Home Malware Programs Fake Warning Messages 'Hard Drive Failure' Fake Alert

'Hard Drive Failure' Fake Alert

Posted: July 14, 2011

'Hard Drive Failure' alert is a fake error message that's used by rogue defragmentation programs such as Smart Defragmenter and FakeHDD. Although the 'Hard Drive Failure' alert will look and sound like a realistic if obtuse Windows error, the truth is that 'Hard Drive Failure' alert isn't an accurate indication of a hard drive problem, since rogue security programs like the ones above have no hard drive error-detecting features. Warning messages like 'Hard Drive Failure' alert and others will continue to appear until you've purchased this fake defragmenter, or until you've removed the rogue security program from your computer, with the latter, obviously, being the preferable solution.

Why 'Hard Drive Failure' Alert Shouldn't Make You Fear for Your Hard Drive

'Hard Drive Failure' alert is only one of many different fake errors that are created by a given family of rogue defraggers. This family includes many different 'products,' with some examples being WinScan, Windows Diagnostic, Smart Defragmenter, FakeHDD, System Repair and Windows Tool. However, each program uses almost all of the same code, banking on a victim's unfamiliarity with this family of rogue security applications to proceed with its scam.

'Hard Drive Failure' alert and other errors will appear on a semi-randomized basis no matter how well off your computer is. The full text of the 'Hard Drive Failure' alert is as follows:

'Hard Drive Failure'
The system has detected a problem with one or more installed IDE / SATA hard disks. It is recommended that you restart the system.

Other errors that are similar to 'Hard Drive Failure' alert will maintain a similar sense of technical urgency and try to imply that your hard drive has considerable problems. Some of the most noteworthy examples include:

Critical Error
Hard Drive not found. Missing hard drive.

32% of HDD space is unreadable

Requested registry access is not allowed. Registry defragmentation required

GPU RAM temperature is critically high. Urgent RAM memory optimization is required to prevent system crash

Ram Temperature is 83 C. Optimization is required for normal operation.

In all cases, you should ignore 'Hard Drive Failure' alert and similar warnings. Rogue programs that create 'Hard Drive Failure' alert errors are incapable of finding anything wrong with your computer and are likely to cause problems of their own, in addition to these false positives.

The Right Way to Get 'Hard Drive Failure' Alert Off Your Screen

Removing 'Hard Drive Failure' alert is as simple as removing the rogue defragger that causes it to appear. However, System Repair and other rogue security applications that use 'Hard Drive Failure' alert may interfere with your PC in other ways that make this more difficult, if not impossible:

  • You may find that files are displayed improperly or even don't show up at all. This is a defining characteristic of this subgroup of rogue security programs and doesn't mean that your files have been damaged or deleted. These file-viewing attacks are based on altering Windows Explorer, and if you use another program, such as Command Prompt, you'll be able to see and access your files.
  • You may also see programs failing to function correctly, especially in the case of security, anti-virus and general system maintenance tools. Once again, these programs aren't damaged but simply are being blocked by the rogue security application that's responsible for 'Hard Drive Failure' alert. Using Safe Mode or booting from a removable device should launch Windows without this rogue security software becoming active, which will let you use your security software to get rid of 'Hard Drive Failure' alert and related rogue security software.

File System Modifications

  • The following files were created in the system:
    # File Name
    1 %LocalAppData%[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe
    2 %StartMenu%Programs[fake program name][fake program name].lnk
    3 %StartMenu%Programs[fake program name]Uninstall [fake program name].lnk

Registry Modifications

  • The following newly produced Registry Values are:
    HKEY..\..\..\..{RegistryKeys}HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerDownload "CheckExeSignatures" = 'no'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMain "Use FormSuggest" = 'yes'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced "Hidden" = '0'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced "ShowSuperHidden" = '0'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet Settings "CertificateRevocation" = '0'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionInternet Settings "WarnonBadCertRecving" = '0'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesActiveDesktop "NoChangingWallPaper" = '1'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesAssociations "LowRiskFileTypes" = '/{hq:/s's:/ogn:/uyu:/dyd:/c'u:/bnl:/ble:/sdf:/lrh:/iul:/iulm:/fhg:/clq:/kqf:/'wh:/lqf:/lqdf:/lnw:/lq2:/l2t:/v'w:/rbs:'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesAttachments "SaveZoneInformation" = '1'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesSystem "DisableTaskMgr" = '1'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun "[RANDOM CHARACTERS]"HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRun "[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionpoliciessystem "DisableTaskMgr" = '1'

Additional Information on Hard Drive Failure alert

  • The following messages's were detected:
    # Message
    1 Hard Drive Failure

    The system has detected a problem with one or more installed IDE / SATA hard disks. It is recommended that you restart the system.

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