How to remove Malware Defense (Uninstall instructions)

Malware Defense is a rogue antispyware program from the same family as Anti Malware. The rogue is usually distributed through the use of trojans. Once the trojan is running, it will download and install Malware Defense onto your computer.

When installed, Malware Defense will configure itself to run automatically each time when you login to Windows. Once running, the rogue will simulate a system scan and lists numerous infections to make you think that your computer in danger, is infected with a lot of worms, trojans, spyware and other malware. It uses the real names of infection to make the scam look more realistic. However, Malware Defense won’t remove those infections unless you purchase so-called “full” version of the program. Most importantly, do not purchase it! All of these threats are fake. So you can safely ignore the scan results!

What is more, while running, the rogue will flood your computer with warnings, fake security alerts and notifications from Windows task bar. Of course, all of these warnings and alerts nothing more but a scam and like false scan results should be ignored!

As you can see, this program is a scam and should be removed from the system upon detection. Please follow the guidelines below to remove Malware Defense and any associated malware from your computer for free.

Symptoms in a HijackThis Log

O4 – HKCU\..\Run: [Malware Defense] “C:\Program Files\Malware Defense\mdefense.exe” -noscan

Use the following instructions to remove Malware Defense (Uninstall instructions)

Step 1. Remove H8SRT trojan (Rootkit TDSS)
Some variants of Malware Defense installed with a H8SRT trojan-rootkit that blocks the ability to run a lot of antivirus and antispyware programs, including Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

Download TDSSKiller from here and unzip to your desktop.

Open TDSSKiller folder.

Double click the TDSSKiller icon and follow the prompts.

Step 2. Remove Malware Defense and any any associated malware.

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 for Malware Defense infection. 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 Malware Defense removal process. When disinfection is completed, a log will open in Notepad and you may be prompted to Restart.

Note: if you need help with the instructions, then post your questions in our Spyware Removal forum.

Malware Defense creates the following files and folders

C:\Program Files\Malware Defense\mdefense.exe
C:\Program Files\malware Defense\help.ico
C:\Program Files\malware Defense\md.db
C:\Program Files\malware Defense\mdext.dll
C:\Documents and Settings\comp\Start Menu\Programs\malware Defense\Malware Defense Support.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\comp\Start Menu\Programs\malware Defense\Malware Defense.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\comp\Start Menu\Programs\malware Defense\Uninstall Malware Defense.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\comp\Desktop\Malware Defense.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\comp\Desktop\Malware Defense Support.lnk
C:\Documents and Settings\comp\Desktop\Malware Defense ReadMe.txt
C:\Documents and Settings\comp\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Malware Defense.lnk

Malware Defense creates the following registry keys and values

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Malware Defense
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Malware Defense
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\malware defense