S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery

S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery

Description: S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery ( AKA Data Recovery) is a malware client. Basically it's a virus that attempts to trick and scare the user into making a purchase. All the error messages you are getting are bogus. This client is a clone of Smart HDD. It's the same user interface. Only the name has changed to avoid detection. The makers of this virus will most likely keep releasing the same threat over and over with a different name. This is typical for how these kind of scams work.

S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery is not nearly as bad as most fake security clients.

How Did I get infected with S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Virus?

I got my live sample from surfing some well known warez sites. It's rather easy to get infected. In my case I did have to install the program. It was pretending to be a video codec. This is normally how these kind of malware programs get installed. They can however auto install on computer under the right conditions. Normally through security holes like not have an active antivirus client installed to block the virus.

How Much Damage is S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Virus Doing?

Little damage is being done. You will notice you may not be able to use most programs on the computer. They get shut down right away. Besides the warning messages and programs being blocked little else is done. There is no key logger trying to snap up your social profiles and banking info.

Some of the warnings you may get from this virus

Critical Error!
Damaged hard drive clusters detected. Private data is at risk.

Critical Error
Hard Drive not found. Missing hard drive.

Critical Error
RAM memory usage is critically high. RAM memory failure.

Critical Error
Windows can’t find hard disk space. Hard drive error

Critical Error!
Windows was unable to save all the data for the file \System32\496A8300. The data has been lost. This error may be caused by a failure of your computer hardware.

Critical Error
A critical error has occurred while indexing data stored on hard drive. System restart required.

System Restore
The system has been restored after a critical error. Data integrity and hard drive integrity verification required.

Activation Reminder
Data Recovery Activation
Advanced module activation required to fix detected errors and performance issues. Please purchase Advanced Module license to activate this software and enable all features.

Low Disk Space
You are running very low disk space on Local Disk (C:).

Windows – No Disk
Exception Processing Message 0×0000013

Critical Error
Hard drive clusters are partly damaged. Segment load failure.

All of these warnings are just there to scare you into making a purchase. The error messages are quite funny to those who understand the Windows OS platform well. For example you may get a low disk space warning but when you look at the drive you may have 100 plus gigs free. It's rather easy to tell these are bogus messages to a trained computer user.

S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery

» Download S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Removal Software

How to Remove S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery?

The below guide cover how to remove the smart Data Recovery virus. We do recommend every user scan their computer with a paid antivirus client. Free clients are great but they do not have the latest definitions or offer the same level of protection as paid clients.

Automatic S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Removal

Online S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Removal Service

S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Manual Removal Procedures

1.The first step you must take in order to remove the S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery virus is to stop the program from running. Not such a hard step. Below is an example of what the program name will look like. Your file trace will be different.

• c453rfetbh.exe (Fake alert from system tray).
  s345ghfj.exe (S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Program)

To stop the above processes we recommend you do one of the following

1A. download Spyware Doctor with Antivirus and run a quick scan. It will find the above traces. Than manually browse to the directory those files are in and delete or re-name them. You will most likely have to boot into safe mode with networking to be able to install the client. If you are not sure how read our How to boot into safe mode guide.

1B. Right click on the S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery icon on the desktop and select properties. Now copy the file path into Explorer (Not Internet Explorer). Should look something like c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTemp or c:UsersYOUR USER NAMEAppDataLocalTemp . Now rename the above executables or executables that look close

1C. Browse to c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTemp or c:UsersYOUR USER NAMEAppDataLocalTemp and re-name the above executables or executables that look close

The next step in S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery removal is to delete the following file: KEEP IN MIND YOU TRACES ARE RANDOM AND WILL NOT BE THE SAME TRACES. Run a full virus scan using Spyware Doctor with Antivirus to learn the file names.

Windows XP:

• C:>Documents and Settings>YOUR USER NAME>Local Settings>Application Dataadasd.dll

• c:>Documents and Settings>YOUR USER NAME>Local Settings>Application Datacxdcfvgbh.exe

• C:>Documents and Settings>YOUR USER NAME>Local Settings>Application Datatmp1D53.tmp

• C:>Documents and Settings>YOUR USER NAME>Local Settings>Application DatatmpBF0D.tmp

• C:>Documents and Settings>YOUR USER NAME>Local Settings>Application Datatmpf4f.tmp.exe

Windows Vista/7:

• c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTempadasd.dll
  c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTempcxdcfvgbh.exe
  c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTempsdfghj.exe
  c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTemptmp1D53.tmp
  c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTemptmpb0fa.tmp.exe
  c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTemptmpBF0D.tmp
  c:UsersadminAppDataLocalTemptmpf4f.tmp.exe

After you delete off the above traces you need to do a full virus scan if you have not already done so. This is to ensure you are not infected with any other viruses. As mentioned before we like Spyware Doctor with Antivirus

If you find this threat too hard to remove yourself and need an expert we recommend www.pcninja.com . They charge far less than others and are great at what they do.

S.M.A.R.T Data Recovery Registry Removal Procedures

Below are the file trace locations. I do not recommend people go into the registry and remove them. You are better served using an antivirus client to remove these traces. Keeping them there causes no harm or ill effects. If you delete the program then the traces don't matter. For all intent and purposes consider them deleted already.

• HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun “[random]“
• HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun “[random].exe”

SmartHDD Directories:

Windows Vista/7:

• C:UsersadminAppDataLocalTemp

Just run a junk file cleaner. The junk cleaner will empty this folder

If you require advanced help or just want an expert to remove the virus than use this computer repair service. The charge is under a hundred bucks and they can often get started right away. These are real experts when it comes to malware and virus removal. The name of the company is pcninja.com. They do a very solid job of removing malware like this on computers.

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