How to remove Protection Center

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Protection Center description

Protection Center is a counterfeit application pretending to be a legitimate protection program. This malware is also a clone of Data Protection, Digital Protection, Your Protection malicious programs. Protection Center is distributed online and is often difficult to avoid if one does not employ a reputable anti-spyware tool.

Malware imitates computer scans as a real one and shows rogue scan results. For example:

Danger!
Unauthorized person tries to steal your passwords and private information. Click on the message to prevent identity theft.

Danger!
Unauthorized access to your computer! Click on the message to install up-to-date antivirus software.
Warning! Virus threat detected!

Virus activity detected!
Email-Worm.BAT adware has been detected. This adware module advertises websites with explicit content. Be advised of such content being possibly illegal. Please click the button below to locate and remove this threat now.

Danger!
Harmful viruses detected on your computer. Click on the message to scan your computer for security threats for free.
Warning! Network attack detected!

Network intrusion detected!
Your computer is being attacked from a remote PC.
Process is trying to steal your passwords listed below.

Just like the fake scan results, these alerts are all fabricated and should be ignored. Malware tries to force your into purchasing an illegal version of the Protection Center program. Buying it means you will have more viruses onto your computer and less money in your pocket. It is not worth spending your money for this scam. Choose a reputable security software and terminate Protection Center upon detection.

How to get rid of Protection Center

This infection can be removed using Spyware Doctor.

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Spyware Doctor is widely valued as one of the best AntiSpyware programs available to protect you from Protection Center and the latest internet security threats. If your computer is infected with Protection Center we strongly recommend automatic spyware scanner.

How to manually remove Protection Center

To get rid of spyware such as Protection Center you need to remove processes, search and delete registry keys, DLL and other Protection Center related files from your computer.

Take Note: The manual process of removing spyware from your computer is difficult and puts you at risk of damaging your computer. We advise using our automatic Protection Center remover.

1. Uninstall Protection Center from Control Panel
   Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs. Double click to uninstall.
2. End these Protection Center processes:
   Uninstall.exe
   cntprot.exe
   To stop processes press Ctrl + Alt + Del or click Start > Run > type "taskmgr". Select malicious process in the list and click "End Process" button.
3. Unregister Protection Center DLL files:
   cnthook.dll
   cntext.dll
   To unregister DLL click Start > Run > type "regsvr32 /u PATH_TO_FILE/FILE.dll"
4. Delete Protection Center registry entries: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Malware Defense
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Paladin Antivirus
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{5E2121EE-0300-11D4-8D3B-444553540000}
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\SimpleShlExt
   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secfile
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Malware Defense
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Protection Center
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Paladin Antivirus
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Protection Center
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System "DisableTaskMgr" = "1"
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run "Protection Center"
   To open registry editor click Start > Run > type "regedit".
   Warning! Manual registry entries editing may cause damage to your system.
   Download Uniblue RegistryBooster 2010 to scan for registry errors.
5. Search and delete these Protection Center related files:
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\about.ico
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\activate.ico
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\buy.ico
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\cnt.db
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\cntext.dll
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\cnthook.dll
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\cntprot.exe
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\help.ico
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\scan.ico
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\settings.ico
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\splash.mp3
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\Uninstall.exe
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\update.ico
   c:\Program Files\Protection Center\virus.mp3
   %UserProfile%\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch\Protection Center.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Desktop\Protection Center Support.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Desktop\Protection Center.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\About.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\Activate.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\Buy.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\Protection Center Support.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\Protection Center.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\Scan.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\Settings.lnk
   %UserProfile%\Start Menu\Programs\Protection Center\Update.lnk