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Published May 04, 2006 | Updated Sep 15, 2017

Worm:Win32/Evaman.G@mm

Detected by Microsoft Defender Antivirus

Aliases: No associated aliases

Summary

Win32/Evaman.G@mm is a mass-mailing worm that targets Microsoft Windows. The worm spreads by sending itself as an e-mail attachment to e-mail addresses that it finds using Yahoo! People Search. The worm infects the computer when the user opens the e-mail attachment. 
To recover manually from infection by Win32/Evaman.G@mm, follow these steps:
  1. Disconnect from the Internet.
  2. Restart your computer in safe mode.
  3. End the worm process.
  4. Delete the worm files.
  5. Delete the worm registry entries.
  6. Restart your computer.
  7. Take steps to prevent re-infection.

Disconnect from the Internet

To help ensure that your computer is not actively infecting other computers, disconnect it from the Internet before proceeding. Print this Web page or save a copy on your computer; then unplug your network cable and disable your wireless connection. You can reconnect to the Internet after completing the following steps.

Restart your computer in safe mode

To start your computer in safe mode
  1. Remove all floppy disks and CDs from your computer, and then restart your computer.
  2. When prompted, press F8. If Windows starts without displaying the Please select the operating system to start menu, restart your computer. Press F8 after the firmware POST process completes and before Windows displays graphical output.
  3. From the Windows Advanced Options menu, select a safe mode option.

End the worm process

To end the worm process
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
  3. Select the process wintasks.exe if it exists, and click End Process.

Delete the worm files

To delete the worm files
  1. Click Start, and click Run.
  2. In the Open field, type the path to the system folder. (For Windows NT-based systems such as Windows 2000 or Windows XP, the path to the system folder is %windir%\System32; for other Windows systems such as Windows 98 or Windows ME, the path is %windir%\System.)
  3. Click OK.
  4. Click Name to sort files by name.
  5. If wintasks.exe is in the list, delete it.
  6. In the Open field, type %temp%.
  7. Repeat steps 3 through 5.
  8. On the Desktop, right-click the Recycle Bin and click Empty Recycle Bin.
  9. Click Yes to confirm.
If deleting the file(s) fails, follow these steps to verify that wintasks.exe is not running:
  1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL once and click Task Manager.
  2. Click Processes and click Image Name to sort the running processes by name.
  3. Confirm that wintasks.exe is not in the list.

Delete the worm registry entries

Win32/Evaman.G@mm creates entries in the Windows registry that attempt to run the worm every time Windows starts. These entries should be deleted.
To delete the worm registry entries
  1. On the Start menu, click Run.
  2. Type regedit and click OK.
  3. In the left pane, navigate to the key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
  4. In the right pane, right-click the following value, if it exists: Wintasks
  5. Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
  6. In the left pane, navigate to the key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
  7. In the right pane, right-click the following value, if it exists: Wintasks
  8. Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
  9. In the left pane, navigate to the key:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  10. In the right pane, right-click the following value, if it exists: wintasks.exe
  11. Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
  12. In the left pane, navigate to the key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
  13. In the right pane, right-click the following value, if it exists: wintasks.exe
  14. Click Delete and click Yes to delete the value.
  15. Close the Registry Editor.

Restart your computer

To restart your computer
  1. On the Start menu, click Shut Down.
  2. Select Restart from the drop-down list and click OK.

Take steps to prevent re-infection

Do not reconnect your computer to the Internet until the computer is protected from re-infection. See the section on "How to Prevent Infection" for more information.
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