console “black window” opens. Type attrib -h /s /d and press Enter. Close Command console.

Step 3. Remove TDSS trojan-rootkit
Windows XP Recovery may be bundled with TDSS trojan-rootkit, so you should run TDSSKiller to detect and remove this infection.

Download TDSSKiller from here and unzip to your desktop.

Open TDSSKiller folder. Right click to tdsskiller and select rename. Type a new name (123myapp, for example). Press Enter. Double click the TDSSKiller icon. You will see a screen similar to the one below.

TDSSKiller

Click Start Scan button to start scanning Windows registry for TDSS trojan. If it is found, then you will see window similar to the one below.

TDSSKiller – Scan results

Click Continue button to remove TDSS trojan.

Step 4. Remove Windows XP Recovery associated malware

Download MalwareBytes Anti-malware (MBAM). Close all programs and Windows on your computer.

Double Click mbam-setup.exe to install the application. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing, make sure a checkmark is placed next to Update Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, then click Finish.

If an update is found, it will download and install the latest version.

Once the program has loaded you will see window similar to the one below.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Window

Select Perform Quick Scan, then click Scan, it will start scanning your computer for Windows XP Recovery associated malware. This procedure can take some time, so please be patient.

When the scan is complete, click OK, then Show Results to view the results. You will see a list of infected items similar as shown below. Note: list of infected items may be different than what is shown in the image below.

Malwarebytes Anti-malware, list of infected items

Make sure all entries have a checkmark at their far left and click “Remove Selected” button to remove Windows XP Recovery. MalwareBytes Anti-malware will now remove all of associated Windows XP Recovery files and registry keys and add them to the programs’ quarantine. When MalwareBytes Anti-malware has finished removing the infection, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart.

Windows XP Recovery removal notes

Note 1: if you can not download, install, run or update Malwarebytes Anti-malware, then follow the steps: Malwarebytes won`t install, run or update – How to fix it.

Note 2: if you need help with the instructions, then post your questions in our Spyware Removal forum.

Note 3: your current antispyware and antivirus software let the infection through ? Then you may want to consider purchasing the FULL version of MalwareBytes Anti-malware to protect your computer in the future.

Windows XP Recovery creates the following files and folders

%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\GDIPFONTCACHEV1.DAT
%CommonAppData%\[RANDOM]
%CommonAppData%\~[RANDOM]
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Windows XP Recovery\Uninstall Windows XP Recovery.lnk
%UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Windows XP Recovery\Windows XP Recovery.lnk
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Windows XP Recovery.lnk
%CommonAppData%\[RANDOM].exe

Note: %CommonAppData% is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data (for Windows XP/2000) or C:\ProgramData (for Windows 7/Vista)

Windows XP Recovery creates the following registry keys and values

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\INTERNET EXPLORER\MAIN\USE FORMSUGGEST = Yes
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\INTERNET SETTINGS\CERTIFICATEREVOCATION = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\INTERNET SETTINGS\WARNONBADCERTRECVING = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\INTERNET SETTINGS\WARNONZONECROSSING = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\INTERNET SETTINGS\ZONES\3\1601 = 0
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\MICROSOFT\WINDOWS\CURRENTVERSION\WINTRUST\TRUST PROVIDERS\SOFTWARE PUBLISHING\STATE = 146944
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet\CONTROL\SESSION MANAGER\PENDINGFILERENAMEOPERATIONS = \??\%CommonAppData%\[RANDOM].exe