XP Antispyware 2023 (XPAntispyware2011) Virus Removal Guide

xp antispyware 2011

Virus Type: Rogue Security Application
Threat Level: 8 / 10

The following programs are similar to XP Antispyware 2023 -

XP Security 2023, Win 7 Internet Security 2023, Win 7 Antimalware 2023, Vista Antispyware 2023, Vista Antispyware, Win 7 Antimalware, Vista Guard, Vista Internet Security, XP Internet Security 2023, Win 7 Guard, Win 7 Security 2023, XP Security, XP Antispyware 2023, Vista Internet Security 2023, Vista Antimalware 2023, Vista Antimalware, Win 7 Security, XP Antispyware, XP Antimalware, XP Internet Security, Win 7 Antispyware 2023, XP Antimalware 2023, Vista Security, XP Guard, Vista Security 2023, Win 7 Internet Security, and Win 7 Antispyware.

XP Antispyware 2023, also known as XPAntispyware 2023, is a fake antivirus application. XP Antispyware 2023 generally infects systems running Windows XP. XP Antispyware 2023 is a clone of Total XP Security. XP Antispyware 2023 is generally installed through the use of a trojan horse. XP Antispyware 2023 main executable is PW.exe, which is similar to AV.exe and AVE.exe. XP Antispyware 2023 will modify the registry; therefore, the registry must be fixed before removing PW.exe. The comments here and comments here may provide insight. PW.exe is generally a hidden file.

Below is our recommended removal tool for XP Antispyware 2023. The removal tool has been rated 5 cows out of 5 by Tucows and was previously CNET’s Editor’s Choice. Feel free to download it below.

If you are unable to run the removal tool, or are unable to run any programs in general, you may need to stop the processes associated with XP Antispyware 2023 with task manager. If task manager has been blocked by XP Antispyware 2023, try using Process Explorer.

It is recommended to use safe mode when removing the virus because XP Antispyware 2023 will generally not be able to load in safe mode. To enter safe mode, restart the computer and press F8 multiple times before the Windows screen to bring up the boot options.

Boot Menu

The safe mode with networking option will allow the user to be able to use the internet in safe mode. XP Antispyware 2023 can be removed by using the

or by manually removing the virus.

View XP Antispyware 2023 Files
View XP Antispyware 2023 Keys

Common symptoms and characteristics of XP Antispyware 2023 and other rogue security programs include:
1. XP Antispyware 2023 is generally installed without user permission.
2. XP Antispyware 2023 uses pop ups and fake virus scans to scare the user.
3. Various antivirus and system programs on the user’s computer will stop functioning.

Manual XP Antispyware 2023 Removal – In order to manually remove XP Antispyware 2023, the processes associated with XP Antispyware 2023 must be stopped, the files associated with the processes must be removed, and the registry entries must be corrected to the previous state before XP Antispyware 2023 entered the computer.

Important: Before attempting to manually remove XP Antispyware 2023, we recommend that the user read through comments posted by other users on how they removed specific fake antivirus programs since many fake antivirus programs are similar. These comments can be found by clicking here. These comments may provide additional information which may be useful in removing XP Antispyware 2023. However, please use discretion since these specific comments pertain to other fake antivirus programs.

Stop XP Antispyware 2023 Processes (Learn How To Do This)
PW.exe

Remove XP Antispyware 2023 Files (Learn How To Do This)
C:\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\PW.exe

Remove XP Antispyware 2023 Registry Keys (Learn How To Do This)
 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\XP Antispyware 2023
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\XP Antispyware 2023
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\XP Antispyware 2023

Remove XP Antispyware 2023 Startup Entry (Learn How To Do This)
PW.exe

Common Questions -
1. What is a computer virus? (Click Here To View)
2. How did I get this computer virus? (Click Here To View)
3. What common symptoms show that my computer may be infected? (Click Here To View)
4. What is a rogue security application? (Click Here To View)
5. What are some antivirus and antispyware programs which I can use to remove viruses and spyware? (Click Here To View)

If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to comment below. If you need any help with any of the steps, please don’t hesitate to comment below. We recommend that you follow our safety tips so that you can keep your computer clean Please Click Here to View Our Safety Tips.

Your feedback is very highly valued by others so please feel free to comment below. Please feel free to share a solution that you may have used to remove Vista Antispyware 2023.

Posted in: Malware Removal

This entry was posted on Monday, November 15th, 2023 at 2:03 am and is filed under Malware Removal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

13 Responses to “XP Antispyware 2023 (XPAntispyware2011) Virus Removal Guide”

L Hayward February 19th, 2024 at 9:51 pm

Thank you for ur written advice – finally got Stopzilla to run – wuld not run Malwarebytes – waiting with head in hands hoping this works – pain in the butt – never had a virus before – good thing I have a back up

Osnat April 2nd, 2024 at 5:48 pm

I got this virus that open the xp antispyware and dont alow me to open anything else
the filw LQV.exe comes up when I try to run the antivirus/explorer/regedit/msconfig/ or download or run any new SW and so on so i cant delete it it is also active on safe mode
I can access my computer. if I know where it is saved I can delete it.

Jay April 4th, 2024 at 4:18 am

Wow this was a vicious virus. Thanks to much searching on this website I finally fixed my computer.

The file showed up as vno.exe for me. Noticed no one had that one listed. I deleted it. For reference I’m using XP.

Thx to some Christian guy somewhere on this site I was able to kinda pinpoint what file it was I had to get rid of. Noticed the CPU usage in the Task manager every time I tried opening something that was blocked by the virus.

When looking in C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Local Settings\Application Data make sure to click on Tools. Folder Options. View. Check the radio button “Show Hidden files and folders”. Also uncheck “Hide protected system operating files.” This should show the hidden file causing the prob.

I then followed Kwisatz Haderach’s post from this site:

“1.I pasted this text onto the notepad application:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\.exe]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\secfile]
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\shell\open\command]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@=”exefile”
“Content Type”=”application/x-msdownload”

2.Then I saved it to my desktop naming it fix.reg

3.I then opened up the newly made .reg file and clicked yes when prompted whether or not I wanted to update my registry with the newly modified information.”

But I was still getting the “Open with” error so I then followed Alex’s post from this site as well.

“1. Open Task Manager
2. Click File, then holding CTRL, click on “New Task (Run…)”
3. A command prompt window should open. Type in “regedit.exe”
4. You should now have the registry editor open. Go into HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / .exe
5. Change the (Default) entry to “exefile” if it isn’t already (it was secfile for me)
6. Now go into HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / exefile / shell / open / command and change the (Default) entry to (“%1″ %*) without the brackets.”

Everything seems to be working now. Running Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware now to make sure there’s no more files infected. Hope all works out and I hope this helps you out.

Couldn’t have done it without all these good people’s help. Also I think I ended up getting the file from isohunt. Unsure but that’s when the probs started.

Prism April 5th, 2024 at 6:57 am

Yes, isoHunt seems to be at least one of the sources of the XP/Vista Antispyware 2023 trojan. I got the trojan on my computer, and it was definitely while I was browsing isoHunt. Probably a rogue ad on the site. I hope they fix it soon.

Christopher April 5th, 2024 at 12:14 pm

I just got hit with this this morning at work. It was named exc.exe. I had a similar attack last summer at home with System Security, so I knew how to find the file and delete it quickly. Unfortunately, it killed my ability to open and .exe file, so I downloaded the regfix and I’m good now.

However, I am unable to find any of the registry entries lsited above. Any chance they are listed in the registry under something other than XP Antispyware 2023?

Eric Tardif April 6th, 2024 at 3:12 pm

Thanks jay, your post helped me a lot !!

Trias April 7th, 2024 at 3:19 am

I’ve got XP Antispyware 2023 in its new incarnation. None of the instructions above helped. There is no pw.exe anywhere in the system. I cannot open either browser or regeditor – a new process lia.exe immediately pops up and kills everything. More, XP Antispyware runs while Windows is running in safe mode… Yes, this is true! I manually scanned user profiles for anything suspicious – no success. Out of options… any ideas how to approach this?

Devon April 7th, 2024 at 4:02 pm

I got it from browsing Isohunt.

Jasper Quick April 8th, 2024 at 5:46 am

Take your HDD out and put it in your other computer (grab a used one for $100 of eBay w/ IDE, PATA or SATA whatever your other one has) as a slave or as Drive #1 or whatever, just so it is not the boot drive. Change the bios if it tries to boot from the infected drive. Then grab a copy of STOPzilla or any other good malware cleaner that allows you to do a custom scan of a non-boot HDD and you’re ready to rock.

beth April 15th, 2024 at 10:07 pm

I’ve just spent the day freaking out because i got the XP Antispyware 2023 virus. After reading many Google pages of long drawn out directions, I was really scared. Out of desperation, I tried this — I’ve had “Spybot Search and Destroy” on my computer for years. It is COMPLETELY FREE, they accept donations. I use it only for spyware. I ran it once, it caught 28 instances of malware items. I did the “Fix it” tab, rebooted, and I am all good!!!!

Jan April 21st, 2023 at 2:14 pm

I had that virus and followed the above directions but I’m still getting an error with my automatic updates. It says that auto updates is not active, but when I check the system file, it is turned on. I also had to go into regedit and delete some files.

Mig May 21st, 2023 at 10:50 pm

I don’t have any PW files to delete this xp antispyware 2011. Can someone please help me.

Deficitlondon June 13th, 2023 at 9:02 am

I’ve got this virus twice in the last couple of weeks from browsing Isohunt. Once on 28th May, then again last night. Running XP SP2 with Firefox 4.

I’m reformatting and reinstalling windows & all my software from scratch, only takes a couple hours. I don’t wanna keep going round this loop every 2 weeks though.

Avira anti-virus doesn’t pick it up, so I imagine AVG & Avast will also miss it.

Anyone know how best to prevent this from happening in first place, prefer using free apps like MalwareBytes etc? Wondering if switching to Google Chrome will help, I heard security in Chrome was better than Firefox/IE?

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