Privacy Protection - How to remove

Privacy Protection

Privacy Protection is fake anti-malware program that simulates activity of legitimate programs capable to solve your computer’s protection issues. Keep in mind that Privacy Protection is not one of them because it has been released by scammers only to swindle the money. For making victims pay for Privacy Protection license, this rogue anti-spyware starts showing faked system scanners and alerts that announce about numerous viruses detected. In reality, this scam has no legitimate virus data base, so you should simply ignore Privacy Protection and never pay the money for its license. It has been found to belong to the same family as Malware Protection or Security Protection malwares, so make sure you run a full system scan with a reputable anti-spyware and uninstall Privacy Protection.

Based on fake alerts about malware detected, Privacy Protection scam is designed for stealing users’ money. However, it may not seem like any sort of a fake anti-spyware first – it seems to act just like any other regular application designed to protect the system. The fact is that all its scanners and alerts are faked and Privacy Protection only pretends to be a helper. Just think if you have ever installed in on your computer. This scamware has been researched to use Trojans for its infiltration that get inside straight through security vulnerabilities found.

In order to trick its victims, this scamware reports:

Security Warning
Malicious program has been detected. Click here to protect your computer.

taskmgr.exe can not start
File taskmgr.exe is infected by W32/Blaster.worm. Please activate Spyware Protection to protect your computer.

So, you should have understood that once Privacy Protection is inside it will keep making things worse by dropping Registry keys of it own and modifying the system to make it launch its processes once you reboot your PC. Having this advantage, Privacy Protection gets ability to affect computer and make it follow its commands. You should never let this scamware stay on your computer, so, as soon as you notice it operating, remove Privacy Protection. Otherwise there is a huge chance you will get brainwashed into wasting your money and getting more malware installed.

Always get security tools that are time-proven and will stand as reliable partners in your browsing and general usage of computer. Installing programs from windows that open without any clear reason is not a decision, worthy of consideration. There are always risks that are faced if people interact with online advertisements. They might be malware-laden and lead to domains, uploaded with malicious executables. At some cases, advertisements are waiting for an opportunity to implant tracking cookies into users’ hard drives and find out about their browsing habits and other helpful information. Privacy Protection is not one of those programs that you can blindly trust. Utilize appropriate tools for elimination for this rogue anti-spyware. You can try Spyhunter.

Automatic Malware removal tools

Download Spyhunter for Malware detection
(Win)

Note: Spyhunter trial provides detection of parasites and assists in their removal for free. limited trial available, Terms of use, Privacy Policy, Uninstall Instructions,

Download Combo Cleaner for Malware detection
(Mac)

Note: Combo Cleaner trial provides detection of parasites and assists in their removal for free. limited trial available, Terms of use, Privacy Policy, Uninstall Instructions, Refund Policy ,

Manual removal

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92 responses to “Privacy Protection

  1. @Pasou
    Sorry to be a pain….
    I entered the code that you gave, but the only thing that happened was the scan started up again as well as the pop up windows that come with this issue. It has shut off my ability to access the Internet in order to access the sites to delete it. So I’m wondering do I let the scan run that starts after I enter the code? Or will that just allow this virus further access to my computer?
    Thanks for any advice you may have.

  2. Kathie: if the code was accepted, the scan should detect 0 threats or they will be “fixed”. That is, if code was not changed.
    After that disable proxy server in your browser. I would recommend scanning with real anti-malware or antivirus programs afterwards.

  3. Thank you so much for the help. I ended up having to put the computer in safe mode and install malware bytes using a memory stick. Thankfully it seems to be working.
    Only thing left to figure out it how to get the privacy protection icon out of my task bar.

  4. So far so good, I have followed all the steps, but the Spyware Doctor is telling me to either register with a license or purchase online..what do I do now? Thank you.

  5. got this one too… it wouldn’t let me open any programs, so i ended up running my anti-virus in safe mode, still no go… so i set everything back to default; it then let me open things up… the first thing i did was run a scan… is it possible to get virus’s via cables (like ether cable hooked into the computer)?

  6. The scam will ask for activation. Or look for the screen that asks for ur email and registration key. Enter a fake email with thee registration key given above

  7. Danielle
    Use anti-malware scanners in such case. Malware authors change registration key occasionally, so in some versions it might be different.

  8. HI, this has infected my computer and i can’t open anything. The only thing that comes up is this privacy protection. What is the registraion key and how do i enter it? what will happen after i enter it? i can’t even open my origional security program. help!!

  9. I have already removed this several times from a few PC’s. The best and quickest way to delete this program is to boot into safe mode and then delete the program. It will always install a desktop icon. While in safe mode, right click on the icon, find target or open target folder, and then delete. Reboot and your good to go. Also, you may have to delete the desktop shortcut as well.

  10. is there any way to get the money back that they have taken from you? Also, how do i boot into safe mode to delete the program. I tried deleting it in my regular mode, but it does not show up in my programs list.

  11. Joey G. or anybody

    Where can I find it (to remove it) if I already deleted the icon on my desktop? Thanks in advance! 🙂

  12. oh dear, NORTON POWER ERASER. a free virus clean up. completely took away privacy protector. solves the problem. now i gotta go get my money back.

  13. Thank you Pasou for the code. It stopped the scanning, and I was able to download and run Norton Power Eraser (thanks to Linda suggestion) to permanently remove the Privacy Protection virus!

  14. So, the registration code goes into the registration for privacy protect? With a fake e-mail? Does this stop the spyware or REGISTER it to my computer? I keep seeing my IP address, etc. coming up- so it knows where I am…. Is this really a fix??

  15. thank you so much!! it really works! i have tried use spyware doctor,but it didnt works.fortunately i found your website.. thank you once again..^_^

  16. Sariah
    It is very easy to display your IP address and claim to know everything. The truth is they do not care about this information at the moment, and this is only the program.

  17. I have the dumb thing on my my computer. the reg key doesnt work, i cant get on the internet to download anything and it obviously wont let me start anything to detect it. any suggestions?

  18. okay… so spyware doctor is asking for a reg key. I tried using the activation code given using the -‘s even and that did not work. I just got done with that stupid system security virus last week. Does anyone have another acvtivation code for privacy protection? This is frustraiting.

  19. One more vote for NORTON POWER ERASER. It just worked for me! There is also a tutorial on how to remove this on You-Tube. Good Luck!

  20. What you need to do is the following (summarized from a website I found on my phone):
    Notice that a windows-like icon appears on your desktop called Privacy Protection. right click on this icon and go to properties. You’ll find the location of the evil file. go to the folder containing the file. Right click on the file to rename it so it won’t recognize it. Name it junk.exe or evil.exe

    Then, restart your computer. When it turns on, the file will not run. Use this time to run your malware or virus protection. I used Malwarebytes from CNET. My favorite website now and my new favorite software!

    My addition to what I read is this: update your protection and scan again. I didn’t update my software in 5-7 days and it found the privacy protection file. But I updated it and ran it again and it found 3 more affected files.

    Good luck to my fellow computer novices!

    Hope this helps!

  21. THANK YOU!!! I got this headache this afternoon and after tryng a bunch of stuff on my own to no avail had dinner, went for a walk, and then googled, privacy protection pop up on my android. I found you, entered the code and it worked. I then did as Jane Doe suggested and renamed the target file then downloaded the free Norton Power Eraser and it seems to have worked. My computer seems to be running a but sluggish but at least I can go back online and stuff. Thanks again everyone!

  22. It worked! The code worked, then restored computer to a earlier date, and added protection. Good to go. Few

  23. OMG!!!thanks so much saved my ass… i thot i was doomed… i couldnt even go on the internet to look at this.. i had to use another computer

  24. Just had to manually remove this from a computer without internet access. What a bastard! Here’s what finally worked:

    Boot into safe mode
    Run Regedit
    Look for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon “Shell”
    Change the value to C:\windows\explorer.exe AFTER taking note of the current value (mine was 1fb2something…)
    Delete the 1fb2 folder
    Search for 1fb2whatever in regedit, you should find 2 or 3 more instances in a Services subdir
    Before deleting the Services reg keys, take note of the file being executed! Mine was called C:\windows\1943974431:######## Where #’s are numbers I forget and you can ignore. But note the exact number before the colon!
    Delete the registry entries
    Now delete the file C:\windows\1943974431
    Make a new empty file called C:\windows\1943974431, Read-Only and Hidden
    Reboot into normal mode
    Repeat the registry entry deletions
    Reboot into normal mode. You’re finished!

  25. Thank you so much. It was only when I got the dreaded PP on 2 of my laptops that I realised something was amiss and found your website (by using a 3rd laptop!!). Thank goodness I couldn’t afford to pay for registration. Me and the kids now have our lovely laptops back and working!! Can’t thank you enough.

  26. hi i went into task manager but there is nothing that say’s defender.exe or random.exe i know the virus is on my computer but i just cant find it anywhere to get rid of it PLEASE help…

  27. amber : random means that name is randomly generated. Look for processes with unknown to you name and kill one by one. It should run from your user (not SYSTEM), and once you kill it, the malware window will close.

  28. I was able to hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE, and ALT-E quickly in succession. This opens up task manager (which the virus forcefully closes within a split second), but if you hit ALT-E fast enough (End Program) it will stop it long enough for you to find it and delete it.

  29. Y76REW-T65FD5-U7VBF5A worked great. Then I installed AVG 2012 trial and removed this nasty worm.

  30. Dec 9th just infected with PP read comments but not working for me. is there a new code that’s working for you.A

  31. the code didn’t work for me but I tried Jane Doe’s method and woooohoooo success. thanks for all the ideas and help.

  32. I tried all of this, no luck. Jane Doe, right click won’t show properties, where is this thing at???

  33. Found it. Did Jane Doe’s method and it worked. I uninstalled PC tools since they hold you hostage until you buy however every time I start up it ask if I want to enable it??? How do I get rid of that?

  34. One more vote to Norton Power Eraser! I tried it in Safe Mode to get on Internet to reach Norton Power Eraser and it easily removed this Privacy Protection. Linda, thank you a million!

  35. hi there so i’ve followed the instructions with entering the code etc….now its saying i have to purchase the programme is there a way i can past this step to just remove the programme? thanks

  36. the spyware ran thru the 1st screen then prompted me to uninstall conflicting software… I proceeded as instructed but it listed every program I have in this laptop,so I stopped …mainly because I’m new (3 Days) on a computer and didn’t know what this meant. Also I wouldn’t know how to get these programs back on the computer once they were gone. The computer came to me with everything I needed except I screwed up and tried to install safety and got the privacy protection problem all on my own. P.S I have maafee anti-virus plus 2011 on here and it runs a scan once a week will this fix it?

  37. Thanks I took a chance because I saw the activation code was posted up in November and it still works thanks again

  38. is the code used for spyware doctor or another program? it wont work for me when i try to use it for spyware 🙁 and my computer is so messed up im bout to just bang it against the wall

  39. How to remove privacy protection, they ask me for email and key registration. Thanks.

  40. Dear PCTools, why are U using the same funding model as ‘Privacy proctection’ :/

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