How to remove BiFrost virus windows.exe

BiFrost virus windows.exe

Last Updated on Monday, 19 July 2010 12:31 Thursday, 24 December 2009 10:00

The file names windows.exe have appeared in an virus analysis report. You can see the report on this link,

There are several other variation, that I have included in the article.

It is identified as a backdoor Trojan Bifrose or BiFrost. It connects to remote hosts. It can download harmful files from the internet. A good firewall can detect harmful activities and prevent them. Some good freeware are ZoneAlarm Free Firewall, and Comodo Internet Security Free Edition (you can choose to install just the firewall from their security suite)

It infects Internet explorer browser. It attaches a keylogger with Internet Explorer. That will steal your user ID and passwords. So do not use Internet explorer until the virus is removed. It creates the file windows.exe on the infected computer. You need to search it and delete. You should end running processes named windows.exe from Task Manager. And also remove the file's entries from windows startup.

There are several variations in the EXE file names used by this virus. I have grouped them together in BiFrost Family category

Statutory Warning: It is possible that some legitimate application may be using the same name as that of the virus. Use Windows Defender or SysInternal Process Explorer to differentiate between them.

Boot in safe mode

Sometimes you can not delete a file. You should boot in safe mode and then try to delete it.

How to boot in safe in windows XP

How to boot in safe mode in windows Vista

View Hidden Files

You need to enable to view hidden files and folders before searching.

How to Enable to View Hidden Files and Folders in Windows XP
- How to Enable to View Hidden Files and Folders in Windows Vista

Remove Processes from Task Manager

Press Ctrl Alt Del keys to open the Task Manager. Select Processes tab. You will see a list. Look for the name windows.exe in it. Select if found and press the End Process button. It will ask for your confirmation to end that process. Select Yes. You can end one process at a time.

You can find out if a process in Task Manager is good or bad by using Windows Defender. It shows the path of a process and its publisher. Harmful processes may be shown under Unknown Publisher in windows defender.

How to use Windows Defender in windows XP

How to use Windows Defender in windows Vista

Or you can use Sysinternal's Process Explorer.

How to use Sysinternal's Process Explorer

Removing entry from windows startup

The system configuration can be started in xp and in vista by typing msconfig in the run box/ start menu search box. In xp by clicking on Start > run . The windows startup is reversible. You can check / uncheck any entry from windows startup any number of times.

Open system configuration window. Click on the Startup tab. You will see a list all the programs that are scheduled to start with windows. Expand the middle column using your mouse pointer. That will show you the full path of the program. Locate and uncheck "windows.exe" (also look for any other suspicious names) Press Apply , Press Close/Ok , Select "restart" at the next prompt.

Deleting files

The computer will restart now. After restarting use the windows search utility. Search for "windows.exe" and other names listed below. Delete the folders and files found in the search. Boot in safe mode or boot in the dos prompt if needed.

1) These are the files created by this virus

C:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\addons.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\S-1-5-21-606747145-764733703-839522115-1003\699c4b9cdebca7aaea5193cae8a50098_a7bcc1a4-f7a4-4502-8650-8579e607f7f7
C:\Program Files\windows\logg.dat
C:\Program Files\windows\windows.exe

and these folders are created by this virus

C:\Program Files\windows(this is a misleading name. This is not a legitimate folder)
delete these folders. 2) There is another variation of this virus. That adds the following files. You can see its report on this link.
C:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\addons.dat
C:\Program Files\Mesenger\logg.dat
C:\Program Files\Mesenger\windows.exe 3) Here is one more. See report FilesC:\Windows\32\windows.exe FolderC:\Windows\32 (there is no such legitimate folder in windows, you can delete it if found) 4) Another Variation. see report FilesC:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\Windows\logg.dat
C:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\Windows\Windows.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows\Windows.exe
C:\Program Files\Windows\logg.dat
C:\Windows\System32\wbem\Performance\WmiApRpl_new.h
%Temp%\IXP001.TMP\60102_1.exe
FoldersC:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\Windows
C:\Program Files\Windows
%Temp%\IXP000.TMP
%Temp%\IXP001.TMP 5) Another variation see report FilesC:\WINDOWS.EXE
C:\Windows\system\mstask.exe
C:\Windows\system.exe
C:\Windows\system32.exe 6) Another variation see report FilesC:\Documents and Settings\[UserName]\Application Data\addons.dat
C:\Program Files\progrem\logg.dat
C:\Program Files\progrem\windows.exe

Registry KeysSome of the registry keys will be automatically removed if you run Registry menu of CCleaner.

Using CCleaner

You can easily remove the files in the temp folder by running CCleaner. You can set CCleaner to run automatically each time the computer starts.

Do not forget to run CCleaner > Registry menu to remove the obsolete registry entries.