Remove System Care Antivirus (Removal Guide)

System Care Antivirus is a computer virus, which pretends to be a legitimate security program and claims that malware has been detected on your computer. If you try to remove these infections, System Care Antivirus will state that you need to buy its full version before being able to do so.

System Care Antivirus targets users browsing Internet websites, and rely on social engineering to deliver its payload.
On infected or hacked websites users are prompted by a pop-up window that has been carefully crafted to resemble a legitimate security warning. These pop-up windows typically alert a user of a computer infection, and then prompt the user to download and install System Care Antivirus to resolve the apparent issue.
Some of the infections may have come from users downloading an infected codec file when they were trying to watch a video online, or users who receive a spam email and open an infected email attachment.

Once installed, System Care Antivirus will display fake security alerts that are designed to think that your data is at risk or that your computer is severely infected.These messages include:

System Care Antivirus Firewall Alert
System Care Antivirus Firewall has blocked a program from accessing the Internet.
Internet Explorer Internet Browser is infected with worm SVCHOST.Stealth.Keyloger. This worm is trying to send your credit card details using Internet Explorer Internet Browser to connect to remote host.

System Care Antivirus Warning
Some critical system files of your computer were modified by malicious program. It may cause system instability and data loss.
Click here to block unauthorised modification by removing threats (Recommended)

System Care Antivirus Warning
Your PC is still infected with dangerous viruses. Activate antivirus protection to prevent data loss and avoid theft of your credit card details.

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

In reality, none of the reported issues are real, and are only used to scare you into buying System Care Antivirus and stealing your personal financial information.

As part of its self-defense mechanism, System Care Antivirus has disabled the Windows system utilities, including the Windows  Task Manager and Registry Editor, and will block you from running certain programs that could lead to its removal.
This rogue antivirus has also modified your Windows files associations, and now whenever you are trying to open a program, System Care Antivirus will block this operation and display a bogus notification in which will report that the file is infected.

Warning!
Application cannot be executed. The file taskmgr.exe infected.
Please activate your antivirus software.

If your computer is infected with System Care Antivirus virus, then you are seeing the following screens:

System Care Antivirus is a scam, and you should ignore any alerts that this malicious software might generate.
Under no circumstance should you buy System Care Antivirus as this could lead to identity theft,and if you have, you should contact your bank and dispute the charge stating that the program is a scam and a computer virus.
Registration codes for System Care Antivirus
As an optional step,you can use any of the following license keys to register System Care Antivirus and stop the fake alerts.
System Care Antivirus activation code: AA39754E-715219CE
Please keep in mind that entering the above registration code will NOT remove System Care Antivirus from your computer , instead it will just stop the fake alerts so that you’ll be able to complete our removal guide more easily.

System Care Antivirus – Virus Removal Guide

This page is a comprehensive guide, which will remove the System Care Antivirus infection from your your computer. Please perform all the steps in the correct order. If you have any questions or doubt at any point, STOP and ask for our assistance.
STEP 1: Start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking
STEP 2: Run RKill to terminate System Care Antivirus malicious processes
STEP 3: Remove System Care Antivirus virus with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free
STEP 4: Remove System Care Antivirus rootkit with RogueKiller
STEP 5:  Remove System Care Antivirus infection with HitmanPro

STEP 1 : Start your computer in Safe Mode with Networking

1. Remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then restart your computer.
2. When the computer starts you will see your computer’s hardware being listed. When you see this information start to gently tap the F8 key repeatedly until you are presented with the Windows XP, Vista or 7 Advanced Boot Options.
   
   If you are using Windows 8, press the Windows key + C, and then click Settings. Click Power, hold down Shift on your keyboard and click Restart, then click on Troubleshoot and select Advanced options. In the Advanced Options screen, select Startup Settings, then click on Restart.
3. If you are using Windows XP, Vista or 7 in the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Safe Mode with Networking , and then press ENTER.
   \
   If you are using Windows 8, press 5  on your keyboard to Enable Safe Mode with Networking.
   Windows will start in Safe Mode with Networking.

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STEP 2: Run RKill to terminate the malicious processes associated with System Care Antivirus

RKill is a program that will attempt to terminate all malicious processes associated with System Care Antivirus, so that we will be able to perform the next step without being interrupted by this malicious software.
Because this utility will only stop System Care Antivirus running process, and does not delete any files, after running it you should not reboot your computer as any malware processes that are configured to start automatically will just be started again.

1. While your computer is in Safe Mode with Networking ,please download the latest official version of RKill.Please note that we will use a renamed version of RKILL so that System Care Antivirus won’t block this utility from running.
   RKILL DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will automatically download RKILL renamed as iExplore.exe)
2. Double click on iExplore.exe to start RKill and stop any processes associated with System Care Antivirus.
   
3. RKill will now start working in the background, please be patient while the program looks for System Care Antivirus malicious process and tries to end them.
   
   If you get a message from System Care Antivirus stating that RKill is an infection, and then closes this utility, 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 Care Antivirus.
4. When the Rkill utility has completed its task, it will generate a log. Do not reboot your computer after running RKill as the malware programs will start again.
   

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STEP 3: Remove System Care Antivirus virus with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware FREE

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free is a powerful on-demand scanner which will remove System Care Antivirus malicious files from your computer.

1. You can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free from the below link, then double-click on the icon named mbam-setup.exe to install this program.
   MALWAREBYTES ANTI-MALWARE DOWNLOAD LINK(This link will open a download page in a new window from where you can download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free)
2. When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the setup process, then at the last screen click on the Finish button.
   
3. On the Scanner tab, select Perform quick scan, and then click on the Scan button to start searching for the System Care Antivirus malicious files.
   
4. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware will now start scanning your computer for System Care Antivirus virus as shown below.
   
5. When the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scan has finished, click on the Show Results button.
   
6. You will now be presented with a screen showing you the computer infections that Malwarebytes Anti-Malware has detected. Make sure that everything is Checked (ticked), then click on the Remove Selected button.
   
7. Once your computer will restart in Windows regular mode, open Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and perform a Full System scan to verify that there are no remaining threats.

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STEP 4: Remove System Care Antivirus rootkit with RogueKiller

RogueKiller is a utility that will scan for the System Care Antivirus rootkit, registry keys and any other malicious files on your computer.

1. You can download the latest official version of RogueKiller from the below link.
   ROGUEKILLER DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will automatically download RogueKiller on your computer)
2. Double click on RogueKiller.exe to start this utility and then wait for the Prescan to complete.This should take only a few seconds,  then click on the Scan button to perform a system scan.
   
3. After the scan has completed, press the Delete button to remove System Care Antivirus malicious registry keys or files.
   

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STEP 5: Remove System Care Antivirus infection with HitmanPro

HitmanPro is a cloud on-demand scanner, which will scan your computer with 5 antivirus engines (Emsisoft, Bitdefender, Dr. Web, G-Data and Ikarus) for the System Care Antivirus infection.

1. You can download HitmanPro from the below link:
   HITMANPRO DOWNLOAD LINK (This link will open a web page from where you can download HitmanPro)
2. Double-click on the file named HitmanPro.exe (for 32-bit versions of Windows) or HitmanPro_x64.exe (for 64-bit versions of Windows). When the program starts you will be presented with the start screen as shown below.
   
   Click on the Next button, to install HitmanPro on your computer.
   
3. HitmanPro will now begin to scan your computer for System Care Antivirus trojan.
   
4. When it has finished it will display a list of all the malware that the program found as shown in the image below. Click on the Next button, to remove System Care Antivirus virus.
   
5. Click on the Activate free license button to begin the free 30 days trial, and remove all the malicious files from your computer.
   

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Your computer should now be free of the System Care Antivirus infection. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware to protect against these types of threats in the future, and perform regular computer scans with HitmanPro.
If you are still experiencing problems while trying to remove System Care Antivirus from your machine, please start a new thread in our Malware Removal Assistance forum.