How to remove BiFrost virus winhosqt.exe

BiFrost virus winhosqt.exe

Last Updated on Thursday, 07 January 2010 14:44 Thursday, 24 December 2009 08:07

The file name winhosqt.exe has appeared in an virus analysis report You can see the original report on this link

It connects and communicates to a remote host. It can download more harmful files. A good firewall can detect such harmful activities and block 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 the Internet explorer's iexplore.exe and attaches a keylogger to it. That will steal your user ID and passwords. Therefore do not use internet explorer until the virus is removed.

It creates the files winhosqt.exe on the infected computer. You need to search them and delete. You should end processes winhosqt.exe from Task Manager. And also remove the file's entries from windows startup.

This is identified as Trojan BiFrost or BiFrose. You can see other variations of this virus on this link

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 winhosqt.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 currently running 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 winhosqt.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 winhosqt.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.

These are the files created by this virus

C:\Windows\System32\skype\klog.dat
C:\Windows\System32\skype\winhosqt.exe

and these folders

C:\Windows\System32\skype

(this folder named skype has nothing to do with the popular skype internet telephony application)

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.

The Cleaner menu removes temporary files and the Registry menu removes obsolete registry keys.

You can read more about CCleaner on this link

Free tools to repair disabled folder options, registry, Task Manager problems

You can repair "disabled folder options", " disabled registry tools" disabled Task Manager etc using these free tools