The solution is not what it’s cracked up to be. Read on to find out how this supposedly helpful tool is actually hiding malware.

Here’s the backstory

Quickly gaining in popularity, Windows Toolbox claims to let you remove pre-installed apps, tweak your system’s performance and get Windows updates. This is in addition to allowing you access to Android apps through the Google Play Store. But according to Bleeping Computer, as soon as users started to dig around in the tool’s code, they made a startling discovery. While it did all the things it promised, the toolkit also includes rudimentary Trojan malware. Part of the malware sent users’ locations to a central server, but the primary payload served as a way to generate revenue by redirecting users to affiliate and referral URLs. Bleeping Computer notes when infected users navigate to WhatsApp’s browser page, “the script will redirect them to one of the following random URLs, which contain make money scams, browser notifications scams, and promotions of unwanted software.”

What you can do about it

The Windows Toolbox isn’t a typical program that you install onto your computer through traditional methods. Instead, it is a script (or executable code) that tells your operating system what to do. As such, you can’t simply uninstall it like you usually would. So, if you have (or ever had) the malicious Windows Toolkit on your Windows PC, there are a few things you must do to delete it.

On your desktop, double-click This PCDouble-click on Local Disk (C:)Navigate to the folder C:\Windows\security\

If you see any of the following files or folders, click on it once to select it, then press Shift and Del at the same time. Finally, click Yes to permanently delete them without sitting in the recycle bin. The files to look for are:

C:\Windows\security\pywinveraC:\Windows\security\pywinveraaC:\Windows\security\winver.png

There is also a hidden c:\systemfile that you must delete. If you don’t see it at first, click on View in the top tab and tick the box Hidden Items.

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