How to remove Windows XP Fix virus

Windows XP Fix is a malicious program from the same family of malware as Windows XP Repair which pretends to be a computer defragmenter and system analysis software. It hijacks your computer, blocks Windows legitimate applications from running, presents various fake critical errors alerts 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 Fix from your computer as quickly as possible!

Windows XP Fix 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 Fix 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. “Drive C initialization error”, “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 Fix 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:

The system has detected a problem with one or more installed IDE / SATA hard disks.
It is recommended that you restart the system.

Critical error
Windows can`t find disk space. Hard drive error.

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 Fix 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 (Click Tools, select Folder Options, open View tab). Select “Show hidden files and folders” option and click OK button.

As you can see, obviously, Windows XP Fix 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 Fix and any other infections you may have on your computer for free.

Automated Removal Instructions for Windows XP Fix

1. Click Start, Run and type in Open field: %allusersprofile% as shown below.

2. Press Enter. It will open the contents of All Users folder.

3. Windows XP Fix hides all files and folders, so you need to change some settings and thus be able to see your files and folders again. Open Tools menu, Folder Options, View tab. Select “Show hidden files and folders” option, uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”, uncheck “Hide protected operating files” and click OK button.

4. Open Application Data folder and you will see Windows XP Fix associated files as shown below.

5. Basically, there will be files named with a series of numbers or letter (e.g. 2636237623.exe or JtwSgJHkjkj.exe), right click to it and select Rename (don`t rename any folders). Type any new name (123.exe) and press Enter.
You can to rename only files with .exe extension. Its enough to stop this malware from autorunning.

6. Reboot your computer.

7. Now you can unhide all files and folders that has been hidden by Windows XP Fix. Click Start, Run. Type cmd and press Enter. Command console “black window” opens. Type cd \ and press Enter. Type attrib -h /s /d and press Enter. Close Command console.

8. If your Desktop is empty, then click Start, Run, type %UserProfile%\desktop and press Enter. It will open a contents of your desktop.

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

10. 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.

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

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

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Window

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

14. 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

15. Make sure that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected for start Windows XP Fix removal process. When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad. Reboot your computer.

16. Windows XP Fix may be bundled with TDSS trojan-rootkit, so you should run TDSSKiller to detect and remove this infection.

17. 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

18. 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

19. Click Continue button to remove TDSS trojan.

If you can`t to run TDSSKiller, then you need to use Combofix. Download Combofix. Close any open browsers. Double click on combofix.exe and follow the prompts. If ComboFix will not run, please rename it to myapp.exe and try again!

20. Your system should now be free of the Windows XP Fix virus.

Windows XP Fix 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 Fix creates the following files and folders

%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\GDIPFONTCACHEV1.DAT
%CommonAppData%\[RANDOM]
%CommonAppData%\~[RANDOM]
%UserProfile%\Desktop\Windows XP Fix.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 Fix 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

Windows XP Fix removal – Video guide