System Check is a malicious program which pretends to be a computer defragmenter and system analysis software. It is from the same family of malware as System Fix, Data Recovery, Master Utilities, PC Repair, System Repair, Windows XP Repair, Windows XP Fix, etc. It is promoted and installed itself on your computer without your permission and knowledge through the use of trojans or other malicious software. Moreover, the scammers may also distribute System Check on Twitter, My Space, Facebook, and other social networks. Please be careful when opening attachments and downloading files or otherwise you can end up with a rogue program on your PC.
When System Check is installed, it will perform a fake scan of your computer then tells you it has found numerous critical errors. Next, it will prompt 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.
While System Check is running, it will block legitimate Windows applcations on your computer and won’t let you download anything from the Internet. Moreover, it will display various fake critical errors alerts that the computer’s hard drive is corrupt in order to frighten you into purchasing this useless application. Some of the fake errors 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
A critical error has occurred while indexing data stored on hard drive. System restart required.
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.
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.
As you can see, obviously, System Check 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 System Check and any other infections you may have on your computer for free.
Use the following instructions to remove System Check infection
Click Start, Type in Search field %allusersprofile% and press Enter (if you use the Windows XP, then click Start, Run and type a command in Open field). It will open a contents of “ProgramData” folder (“All Users” folder for Windows XP).
System Check hides all files and folders, so you need to change some settings and thus be able to see your files and folders again. Click Organize, select ”Folder and search options”, open View tab (if you use Windows XP, then 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.
Open “Application Data” folder. This step only for Windows XP, skip it if you use Windows Vista or Windows 7.
Now you will see System Check associated files as shown below.
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.
Reboot your computer.
Now you can unhide all files and folders that has been hidden by System Check. Click Start, type in Search field 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.
If your Desktop is empty, then click Start, type in Search field %UserProfile%\desktop and press Enter. It will open a contents of your desktop.
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. 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 that everything is checked, and click Remove Selected for start System Check removal process. When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad. Reboot your computer.
System Check 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.
If you can`t to download or 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!
Your system should now be free of the System Check virus. If you need help with the instructions, then post your questions in our Spyware Removal forum.
System Check 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: 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.
System Check creates the following files and folders
%UserProfile%\Local Settings\Application Data\GDIPFONTCACHEV1.DAT
%CommonAppData%\[RANDOM]
%CommonAppData%\~[RANDOM]
%UserProfile%\Desktop\System Check.lnk
%CommonAppData%\[RANDOM].exe
%Temp%\smtmp\
%Temp%\smtmp\1
%Temp%\smtmp\2
%Temp%\smtmp\3
%Temp%\smtmp\4
Note: %CommonAppData% is C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data (for Windows XP/2000) or C:\ProgramData (for Windows 7/Vista)
System Check 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
System Check removal – Video instructions
System Check is basically clone of Windows XP Repair, so you can use the video guide below to remove this malware.
The system checker virus is blocking my linksys ability to access the Internet. When I try to download the mbam.exe file which I put on a flash drive from a separate computer I get this error message PROGRAM_ERROR_UPDATING (11004, 0, no address found). Any suggestions how to access the Internet or properly download the malwarebytes with no connection??
Cannot enter anything after clicking on START, nothing there to access
I successfully removed the virus and can get into my pc now however I cannot get into any of my programs. They show under add and remove programs but they are not on my desktop and if I clck start, programs only 3 recently updated programs appear.
I did every step above. It looked like it was going to work. But upon rebooting my computer just freezes. Any ideas
I keep getting the access denied error as well.. Any thoughts on what to do?
Thanks!
Thanks, guys. This cleaned most of the issues up, but the directories in the Start menu and “My Computer” task bar still show “empty” contents, even after changing the attributes and enabling the “Show hidden files” entry in options.
Any ideas how to get those entries back? I am using XP.
Thanks
Thank You so much! But my files are still hidden. I did the cmd, but as some stated above, I get “Access denied”.
Next I need instructions on how to track down these guys so I can bill them for the time their malware cost me.
I am having trouble unhidding my files. When I type in attrib -h /s /d it says access denied! Help!
WHAT DO I DO IF UPON TURNING ON MY COMPUTER I DO NOT SEE MY DESKTOP, JUST A BLACK SCREEN AND THEN THE SYSTEM CHECK PAGE OPENS?
Thank you very much.. really works… God Speed
Simple enough instructions, but need to bee more system specific after about your forth instructions as XP and windows 7 have very little in common commands wise. Also I found that these steps flow far better if you first run the computer in SAFE mode, a tip for the future, I suppose.
Getting the same access denied on the attrib
I am getting \access denied\ when running attrib -h /s /d
I cannot seem to reverse the file hiding…
the attrib doesnt work :s My documents and files still hyde 🙁 please help
Very helpful, thank you so much!!
This worked great but the only thing is that my files still appear in a “hidden” state after completing all steps. I can access all programs and files I have tested so far but they still look hidden on the desktop, meaning transparent. Any fix? Thank you all!!
Same as Cynde, I can’t reverse the hiding of my files. It also says “acces denied”. Would you please help?
hi, i do the unhide step after tsskiller, is that ok? cause it just keep running and return with lot of ‘access denied’ or ‘not resetting system files’ lines.
thank you! really simple to follow and efficient.
Thank you so much for the great post! Really saved my data. Thank you!
removed everything had to run scan 3x to get it all off but none of my programs are in start menu I have to go through ‘my computer’ setting and C: to open word document or my photoshop etc. How do I get everything back in start menu also my file folders are still ‘ghosted’
Did everything in step 2, can’t access “application data” Running windows 7.. What’s up?
Hey there…thanks for the grest walkthrough.. i’m getting the same issue as Cynde C… it’s saying access denied…this is the second time trying to resolve… i still see the virus files under the hidden things… and i can actually now SEE my hard drive files, but nothing is back to intial settings, and those files are greyed out… any thoughts?
thanks a ton for all the advice! i really appreciate your help. 🙂
mazeltov!
ok I see the attribe step to unhide the files and when it ran through all the programs it says access denied on every file it’s running through when it tries to process. I’m running as admin but program files has a lock on it when I look at it
The cmd command \attrib -h /s /d\ doesnt work for me and in my start menu all the elements of the right side are missing. After using the malwarebytes software i at least got the computer option back but Control panel and other such things are missing.. Plz help.. and email me under exfiremichez at yahoo.com(i dont use this email)Note: Im on windows 7 and great guide.It helped me to get most of this stuff fixed)Oh.. and when i do the cd is somthing supposed to happen??? anyways more info to the attrib stuff. When i do it says\Access Denied\ and \Not resetting system files\. Yea.. that is it.. plz comment back or email. THANKS!!!
LOL when i saw video i saw that attrib does the samething as for me. If i may ask, what is it supposed to do??? because nothing happens after i do it. Infact i never finished it because it takes forever… LOL actually i noticed that my also says acces denied. Is this supposeed to be like that ??
plz answere both Questions thanks. $^_^$
Thank you so much SR!!!! I don’t know how I could do this without you god bless!!!