Recently I found my computer was acting weird. It worked extremely slow and randomly played audio ads in the background. It scared me to death so I ran AVG and Malwarebytes to scan infections on my computer. AVG showed nothing but Malwarebytes told me that I had Spyware.ZBot.VXGen virus. However, it didn’t allow me to remove this virus. I don’t need this thing messing up my computer. How do I get rid of it completely without recurring?
Spyware.ZBot.VXGen is Trojan horse computer malware that runs on computers running under versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. That is to say, if you are using a computer with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7 or even Windows 8 (8.1), you will be the target of this nasty virus. As similar as other type of Trojan viruses, this one also has the ability to steal confidential information from the compromised computer. It specifically targets system information, online credentials, and banking details. It is worth mentioning that this virus runs high risk for the compromised PCs. It can open a backdoor for cyber criminals to remote access your PC and even install other infections to damage your computer, especially for installing the CryptoLocker ransomware which can block up your whole computer and prevent you from using the computer until you pay a non-existent fine. Spyware.ZBot.VXGen virus is very difficult to detect even with up-to-date antivirus software as it hides itself using stealth techniques. It is considered that this is the primary reason why this threat has become the most dangerous virus on the Internet.
Spyware.ZBot.VXGen can add malicious add-on or extension to your browser without your permission, therefore it is not surprised that you hear audio ads when using your browser like Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome or you hear random ads playing in background without any window or browser opened. Usually this Trojan virus is distributed through several means. Mostly you may get your computer infected after visiting a pornographic website or opening malicious attachment from a spam email. It also comes bundled with freeware and other software installers. Once it gets installed on your machine secretly, you will receive constant pop-up ads whenever you are online as well as poor computer performance. This virus is also able to redirect you to website you don’t want in order to promote potentially unwanted program. It does many bad things to you so you have to get rid of Spyware.ZBot.VXGen virus without any hesitation. Otherwise, you will keep getting the annoying virus pop-ups and most importantly, your computer will be wide open for cyber crooks.
Slow down your PC speed notably.
Add other dangerous Trojan or Spyware to your system secretly.
Allow the hacker to access your entire system.
Collect all your personal information and transfer to a remote hacker.
Destroy critical system files and make PC unstable.
From malicious drive-by-download scripts from corrupted porn and shareware / freeware websites.
Through spam email attachments, media downloads and social networks.
When clicking suspicious pop-ups or malicious links.
Open unknown email or download media files that contain the activation code of the virus.
Note: No matter how the virus accesses your PC, users should know that there are no tools can remove this pesky Trojan automatically at this moment, it is suggested users not spend much time in downloading or paying any security software which claims can delete this stubborn virus. It is totally useless. To completely get rid of Spyware.ZBot.VXGen, professional manual guide is needed.
Currently many computer users had the same experience that this virus couldn’t be removed by any anti-virus applications. So the manual approach is always required to combat this virus. And here is the step-by-step removal guide for all computer users.
1. End the malicious process from Task Manager.
Once Spyware.ZBot.VXGen virus is installed, computer user may notice that CPU usage randomly jumps to 100 percent. At any time Windows always has many running processes. A process is an individual task that the computer runs. In general, the more processes, the more work the computer has to do and the slower it will run. If your system’s CPU spike is constant and remain at a constant 90-95%, users should check from Task Manager and see if there is a suspicious process occupying system resources and then end it immediately.
(The name of the virus process can be random.)
Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to quickly bring up Task Manager Window：
2. Show hidden files and folders.
Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.
Click the View tab.
Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) and then click OK.
3. Open Registry entries. Find out the malicious files and entries and then delete all.
Attention: Always be sure to back up your PC before making any changes.
a. Press Windows key + R to open Run box. In the “Open” field, type “regedit” and click the “OK” button.
Then a Registry Editor window will pop up as the following picture shows:
b. Search malicious files and registry entries and then remove all of them:
%AllUsersProfile%\[random]
%AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\[random]
%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\.exe
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\[random]
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Temp
Spyware.ZBot.VXGen is categorized as a Trojan virus that can attack PC users all over the world. Generally speaking, if your antivirus warned this virus once and has blocked it, then everything should be fine. However, if you are constantly getting this virus alert or this Trojan keeps coming back after removal, then your computer must be in a high-risk situation. This spyware can bring you irritating pop-up ads, redirect your request to other malicious pages and even slow down your computer speed. In a word, damages that Spyware.ZBot.VXGen can bring to individual computer users are uncertain. It is suggested users remove this virus manually to make sure it can be kicked off completely.
Note: If you are not knowledgeable enough to be able to distinguish the location of this virus, or you are afraid of making mistake during the manual removal, please contact experts from Yoocare Online Tech Support for further help.
Published by on September 20, 2014 7:16 am, last updated on September 22, 2014 8:53 am
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