How to Remove Antivirus XP 2008

Today, I helped an office user remove Antivirus XP 2008 from their computer, which is no easy task.  According to a CA, they this stuff as rogue security software.

Security software that uses deceptive means for installation and purpose. Once installed, the rogue software usually uses scare tactics to inform the user that spyware or malware is installed on their system. The rogue security software then claims to offer remediation in exchange of payment. These applications can come bundled with other malware that serve other purposes. This software usually comes in the form of Anti-spyware, or Anti-virus applications.

Yahoo answers provided a few different methods for removing Antivirus XP 2008 from your computer. 

My favorite, which is also a manual process, is listed below.

1. First you need to stop the program from loading on startup.  Navigate to your Start Buton --> Run
2. Enter "msconfig" without the quotes and hit enter.
3. Select the "Startup" tab
4. Uncheck "lphc25dj0e1an" and Uncheck "rhc75dj0e1an"
5. Note where the files are located, because you will need to delete them in future steps
6. Click Apply and OK
7. Restart your computer
8. Delete the two(2) files from step #4.  You remember to write down the file locations, right?
9. Next, we need to fix the background wall paper, that probably still has a message on it.
10. Navigate to your Start Buton --> Run
11. Enter "Gpedit.msc" without the quotes and hit enter.
12. Navigate to User configuration--> Administrative Templates--> Control Panel--> Display
13. Right click on Remove Display in Control Panel and select Properties
14. Select Disable.
15. Repeat steps 13 and 14 for:
    Hide Desktop Tab
    Prevent changing wallpaper
    Hide Apperance and Themes tab
    Hide Settings tab
    Hide Screen Saver tab
16. You should now be able to update your desktop background. (Right click-->properties) on your desktop.

--Chris