OFFERAdvanced Identity Protector
Advanced Identity is a potentially unwanted program that is supposed to protect your virtual privacy, but tends to use underhanded techniques of promoting its paid version. Advanced Identity Protector is known for using false/exaggerated warnings to lure the user into purchasing the full version.
While this app is technically not malware and is owned and developed by a legitimate software company – Systweak Software – there are more than enough reports from both regular users and security experts that inform about the dubious mechanics used by this software in order to market and promote its Premium version (which is paid), which causes people to regard it as a PUP (potentially unwanted program).
The most notable example is the use of false positives or exaggerated results from privacy scans, the goal of which is to evoke fear and panic in the user and thus prompt them to try to protect their privacy by buying the Premium version of the app (which is purportedly able to solve the detected problems). The real issue here, however, is that there may not be any problems, to begin with or, if there are, fixing them could probably be done without the need to purchase specialized software.
Such scare tactics are not uncommon for many security and privacy tools, the creators of which are aimed at maximizing their profits. In many cases, those dishonest techniques aren’t even illegal (as seems to be the case with Advanced Identity Protector). Nevertheless, if you have this program on your computer, and it is constantly nagging you with worry-inducing warnings about various problems with your virtual privacy, it may be best to delete this app rather than double-down on it and buy its Premium variant.
The Advanced Identity Protector Virus
The Advanced Identity Protector virus is how many users refer to this program without realizing it is actually a legitimate and legal piece of software. The reason people refer to it as the Advanced Identity Protector virus is its questionable distribution methods and intrusive behavior.
We already mentioned what the biggest problem with the behavior of this program is – its use of scare tactics that are aimed at intimidating you into purchasing the paid version of the tool. There, however, is another notable reason that explains why people see this software as undesirable, and that reason is the way it gets distributed.
File-bundling seems to be the primary method used to get this software installed onto the computers of more users. While this is a perfectly legitimate method of software distribution, it is also infamous for being used to spread less-than-desirable apps that most people would prefer to have removed from their computers. Case in point, the Advanced Identity Protector app is most often installed onto the users’ computers without the knowledge of the user thanks to the file-bundling method. Given the choice, most users would prefer to have this software removed from their systems.
This brings us to yet another issue with the Advanced Identity Protector that some users seem to have, and that issue is its removal. While there are instructions on the app’s site that explain how it can be uninstalled, it seems that some users haven’t been able to delete the program using those instructions. This could be due to different changes that this PUP makes in the system that allow it to remain there in spite of one’s attempts to delete it. If you are among the users who have Advanced Identity Protector on their computers and are struggling to delete it, down below, you will find detailed instructions that will let you thoroughly clean your PC from all data and settings related to the PUP.
Advanced Identity Protector – should I remove it?
You should remove Advanced Identity Protector if the program is interfering with your undisturbed use of the computer it is installed on. In addition to ADvanced Identity Protector, you should also remove any other potentially unwanted programs that may have been installed alongside it.
As we said, Advanced Identity Protector is mostly distributed using file-bundling techniques, so it wouldn’t be any kind of surprise if other undesirable apps have also been installed on your computer alongside it. For this reason, during the completion of the following guide, we strongly recommend that you also check for questionable apps, processes, data, and settings items that may be related to other undesirable apps which could have entered your PC together with Advanced Identity Protector.
SUMMARY:
| Name | Advanced Identity Protector |
| Type | PUP |
| Detection Tool | Some threats reinstall themselves if you don't delete their core files. We recommend downloading SpyHunter to remove harmful programs for you. This may save you hours and ensure you don't harm your system by deleting the wrong files. |
How to remove Advanced Identity Protector
To remove Advanced Identity Protector, you can first try using the conventional removal steps:
- Click on the Start Menu, type appwiz.cpl in the search bar, and press Enter.
- Find the Advanced Identity Protector in the list of programs and select it.
- Click the Uninstall button at the top of the list.
- Remove Advanced Identity Protector by following the steps in the uninstaller.
*While performing the uninstallation, be very careful with what removal options you choose. There may be hidden/not obvious options that may need to be enabled or disabled in order to ensure that everything from this program gets deleted.
If the conventional removal of this program doesn’t fully remove it and all of its data and processes from your PC, you will have to perform the full manual removal process. The exact steps for deleting Advanced Identity Protector are shown below – be sure to carefully follow them, and don’t hesitate to ask us questions down in the comments in case you are having difficulties with any of the steps.
Step 1
Simultaneously, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to get the Task Manager on your screen, and then select its second tab (Processes). Look for processes that are named Advanced Identity Protector or have names similar to that. If such processes are shown in the Task Manager, right-click them and select Open File Location. Before you do anything with the newly-opened folder, go back to the Task Manager, right-click the unwanted process again, and select End Process. Now go to the location folder of the process and remove the entire folder alongside everything that’s in it from your PC. If you aren’t allowed to do this right now, delete whatever files you can from the location folder and continue with the guide. After you are done with all of the next steps, come back to that folder and attempt to delete it once again.
Regardless of whether you found any Advanced Identity Protector processes or not, we also recommend looking for other questionable processes in the Task Manager – ones that have unusual and unfamiliar names and that use up lots of system resources such as virtual memory and CPU (as shown in the Task Manager). To find out if those processes are indeed unwanted, you can either Google them and see what information you can find about them, or scan the contents of their file location folders with the following scanner:
We recommend using both methods to find out if any of the processes you may suspect need to be stopped.
Step 2
WARNING! READ CAREFULLY BEFORE PROCEEDING!
Put your computer in Safe Mode to make it so that Advanced Identity Protector won’t be able to re-launch its processes and further hinder your attempts at removing this app.
Step 3
Click on the Start Menu, type cleanmgr, press the Enter key, and when the Disk Cleanup: Drive Selection screen appears, make sure that the C: drive is selected and then click OK.
Wait for the Disk Cleanup utility to calculate how much disk space it can free up and when it’s done, and you see a list of different items, check the Temporary files and the Thumbnails entries, uncheck everything else, and click OK. The Disk Cleanup utility will delete the specified types of data, hopefully erasing any remaining files related to the Advanced Identity Protector app.
Step 4
There are several areas of your system where Advanced Identity Protector may have made changes and left its mark – any such changes need to be revoked in order to be sure that the unwanted app is truly gone from your PC. Use the Start Menu to find the next items, open them, and complete the instructions we’ve given for each of them.
Task Scheduler – When you open the Task Scheduler windows, click on Task Scheduler Library in the top-left and then look at the tasks listed in the central panel. If there you see any Advanced Identity Protector tasks, right-click them and select the Delete option to remove those tasks. Also do the same thing with any other tasks shown in the Task Scheduler that are unfamiliar and seem suspicious or unwanted.
Regedit.exe – Before the regedit.exe (Registry Editor) app starts, you will be asked to provide your Admin approval, so select Yes when Windows requests your permission to continue.
Next, in the Registry Editor Window, click the Edit menu, then open Find, and type Advanced Identity Protector in the search bar. Now press Enter to search for related items in the Registry of your system. If a search result is found, delete that item and search again for other Advanced Identity Protector items. Each search will yield only one result, so be sure that after each deletion you search once more to ensure that there aren’t any more related items left in the Registry.
Once you’ve erased everything related to the unwanted app from the Registry, navigate to each of the next three directories by using the left panel of the Editor:
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Main
In each of the three directories, you must look for items with unusual names that stand out from the rest – we are talking about items with names that are suspiciously long and/or consist of randomized letters and numbers (something like this, for instance “48ujr9843gf98hgoijr98u4roeducj93ruo”). If such items can be seen in any of the three Registry directories, let us know in the comments, and we will soon inform you if those items need to be deleted.
Msconfig – When you see a window named System Configuration on your screen, access its Startup tab. If you are on Windows 10, click the Open Task Manager option to access the startup items list. Now, look at the startup items – if there is one or more named Advanced Identity Protector, uncheck their checkboxes. Also, uncheck any other suspicious and potentially unwanted items, and then click on OK.
notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts – When a text file named Hosts opens, scroll down to the bottom of the text in it and see if there are some IP addresses listed there, right under the two lines that end with “Localhost”. If you see any IPs, copy them and then post them down below, in the comments section. We will have a look at what you’ve sent us and soon reply to your comment, informing you whether you need to delete those IPs from your Hosts file.
Alternative removal method
If the instructions shown on this page prove insufficient for the removal of the Advanced Identity Protector app, then we recommend that you install a specialized removal tool on your computer that is capable of dealing with PUPs like this one and use it to remove the Advanced Identity Protector.
Note that the majority of conventional antivirus and anti-malware tools wouldn’t flag the Advanced Identity Protector as a threat and won’t help you with its removal. On the other hand, the removal program we’ve linked in our guide specializes in dealing with PUPs that may not necessarily be categorized as malware. At the same time, the tool posted on this page is still capable of dealing with threats like Spyware, Trojans, Worms, Rootkits, and more, so, in addition to helping you delete the PUP you’re currently struggling with, it will also keep your system protected against all sorts of malware.
I down loaded Advanced Identity Protector and plan to remove it. My question is if I saved all my passwords on another device can they still see my passwords or find them if not stored on my computer?
Hi Cecelia,
most likely, no. If they are stored on a different device you should be fine.