Web Talk

Suspicious.Mystic is another virus/trojan which aims to detect other malicious software that has been  morphed by attackers. This guide will show how to remove it easily. Before starting,  I would like to spend a couple of words about this “unorthodox” virus. In fact, differently from other traditional malware such as Thinkpoint and Antivirus Action, Suspicious.Mystic won’t look for security holes in your computer. Its main goal is find other viruses, spyware, trojan and general malware which is already “available” on your computer. Once it detects one of these threats, it will install itself on the machine and will use them to “promote” itself and convince the user to buy fake antiviruses by displaying scareware such as fake virus warnings. Let’s see  how to remove and delete it by using a proper software removal and an easy manual procedure on Windows 7, Windows Vista and XP.

The main issue with Suspicious.Mystic is that once it is installed on the computer, it will mess up with explorer.exe (a file manager application that is included with releases of the Microsoft Windows).  This will cause your installed antivirus to put explorer.exe on quarantine thus invalidating and deleting your Task Manager. In this “Domino Effect”, rebooting your computer will result in a further problem. In fact, once the computer has completely rebooted, you won’t be able to see the icons on the desktop, the Start button and the bottom bar.

1. Reboot your computer.
2. As soon as the computer start, keep pressing F8 repetitively. This will let you get to the Safe Mode menu.
3. Select Safe Mode With Command Line from the list.
4. Once you are in Safe Mode, press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to open the Windows Task Manager tab.
5. If you can not open the Task Manager, go to C:\WINDOWS\system32 and click taskmgr.exe from there.
6. Look for any process labeled Suspicious.Mystic and kill it. (End process)
7. Now, open the Windows Registry. To do it, click Start. ( you should be able to see it).
8. In the Search box (if you use Windows 7), or Run.. (if you use Windows Vista ro Windows XP) type regedit and press Enter.
9. Locate and delete the following registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Suspicious.Mystic
10. Now, go to C:/Program Files and delete any folder related to Suspicious.Mystic Virus.
11. Restart your computer in normal mode.
12. Download and install Malwarebyte Anti-Malware free edition. Run it and follow its step-by-step procedure.
13. If explorer.exe doesn’t work yet, read this guide on how to fix explorer.exe.

Another  (even easier) procedure which seems to work for a lot of users is to follow the step number 2 on the above guide. However, instead of pressing F8 you will have to press F11. This will let you gain access to the recovery partition. Follow the steps to restore last good known computer configuration. Reboot your computer and follow step 12 or alternatively, scan your computer with your favorite antivirus (do not forget to update the antivirus first!). This will delete any Suspicious.Mystic rootkit or virus files.