VProtect Application - How to remove

Over the years, VProtect Application has made people curious about what it is. Apparently, it crashes, runs into problems, and is considered to be malware by some. Due to the existence of multiple software products using the same name, the discussions online sometimes get confused about which program is being discussed.

This article is about VProtect Application by AVG and the VProtect fake antivirus. It does not talk about the virtual machine backup software called vPotect.

VProtect Application is a piece of software developed and distributed by AVG, usually with their toolbars. There have been arguments about whether the toolbars are useful, about the promotion tactics that AVG used to push their products, and how difficult it can be to uninstall an AVG program. But the company is established and held up to a certain standard, and its VProtect Application does not seem to be malicious in any way.

However, there exists another, actually malicious program called VProtect. That one is a fake PC optimizer that tries to convince its users to buy it by showing fake detections and exaggerating any problems that it finds. It advertises itself as being able to make a computer run faster and smoother, uses dishonest ads to get more people to install it. It’s basically a scam.

The features of VProtect fake antivirus and VProtect Application:

	VProtect fake antivirus	VProtect Application by AVG
Installation	Installed by freeware bundles Available on freeware websites Advertised on its home page	Bundled with AVG products
Is it safe?	Sells a nonfunctional antivirus program Makes unwanted changes, breaks settings Bundles potentially unwanted software	Is part of an antivirus program’s suite It malfunctioning causes serious problems and delays
Removal	Manually remove VProtect Automatically remove VProtect (Malwarebytes)	Remove AVG toolbars

 

VProtect Application by AVG

VProtect Application is associated with AVG Security Toolbar, AVG SafeGuard Toolbar, AVG Web Tuneup, many other AVG browser extensions, and is also found as vprot.exe. It’s involved in managing your online security together with the other AVG products.

If you have an AVG product installed on your computer, that could explain why VProtect is on your system. This process has been developed by the antivirus company and is required for some of their applications to run correctly. So, if you use AVG, that’s the most likely explanation of VProtect’s presence on your PC. Even if you don’t remember using AVG, it could have been installed by someone else. If you did not install your own operating system, then whoever did must have added software, including some AVG applications.

AVG is a legitimate company that develops legitimate antivirus tools that should protect you from most malware. However, some people have had issues with AVG using bundling to install their toolbars against people’s consent and forcibly modifying their browsers with a hijacker that refuses to be uninstalled. AVG sometimes installs applications on its users’ computers without their knowledge — that’s some quite aggressive promotional tactics. But this does not mean that VProtect Application is dangerous, so you probably don’t need to worry.

The VProtect fake antivirus

There is a fake antivirus program also called VProtect. It works like any fake PC optimizer — “scans” your computer, claims to find many issues and problems that need to be fixed immediately, and then tries to sell you a paid program. This behavior makes the optimizer scareware and a scam, but not the worst kind of malware out there.

It’s not obvious why VProtect is called that. Viruses often use familiar names in order to make themselves difficult to detect, but “VProtect” is generic enough to make it plausible that its developers came up with the name themselves. It does not look much like any AVG product, so it’s probably not trying to imitate them.

The VProtect fake antivirus spreads using malicious ads, redirects, bundles — like most malware. It is not associated with AVG and if you are not using any AVG products, VProtect should not be on your system. If it is, you should be concerned. It’s likely that not just VProtect but a couple more suspicious programs are on your computer. That’s because it’s honestly difficult to only have one virus infecting your system — they travel in groups and promote one another.

Besides trying to get you to install and buy useless programs, VProtect is risky because it tries to modify your registry entries, remove useful files, and change superficial settings. It might make unhelpful changes to the settings of your computer not out of malice, but out of incompetence.

How to remove VProtect

If you don’t like VProtect, feel free to remove it. Even if a program is created with good intentions, there are many competent antivirus tools to choose from and it’s important for you to be able to trust and be happy with your programs.

VProtect Application can be removed by removing the application that uses it. If it’s a toolbar by AVG, not necessarily one of the listed ones (there are more), they can be removed like any toolbar. The guide below includes instructions for removing browser extensions. However, it’s possible that the extension returns after a while. If this happens, one of your AVG products must be reinstalling it. Check your settings, contact AVG support, or experiment with uninstalling the programs. You might need to use Safe Mode and remove some files.

The VProtect fake antivirus is not a browser extension, so it needs to be removed like a malicious desktop program. Uninstalling it using the Control Panel should work, but if it doesn’t, you might need the help of an antivirus tool. If your normal antivirus does not detect the VProtect malware, you can try using something else for this case, like Spyhunter, or another professional program.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to remove VProtect Application using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like VProtect Application install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to VProtect Application . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make VProtect Application easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove VProtect Application using Windows Control Panel

Many hijackers and adware like VProtect Application install some of their components as regular Windows programs as well as additional software. This part of malware can be uninstalled from the Control Panel. To access it, do the following.

• Start→Control Panel (older Windows) or press Windows Key→Search and enter Control Panel and then press Enter (Windows 8, Windows 10).
• Choose Uninstall Program (if you don't see it, click in the upper right next to "View by" and select Category).
• Go through the list of programs and select entries related to VProtect Application . You can click on "Name" or "Installed On" to reorder your programs and make VProtect Application easier to find.
• Click the Uninstall button. If you're asked if you really want to remove the program, click Yes.
• In many cases anti-malware programs are better at detecting related parasites, thus I recommend installing Spyhunter to identify other programs that might be a part of this infection.

How to remove VProtect Application from macOS

Delete VProtect Application from your applications.

1. Open Finder.
2. In the menu bar, click Go.
3. Select Applications from the dropdown.
4. Find the VProtect Application app.
5. Select it and right-click it (or hold the Ctrl and click the left mouse button).
6. In the dropdown, click Move to Bin/Trash. You might be asked to provide your login password.

TopRemove malicious extensions from Internet Explorer

• Press on the Gear icon→Manage Add-ons.
  
• Go through Toolbars and extensions. Remove everything related to VProtect Application and items you do not know that are made not by Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle or Adobe.
  
• Close the Options.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to VProtect Application, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Press on the Gear icon->Internet Options.
  
• Choose the Advanced tab and click on the Reset button.
  
• Select a “Delete personal settings” checkbox and click on the Reset button.
  
• Click on the Close button on the confirmation box, then close your browser.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopRemoving VProtect Application from Chrome

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Google Chrome window. Select “Settings”.
  
• Click “Extensions” on the left menu bar.
• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to VProtect Application. Click on the trash bin icon next to VProtect Application or other add-ons you want to remove.
  
• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.
  
• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.
  
• Restart Chrome.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to VProtect Application, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on Chrome’s menu button (three horizontal lines) and select Settings.
  
• Scroll to the end of the page and click on the Reset settings button.
  
• Click on the Reset button on the confirmation box.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

TopRemoving VProtect Application from Firefox

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla window and select the “Add-ons” icon (or press Ctrl+Shift+A on your keyboard).
  
• Go through Extensions and Addons list, remove everything VProtect Application related and items you do not recognise. If you do not know the extension and it is not made by Mozilla, Google, Microsoft, Oracle or Adobe then you probably do not need it.
  

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings If you are still experiencing any issues related to VProtect Application, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Mozilla Firefox window. Click on the Help button.
  
• Choose Troubleshooting Information on the Help menu.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button.
  
• Click on the Reset Firefox button on the confirmation box. Mozilla Firefox will close and change the settings to default.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.

How to remove VProtect Application from Microsoft Edge:Top

• Click on the menu button on the top right corner of a Microsoft Edge window. Select “Extensions”.

• Go through the extensions list and remove programs you do not need, especially similar to VProtect Application. Click on the "Remove" icon next to VProtect Application or other add-ons you want to remove.

• Press on the “Remove” button on the Confirmation window.

• If unsure, you can disable them temporarily.

• Restart Microsoft Edge.

TopRemoving VProtect Application from Safari (Mac OS X)

• Click on the Safari menu.
• Choose Preferences.
  
• Click on the Extensions Tab.
• Click on the Uninstall button near the VProtect Application. Remove all other unknown or suspicious entries too. If you are not sure whether you need the extension or not, you can simply uncheck the Enable check-box to disable the extension temporarily.
  
• Restart Safari.

(Optional) Reset your browser’s settings

If you are still experiencing any issues related to VProtect Application, reset the settings of your browser to its default settings.

• Click on the Safari menu on the top left corner of the screen. Select Reset Safari.
  
• Select which options you want to reset (usually all of them come preselected) and click on the Reset button.
  

If you cannot reset your browser settings and the problem persists, scan your system with an anti-malware program.