How To: Manually remove ThinkPoint / Fake MSE from your PC

If you've ever seen something called ThinkPoint Antivirus on your computer, you have gotten one ofhte most widespread and infectious fake antivirus malware programs out there. To get it off your PC, follow the instructions below, or watch this video for an alternate method if this one doesn't work.

From the Creator:

1. Reboot your computer
2. After your manufacturer's logo, tap the F8 key
3. Select "Safe Mode with Networking"
4. Select your operating system
5. Log in as the account named "Administrator"
6. Run Task Manager
7. Kill hotfix.exe
8. Run explorer.exe
9. Download and install Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware from http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe and run a Quick Scan.
==IF THIS DOES NOT WORK FOR YOU==
10. Download Combofix from http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/combofix
11. Click Yes on the disclaimer
12. Click No on the Windows Recovery Console option
13. After the scan, dismiss the log and reboot your machine

==MANUAL REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS==
Delete the following files:

%UserProfile%\Application Data\hotfix.exe (in Windows XP)
%UserProfile%\AppData\roaming\hotfix.exe (in Windows Vista/7)

(Hint: Type %userprofile% into the path field of an Explorer window to find where it is)

Navagate to the following registry key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/WINDOWS NT/CURRENT_VERSION/Winlogon]

Edit the key
"Shell"
so that the data becomes
C:\Windows\explorer.exe

Note: For manual removal, you may need to log on to all accounts on the machine to fix the registry key