Hacktool viruses are tools specially designed and used by hackers (or unauthorized users) to spread malicious Trojans, worms, siffers and viruses; they gain access to or perform identification of your computer (without your knowledge or consent) and attack your system. This virus finds its way onto your computer via spam emails, and (if and when) you visit malicious websites or download freeware.
Hacktools are harmful computer infections that generally attempt to access hosts, bypass security mechanisms inherent to the system and gain information on any system they are installed on; they are backdoor Trojans known for collecting confidential information and making use of keystrokes and keyloggers that record online/offline activities to send the information to remote hackers.
If not removed on time, these viruses can result in identity theft, bring additional viruses to your computer and make hazardous changes to your PC that result in the corruption of your system’s resources, causing it to crash.
One of the most notorious of this category of viruses is the HackTool:Win64/Gendows which commonly spreads through removable devices (such as USBs, memory sticks, pen drives, memory cards, flash drives etc.) and consequently disables your firewall, blocks security websites and downloads numerous executable and system files on you system.
Hacktools, when used ethically, can also be used to protect a network of computers from external hackers. Users often tend to forget that despite its potential utility, it can be used maliciously be hackers. Although there are no obvious symptoms for this infection, you may experience one or a few of the symptoms given below if your system has been infected with the virus:
- Your computer starts performing slow and weird.
- The default settings of your internet browser(s) are overridden.
- Legally installed software may start malfunctioning.
- Important files and information is deleted from your system.
- You are redirected to (or forced to) visit unintended and un-trusted websites and advertisements that may lead you pay money for completely worthless products.
The stealthy nature of this virus prevents it from being detected by most normal antivirus programs. Therefore, experts recommend thoroughly scanning your system using SpyHunter; an advanced antimalware tool that responds with advanced technology and offers additional customization capabilities to ensure complete protection for your system.
The good news, however, is that this nuisance can be removed. Depending on how sever the infection is, removing the hacktool virus can be as simple as running a scan using antispyware programs or as complicated as having to completely format your computer. Either way, this virus must be removed from your computer immediately when discovered.
Manual Removal Of The Hacktool Virus
Follow the steps given below to remove the Hacktool virus manually:
Step 1 – Restart your computer and press F8 before windows launches; navigate to ‘Safe Mode with networking’ using your arrow keys and press enter
Step 2 – Stop all processes related to the virus. You can do this by:
- Going to the Task Manager by pressing ALT+CTRL+DELETE or 2) Clicking Start and typing Taskmgr.
Once the Task Manager window opens up, locate and stop all running processes related to the tricky HackTool:Win64/Gendows virus.
Step 3 – Show all hidden files and folders and delete all files related to HackTool:Win64/Gendows:
Click Start>Control Panel>Appearance and Personalization>Folder Options; in the pop-up dialogue box, click the View tab and uncheck Hide Protected Operating system files in the Advanced settings section. Once all system files are visible, delete the following malicious ones:
%TEMP%\ HackTool:Win64/Gendows
%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\GDIPFONTCACHEV1.DAT
%WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\drivers\etc\hosts
%TEMP%\errorchecker.txt
%TEMP%\stcheck.txt
%APPDATA%\CyberGater.exe
%TEMP%\icheck.txt
Step 4 – Delete all registries created by HackTool:Win64/Gendows
Click the Start button, type regedit in the search box and press enter; once the registry window opens up, search and delete all of the following registries related to HackTool:Win64/Gendows:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\HackTool:Win64/Gendows\DisplayIcon%AppData%\[RANDOMCHARACTERS]/[RANDOMCHARACTERS].exe
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\HackTool:Win64/Gendows
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ HackTool:Win64/Gendows\UninstallString%AppData%\[RANDOMCHARACTERS]/[RANDOMCHARACTERS].exe
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce\[RANDOMCHARACTERS]%AppData%\ [RANDOMCHARACTERS]/[RANDOMCHARACTERS].exe
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ HackTool:Win64/Gendows ShortcutPath%AppData%\[RANDOMCHARACTERS]/[RANDOMCHARACTERS].exe
Step 5 – Restart your system
Once you have completed steps 1 to 4, simply restart your computer in normal mode.
The complex nature of the manual removal process requires a certain degree of expertise in computers; any mistake made in the process can permanently damage your system. For inexperienced users who are not IT experts, using a a highly-effective and very simple, user-friendly antivirus application designed to detect, remove, and protect your PC from the latest malware attacks and deliver custom-fixes to malware problems that may be unique to your computer is necessary.
