Category Archives: Expert Help for Computing

How to Remove Alpha Antivirus

How to Remove Alpha Antivirus

About Alpha Antivirus

There is a new rogue among us. It appears that Alpha Antivirus has replaced Personal Antivirus as one of the latest rogue security programs. This particular rogue installs through online “scans” (popups.) The reason I say “scans” is they’re essentially animations of a scan (every one that visits the site will see the same thing even if you visit from a non windows OS which is somewhat amusing…) But, those details could certainly be changed. Who knows someday they may randomize their animations of scans and alter them to match other operating systems if they start to get fancy. Anyway, like many of the rogues that we’ve been covering their goal is to scare you into downloading and then paying for Alpha Antivirus by providing scan results that appear to indicate a security problem with your computer that only they can fix if you pay. In addition to this “fun”, Alpha Antivirus also drops a password stealing trojan. Those online banking passwords are more valuable than the fee for this software I suspect. Read on to see how to remove alpha antivirus.

Alpha Antivirus Removal

First off, the following domains are associated with Alpha Antivirus:

Mycomputerthreats15 com

Securewinupdatesv3 com

Statickingdom com

Windowsprotectionupdate4 com

Blog them however you wish, but you should not visit those sites without the biohazard suit and rubber gloves!
In addition to the “features” listed above of stealing passwords and the false security warnings trying to coax you into paying for it. It also slows your computer down, redirects your web browser to malicious sites and may be able to disable legitimate computer security programs (antivirus/antispyware.)
I would suggest first trying to download and run malwarebytes antimalware from my virus removal toolkit page.

If you are not able to run and update it in a normal Windows Boot, retry in safemode and if that doesn’t work, you may need to rename the installer file or program executable to get it on the system.

Another alternative is the first step of manual removal:
In the task manager look for and kill off the following process:

Alpha Antivirus.exe

(After this you may/should be able to run malwarebytes.)

If continuing with the manual removal then you will want to delete files in the following locations:

%SysRoot%Samples

%UserProf%Local SettingsTemp

%ProgFiles%Alpha Antivirus

%ProgFiles%LabelCommand

%DocRoot%All UsersStart MenuProgramsAlpha Antivirus

%DocRoot%All UsersApplication DataAlpha Antivirus

Alpha Antivirus.exe

The executable may need to be searched for. My first guess would be to look in the above directories, or the system root directory. Following that the Windows install directory and the system32 directory beneath the Windows Install directory. If you still can’t find the Alpha Antivirus.exe file then you may need to use the search feature to search for it (make sure you’re searching all files.)

After a manual removal of alpha antivirus it’s still a good idea to update and run malwarebytes antimalware to ensure that you clean up any leftovers or other files brought by this rogue security program.

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Computer Registry Problems

Computer Registry Problems
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Computer Registry Problems

Computer registry problems can have wide range of consequences for the end user, from mysterious error messages constantly popping up, to it slowing down your computer to a crawl.

There are several ways you can address computer registry problems, but novices and even intermediate computer users should not try to edit the registry manually as even the very experienced users have a hard time tweaking registries.

What is computer registry?

First you need to understand what computer registry is in order to properly approach computer registry problems.

Computer registry is basically a database, a sort of a reference source for the computer.

All the settings and options of Microsoft Windows operating systems are saved in the computer registry.

These settings include hardware settings, operating systems software, user settings, and most non-operating system software settings.

Computer registry is constantly working behind the scenes and much of what happens on your computer involves the registry. Therefore computer registry problems should not be treated lightly, as for better or for worse, our daily lives depend heavily on the use of computers.

The easy ways to repair computer registry problems

This section is for those who want answers now on computer registry problems and so for those of you
who want to learn more about computer registry, just scroll down.

Here’s what it comes down to, unless you want to start a career in
computer repairs, you do not have the time to learn to fix computer
registries manually. Unlike the yesteryears, today there are simple and
intuitive softwares that make computer registry problems an easy fix.

These softwares will not
break your bank and they’ll pay dividends for years to come, as
registries are inevitably corrupted with just the normal use of your
computer. More than half the time, computer problems and slow downs are
due to the computer registry problems. Even normal functions such as
install and uninstall of software could potentially corrupt registry
entries, the bottom line is, many mainstream software are plagued with
bugs. Think of your operating system going through a virtual wear and
tear.

My choice of registry cleaner is “Registry Easy” and here’s why:

*Simple interface is perfect for beginners and experts alike. There is
absolutely nothing worse than a problem fixer becoming a problem.
*One touch registry optimization, this is just another great feature that keeps things simple.
*Auto Scan is a feature lesser experienced users will love, as it scans and repairs everything automatically.
*Backup options so you can easily undo any changes made.
*Auto update feature ensures you are always using the latest version of the software.

Get a “Full System Scan Here for Free” and if you in the clear, you can rule out computer registry problems as to what’s plaguing your computer.

Registry Easy’s Simple Interface

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The symptoms of registry problems

The usual symptoms of registry problems include:
*PC crashes for no apparent reason

*You keep receiving unknown error messages

*PC runs much slower than you first bought it

*Computer freezing all too often

*Hardware malfunctions

*System becomes a memory hog

*The annoying blue screen
If you are experiencing one or more of above symptoms, there’s a good likelihood your computer has registry problems.

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Why you shouldn’t edit the registry manually

Registry database contain hundreds of registry entries, its sheer size
and complexity make combing through invalid entries nearly impossible.

If you could imagine yourself cleaning up debris in your registry,
clicking through hives after hives, entries after entries, and
repeating that hundreds of times and that’s just for one sweep. Now
imagine doing that every week to keep your registry clean and in order,
it’s probably better not owning a computer at all.

Some specific
registry problems which show the symptoms clearly can be repaired
manually by a seasoned pro, but that’s just one problem fixed out of
potentially hundreds of registry problems that need repair.

If you scan
a random computer owned by a random average pc user, the scan resulting
in the excess of 1000 registry problem is very common. Pro or novice,
no one in their right mind would repair that manually.

It’s not worth risking messing up your computer even more, it’s better to get a “Free Full System Scan” and make sure your computer has no registry problems.

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The Birth of Microsoft Windows Registry

Microsoft introduced Windows Registry with the release of Windows 3.1
and its purpose was to replace most of the text .INI files used in
Windows 3.x and MS-DOS configuration files. Before Windows Registry,
.INI files stored configuration settings for windows programs as
per-program basis.
This entry is from Microsoft website,

“A
registry hive is a group of keys, subkeys, and values in the registry
that has a set of supporting files that contain backups of its data.
The supporting files for all hives except HKEY_CURRENT_USER are in the
%SystemRoot%System32Config folder on Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000,
Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista. The supporting
files for HKEY_CURRENT_USER are in the %SystemRoot%ProfilesUsername
folder. The file name extensions of the files in these folders indicate
the type of data that they contain. Also, the lack of an extension may
sometimes indicate the type of data that they contain.”

Windows XP – How to Backup Registry

If you are using registry editor (e.g. regedit) to edit the registry, be sure to backup your registry before making any changes.
To Back Up Registry:
1. Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%system32restorerstrui.exe, and then click OK.
2. On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Create a restore point, and then click Next .
3. On the Create a Restore Point page, type a name for the restore point and then click Create
4. After the restore point has been created, click Close.
To Restore Registry:
1. Click Start, click Run, type %SystemRoot%System32RestoreRstrui.exe, and then click OK.
2.
On the Welcome to System Restore page, click Restore my computer to an
earlier time (if it is not already selected), and then click Next .
3.
On the Select a Restore Point page, click the system checkpoint. In the
On this list select the restore point area, click an entry that is
named “Guided Help (Registry Backup),” and then click Next. If a System
Restore message appears that lists configuration changes that System
Restore will make, click OK.
4. On the Confirm Restore Point
Selection page, click Next. System Restore restores the previous
Windows XP configuration and then restarts the computer.
5. Log on to the computer. When the System Restore confirmation page appears, click OK..
There are more advanced and reliable ways to backup windows registry, I will make updates in the future if requested.
Original Source – Microsoft.com

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