How To Remove System Tool. Description and removal instructions.

HiTecK

Administrator
Staff member
What this infection does:
System Tool is a computer infection from the same family as Security Tool. This infection is also categorized as a rogue anti-spyware program as it pretends to be an anti-virus program, but is actually a program that displays fake security alerts and scan results in order to make you think your computer is infected. System Tool is installed through the use of malware that will install the program onto your computer without your knowledge or permission. When installed, the infection files will be created in a random named folder in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\, in XP, or C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\, in Windows Vista and Windows 7. It will then be configured to start automatically when you login to your computer.


system-tool.jpg

System Tool screen shot
For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above.
There are a total of 7 images you can view.

Once running it will scan your computer and state that there are numerous infections present, but will not allow you to remove them until you purchase the program. It is important to understand that SystemTool is scripted to display fake scan results regardless of whether or not your computer is infected. Therefore, please do not be concerned if this program states you are infected. System Tool will also terminate any executables that you attempt to run in order to protect itself from being removed. When you attempt to run any program, it will terminate that program's process and then display a message similar to the following:
Warning!
Application cannot be executed. The file cmd.exe is infected.
Please activate your antivirus software.

Just like the scan results, this message is fake and should be ignored.
While System Tool is running it will also display fake security alerts and warnings from your Windows taskbar. These alerts are designed to scare you into thinking that your computer is severely infected and that you should purchase the program to protect yourself. The text of these messages include:
System Tool Warning
Your PC is infected with dangerous viruses. Activate antivirus protection to prevent data loss and avoid the theft of your credit card
mag-glass_10x10.gif
details.
Click here to activate protection.

System Tool Warning
Intercepting programs that may compromise your private and harm your system have been detected on your PC.
Click here to remove them immediately with System Tool.

Security Monitor: WARNING!
Attention: System detected a potential hazard (TrojanSPM/LX) on your computer that may infect executable files. Your private information and PC safety is at risk. To get rid of unwanted spyware and keep your computer safe you need to update your current security software
mag-glass_10x10.gif
.
CLick Yes to download official intrusion detection system (IDS software).

Warning: Your computer is infected
Windows has detected spyware infection!
Click this message to install the last update of Windows security software...

This infection will also change the background of your Windows desktop to display the following over-the-top, and almost insensible, warning:
Warning!
Your're in Danger!
Your Computer is infected with Spyware!
All you do with your computer is stored forever in your hard disk. When you visit sites, send emails... All your actions are logged. And it is impossible to remove them with standard tools. Your data is still available for forensics, and in some cases
For your boss, your friends, your wife, your children. Every site you or somebody or even something, like spyware, opened in your browsers, with all the images, and all the downloaded and maybe later removed movies or mp3 songs - ARE STILL THERE and could break your life!
Secure yourself right now!
Removal all spyware from your PC!
Just like the fake scan results and warning messages, you should not be alarmed with this message as they just tactics that the malware writer is using to try and scare you into purchasing the System Tool program.
As you can see, System Tool was created solely to make you think that your computer is infected so that you will then buy the program. It goes without saying that you should definitely not buy System Tool, and if you already have, please contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating that the program is a scam and a computer virus. To remove System Tool and other related malware, please use the free removal guide below.

Threat Classification:

  • Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware

Advanced information:
View System Tool files.
View System Tool Registry Information.
Tools Needed for this fix:

  • Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware

Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:
O4 - HKCU\..\RunOnce: [cPpIg00902] C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\lElLf00902\lElLf00902.exe​
Guide Updates:
10/21/10 - Initial guide creation.
Automated Removal Instructions for System Tool using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:


  1. Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is open later in the fix.
  2. It is possible that the infection you are trying to remove will not allow you to download files on the infected computer. If you run into this problem when following the steps in this guide you will need to download the files requested in this guide on another computer and then transfer them to the infected computer. You can transfer the files via a CD/DVD, external drive, or USB flash drive.
  3. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode with Networking using the instructions for your version of Windows found in the following tutorial:When following the steps in the above tutorial, select Safe Mode with Networking rather than just Safe Mode. When the computer reboots into Safe Mode with Networking make sure you login with the username you normally use. When you are at your Windows desktop, please continue with the rest of the steps.
  4. This infection changes your Windows settings to use a proxy server that will not allow you to browse any pages on the Internet with Internet Explorer or update security software. Regardless of the web browser you use, for these instructions we will first need need to fix this problem so that we can download the utilities we need to remove this infection.

    Please start Internet Explorer, and when the program is open, click on the Tools menu and then select Internet Options as shown in the image below.



    tools-internet-options.jpg



  5. You should now be in the Internet Options screen as shown in the image below.



    internet-options.jpg



    Now click on the Connections tab as designated by the blue arrow above.
  6. You will now be at the Connections tab as shown by the image below.


    connections.jpg



    Now click on the Lan Settings button as designated by the blue arrow above.
  7. You will now be at the Local Area Network (LAN) settings screen as shown by the image below.



    uncheck-proxy.jpg



    Under the Proxy Server section, please uncheck the checkbox labeled Use a proxy server for your LAN. Then press the OK button to close this screen. Then press the OK button to close the Internet Options screen. Now that you have disabled the proxy server you will be able to browse the web again with Internet Explorer.
  8. Now we must end the processes that belong to System Tool so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, please download RKill to your desktop from the following link.

    RKill - (Download page will open in a new tab or browser window.)

    When at the download page, click on the Download Now button labeled iExplore.exe download link. When you are prompted where to save it, please save it on your desktop.

    If you are unable to connect to the site to download RKill, please go back and do steps 3-6 again and make sure the infection has not reenabled the proxy settings. You may have to do this quite a few times before you can get RKill downloaded. If you still cannot download the RKill program on the infected computer, you should download it to a clean computer and copy it to the infected one via a USB flash drive or CDROM.
  9. Once it is downloaded, double-click on the iExplore.exe icon in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with System Tool and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the program looks for various malware programs and ends them. When it has finished, the black window will automatically close and you can continue with the next step. If you get a message that RKill is an infection, do not be concerned. This message is just a fake warning given by System Tool when it terminates programs that may potentially remove it. If you run into these infections warnings that close RKill, a trick is to leave the warning on the screen and then run RKill again. By not closing the warning, this typically will allow you to bypass the malware trying to protect itself so that RKill can terminate System Tool . So, please try running RKill until the malware is no longer running. You will then be able to proceed with the rest of the guide. Do not reboot your computer after running RKill as the malware programs will start again.

    If you continue having problems running RKill, you can download the other renamed versions of RKill from the RKill download page. Both of these files are renamed copies of RKill, which you can try instead. Please note that the download page will open in a new browser window or tab.
  10. Now you should download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location and save it to your desktop:

    Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link (Download page will open in a new window)

    If you are unable to connect to the site to download Malwarebytes', please go back and do steps 3-6 again and make sure the infection has not reenabled the proxy settings.
  11. Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.
  12. Double-click on the icon on your desktop named mbam-setup.exe. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.
  13. 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 you leave both the Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware checked. Then click on the Finish button. If MalwareBytes' prompts you to reboot, please do not do so.
  14. MBAM will now automatically start and you will see a message stating that you should update the program before performing a scan. As MBAM will automatically update itself after the install, you can press the OK button to close that box and you will now be at the main program as shown below.


    mbam.jpg

  15. On the Scanner tab, make sure the the Perform full scan option is selected and then click on the Scan button to start scanning your computer for System Tool related files.
  16. MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.


    scanning.jpg

  17. When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image below.


    scan-finished.jpg


    You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the SystemTool removal process.
  18. You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the Show Results button.
  19. A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.


    mbam-system-tool.jpg



    You should now click on the Remove Selected button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.
  20. When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.
  21. You can now exit the MBAM program.
  22. As this infection also changes your Windows HOSTS file, we want to replace this file with the default version for your operating system. Please note that if you or your company has added custom entries to your HOSTS file then you will need to add them again after restoring the default HOSTS file. In order to protect itself, SystemTool changes the permissions of the HOSTS file so you can't edit or delete it. To fix these permissions please download the following batch file and save it to your desktop:]hosts-perm.bat Download Link

    When the file has finished downloading, double-click on the hosts-perm.bat file that is now on your desktop. If Windows asks if you if you are sure you want to run it, please allow it to run. Once it starts you will see a small black window that opens and then quickly goes away. This is normal and is nothing to be worried about. You should now be able to access your HOSTS file.
  23. We now need to delete the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc\HOSTS file. Once it is deleted, download the following HOSTS file that corresponds to your version of Windows and save it in the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\etc folder. If the contents of the HOSTS file opens in your browser when you click on a link below then right-click on the appropriate link and select Save Target As..., if in Internet Explorer, or Save Link As.., if in Firefox, to download the file.Your Windows HOSTS file should now be back to the default one from when Windows was first installed.
  24. Now reboot your computer.
  25. As many rogues and other malware are installed through vulnerabilities found in out-dated and insecure programs, it is strongly suggested that you use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs on your computer. A tutorial on

    how to use Secunia PSI to scan for vulnerable programs can be found here:
    How to detect vulnerable and out-dated programs using Secunia Personal Software Inspector
Your computer should now be free of the SystemTool program. You may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future, as if you had the real-time protection component, that comes with the paid for version, activated it would not have allowed this infection to install.
If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:
Preparation Guide For Use Before Using Malware Removal Tools and Requesting Help


Associated System Tool Files:
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\<random>
c:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\<random>\<random>.exe​
Associated System Tool Windows Registry Information:
KEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curren tVersion\RunOnce "<random>"​

[video=youtube;XhUEGHi8AMQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhUEGHi8AMQ[/video]
 
This was the infection i had with my PC a few weeks ago.Anything i went into,either Google or my email,and i typed anything this warning would come up. No anti virus picked it up.Thanks to Noely and a Teacher at school,i got it sorted out.Thanks HiTeck for this valuable Post(y)
 
Would not let me system restore back immi.Think this is a very nasty infection.Thank God it is gone now(y)
 
could you not just do a system restore back date to an earlier date, this worked for me sir.

A good point but didn't work, after reboot it just kept coming back, also it was a chore to get to the system restore, no matter what you did it did not allow you to get that far.
 
Yes i got the blue screen of death.Excellent info HiTeck.Just one point,when this infection flashed up on my PC,it frightened the s**t out of me.just keeps flashing my PC has 30 or 40 infections.I knew it was some scam,but could not get rid of it.As i said no anti virus would pick up the problem.This thread will be a great help.Thanks(y)
 
could you not just do a system restore back date to an earlier date, this worked for me sir.

Sometimes yes, but not always. Sometimes the infected file may lay dormant and could be included in the previous checkpoint when you restore. Also, as ally said it may not let you perform the operation in the first place. But it is an option to explore nonetheless.
 
Help! Having read through the info on this site it looks highly likely i too have fallen foul of the death blue screen system tool scam. I'm trying to resolve it by following your instructions but it won't enable me to download the Rkill programme? Am i being a typical blonde here?!! Any help would really appreciated - thanks!
 
when your user name turns blue vicky you can download said program, takes about 15 mins for the server to refresh.
 
O.k thank you Dee. I did revisit the home page in the interim and I'm not sure why I missed the great big traffic light that quite clearly says to wait before downloading!! Its not looking good if I've managed to miss that before I've even started to follow the repair instruction does it!!??
 
vicky you should be ok shortly to come back to this and download the files needed.
Looked on my pc and thankfully im ok - for now!
 
Apologies, I was meant to get round to applying links for downloads to this section but didn't have the time at posting,

I will get this sorted now, give me an hour and you will find what you need updated on the first post.
 
I've managed to follow the instructions o.k and all appears to have worked so far but when I've come to download the hosts-perm.bat I'm having problems. As you described a black box flashes up and then I'm not sure if its doing anything? There is also no icon on my desktop to follow the remainder of the fix re hosts? Oddly all seems to be running o.k and the threating message and the never ending alerts I was receiving have gone but I'd prefer to follow your instructions all the way just in case anything else is lingering! FYI this is just a personal laptop and not a work one so there is no connections etc through other systems etc - I don't know if this makes any difference to your advice as I'm afraid I'm not all the IT savvy....Any thoughts folks?
 
Just got rid of this infection from Joekingman's labtop today. With the help again from this thread,it was a great help.Thanks again(y)
 
Back
Top