XP Antivirus is one of those counterfeit antivirus programs whose only real aim is to dupe you into buying a worthless and potentially harmful computer virus “fix”, that does nothing except install more spyware and fraudware onto your computer, and you get to pay for it! Lucky you! XP Antivirus is a Trojan horse that affixes itself onto your computer, usually through a video codec download, and wreaks havoc day and night on your machine until you figure out how to get rid of it. Let me tell you how it got there, what it can do, and how to get rid of it.

Likely you were surfing one day and tried to download or view a video and you were presented with a window that opened up and told you that you needed to download this codec to view the video. Once you did, you were warned of impending doom if you don’t immediately take action to counter the varied and multiplying instances of virus infection on your computer. It starts, without your permission, a “scan” of your computer, which is in itself a fake. It quickly (too quickly if it was a real scan) comes up with a list of supposed threats that you need to take care of right away, or the very viability of your computer may well be at risk. Well, at least they got that part right, but what you need to be rid of is this program itself. It is XP Antivirus, and it’s definitely something I would take seriously.

The very fact that it initiated a scan on your computer without asking should be a clue. No legitimate software or program would do this. If you’ve ever experienced this as I have, it’s very alarming, and I can see how many could easily be duped into thinking they need to follow directions, especially those who have been lax in using antivirus or antispyware protections. You get scared, and out comes the credit card and boom! You’re toast!

Once this “scan” is done, you are presented with a fix, and that is to buy their full version of the software that just found all these threats for you, and all your virus problems will be over. In fact, the opposite is true. You will have started down a slippery slope by allowing this program to not only con you out of a fee for worthless “protection”, but XP Antivirus has very likely brought more unwanted visitors with it: in the form of other, more damaging software, such as keyloggers, which record keystrokes on your computer, potentially capturing much of your vital personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, pins and so on.

What you need to do at this point is get the XP Antivirus off your machine. You can do this manually, but unless you are aware of the many files and places it can hide, you may well be doing this for the foreseeable future. What I would suggest is to take advantage of some real antispyware software, such as my antispyware solution SpyZooka. I offer a free scan of your computer, and an industry leading 60 day 100% money back guarantee to remove spyware from your PC.