Desote.exe (Desote) Trojan Virus File Information

Danger Desote.exe is a dangerous file which creates activities on a user’s computer which may be highly undesirable. This file is unsafe.

Related To: Windows Police Pro
Type: Trojan Virus (Click Here To Learn More)
Location: C:\WINDOWS\system32\desote.exe (Click Here To Learn How To Locate)
Risk Level: Moderate (Learn More About Risk Levels)

Desote.exe is generally bundled with Windows Police Pro, a fake antivirus program. Below is our recommended removal tool for Desote.exe. 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.

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Manual Removal – Desote.exe may be removed through analyzing your HijackThis log. Feel free to post your hijackthis log below if you need assistance analyzing it. Hijackthis will be ideal to manually remove the virus

Click Here To Learn About HijackThis. To download HijackThis, please click HERE.

Desote.exe File Details -
File Type – EXE – Desote.exe is a executable file
First Identified – Aug 31 2023

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. How can I check if desote.exe is a computer virus? (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)

We recommend that you follow our safety tips so that you can keep your computer clean. Please click here to view our safety tips

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 31st, 2023 at 12:12 pm 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.

23 Responses to “Desote.exe (Desote) Trojan Virus File Information”

Richard August 31st, 2023 at 1:20 pm

I deleted desote.exe but the malware had already vectored EXE processing to that file, so I cannot now run any EXE files. There seems to be a separate process killing REGEDIT when I start it. Any thoughts?

dave August 31st, 2023 at 1:53 pm

I deleted desote.exe also and tried downloading stopzilla. it said the download was complete instantly as i clicked save and when i tried to run it it said that i had to chose which program to run it with. im thinking that this trojan messed with my internet connection but im not sure. i definitely need some help with this.

Guru August 31st, 2023 at 1:56 pm

Hello Richard,

If you have desote.exe on your computer, you most likely will have Windows Police Pro. If you do, it may be Windows Police Pro or specific files associated with the program stopping you from running executable files. Look for the following files

C:\WINDOWS\svchast.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\dddesot.dll

I would run these files through virustotal.com to confirm that these files are threats.

Please let me know if this helps. If it doesn’t, please let me know more specifics of the issue. If you have resolved the issues, please feel free to post below.

Also, are you able to open task manager?

Guru August 31st, 2023 at 2:20 pm

Hello Dave,

The virus may have damaged your registry.

Here is some information I pulled up on the web.

https://windowsxp.mvps.org/exefile.htm

However, the virus has most likely blocked regedit from working. It may have also damaged other components / registry values. Please note that the information is from 2004 so it may be designed more for XP.

Please let me know if this helps. Also, if you are able to resolve the issue, please feel free to post below the steps you took to resolve the issue.

Izzatzo September 1st, 2023 at 12:38 am

You can fix this if you have a free copy of Hiren’s Boot CD. You can boot with WinXp Lite and use RegeditPE.bat to edit the registry remotely(both on 9.8 version). A registry search finds that the exefiles entry in the HKLM/Software/classes has been hijacked. Changing the desote.exe entry back to the original “%1″%* completes the fix. Rename or delete the previously named infected files and run a registry search for those names completes the fix. Good Luck.

Tracey September 1st, 2023 at 4:41 am

Hi! I have this virus on my other computer… however I cannot start any programs to fix it…. not even in safe mode. Are there any other ways to reboot the computer that may work thanks!

Patsy September 1st, 2023 at 2:19 pm

I have the same problem — can’t download any repair program. I got into msconfig and found some suspect entries — and disabled them — but on start-up one of them reappears braviax

Help

Sheila September 2nd, 2023 at 3:57 am

I can’t seem to download anything either. I have tried getting rid of windows police pro and it seems to come right back. How can I get into my files so I can download ad-aware? I can download but, I can’t open anything.

Theo September 2nd, 2023 at 4:32 pm

You will have to remove the hard drive from your PC and either slave it to another PC or put it into a USB hard drive enclosure. Then run your software on the drive from there. Preferably an updated version of Malwarebytes. Run a full scan. After returning the drive to the original PC run your software again.

morggie September 3rd, 2023 at 4:55 am

i have the same problem, i can’t uninstall anything and i also have some anti_virus 2010. I keep getting pop-ups and i can’t download anything. Nothing works on safe mode either. I dont have any problems losing the information on the computer but it’s a netbook and I dont have a place to put the CD. what should i do?

MrGazo September 3rd, 2023 at 12:05 pm

Izzatzo

You are a hero!

Your post on September 1st, 2023 at 12:38 am Is the winner against the fight for this “pain in the neck virus”

I did exactly what you said – deleted those registry keys (obviously backed them up first)that had anything to do with desote.exe. At least I can run exe files including my AV now. Busy running AV scan now with CA. Only picked up one “FakeAlert” virus so far. Don’t think it is going to pick up the real problem one though. Ran the trial of StopZilla which found a large no. of viruses that Updated CA has not. Have to pay to remove them though – probably worth more than the money to get this client’s pc back to them working!

Thanks a million for the post!

Greg September 3rd, 2023 at 5:05 pm

Thanks Izzatzo, your info helped my get back into one of my systems so I could clean it up. I edited the registry remotely from another PC on the network.

Bob September 6th, 2023 at 4:17 pm

I am a novice and this popped up on my computer……C:\windows\system 32\desote.exe
I have no idea where to start. I can open Int. Explorer, Google, My Bank Account, Google, Recyle bin, but not much else……..I
I am

Jess September 9th, 2023 at 3:00 am

Rename desote.exe to desote.exe.txt
and reboot.
It worked for me as I’m removing this from a buds pc.
That way you’ll at least be able to execute programs again, use regedit (only use regedit if know what you’re doing), download virus scans, and so on.

From there, follow this:
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090907122942AAHiQ4H

Janet September 9th, 2023 at 5:13 am

I just spent four hours trying to remove the desote virus and Police Patrol Pro and tried all kinds of things until I came across this link:

https://www.myantispyware.com/2009/08/31/remove-windows-police-pro-uninstall-instructions/#comment-262312

I had tried running malwarebytes but the virus disabled all the virus protection software. I couldn’t access the internet from the infected computer so I accessed the internet with my computer and saved the OTM and malwarebytes software as well as the two text files onto a CD and then followed the instructions and everything is fine now!

Mikedown September 9th, 2023 at 2:50 pm

My Cpu is screwed, i bought it used and without the disks it came with. It a dell, it was a good pc but in all the moves i have been in the windows disk disappeared, or just doesn’t work. This sucks, i bet this is just another way to get people to buy new pc’s.

Mike September 9th, 2023 at 2:54 pm

My space or facebook, which was it. Thats where this virus came from.

Windows Police Pro / WindowsPolicePro Virus Removal Guide | Virus Removal Guru September 17th, 2023 at 10:48 pm

[...] Windows Police Pro Processes (Learn How To Do This) Windows Police Pro.exe svchast.exe desote.exe [...]

Mike September 21st, 2023 at 3:53 am

I spent some time evaluating this virus because it is one of the worst I have seen. It was tracked back to MySpace in the two cases I came across. The virus created it’s own system 32 folder and made some serious changes to the registry. It also re-parsed the documents folder to another location. It appeared all the user documents were missing but the virus sends the user to another location with the re-parse. As one other post stated you will need a way to fix the registry like Hirens boot cd. I am still looking it over but I chose to re-install windows on the machines because of the damage this virus created in the registry. I have seen some bad stuff guys but this one is a serious problem if you get it.

Joe September 21st, 2023 at 4:40 pm

There seems to be several variants of this virus, some stronger than others. My sone corrupted his PC by going out to foreign web sites to watch Animie’s. This thing blocked, hid or deleted everything. We had no browser, no windows explorer, no windows back up/restore, no windows security center, no windows system access, and when we discovered that we could get out to the web in Safe Mode with Networking we were only allowed to get to certain sites. Everything and anything having to do with Windows or Microsoft was disabled. What a nightmare. I ended up tapping Geek Squad. It cost a few bucks but saved me a ton of cursing and wasted time and was well worth every cent. So if you get that stuck, I recommend them. Also, make sure your installed anti-virus is working and up to date, my son had turned off Zone Alarm because it interfered with his on line games. UGH!! We now installed McAfee and it does the job without game interference.

Candie October 5th, 2023 at 1:25 pm

How can I get a free copy o Hirens boot cd

Janet October 20th, 2023 at 7:36 am

Don’t be too quick to rely on McAfee for protection. Our computer was running and “protected” by McAfee when it was infected with desote virus. I went to their site and did a search for answers and they had nothing listed. Even two months later they have no information about it and the computer was just reinfected. I am planning to by Avast or malwarebytes since they both seem to stop it.

RaSA March 9th, 2024 at 2:13 pm

I have been downloading a file and after that all my .exe files are not opening. They only opens like music files. What shoud I do? I don’t know maybe it’s not a virus..

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