How to remove WinHound

WinHound is a trojan, which silently installs itself to vulnerable computers by exploiting certain system or web browser security flaws. It can also be dropped by some parasites. Once executed, WinHound installs several other dangerous threats, changes the Internet Explorer default home page and the desktop wallpaper. The new wallpaper warns the user that the system is infected with spyware and asks to download and install WinHound, which is a corrupt illegally distributed anti-spyware program. The modified start page may redirect the user to insecure advertising web sites. The trojan can use a rootkit to cloak its files, running processes and other related objects. WinHound automatically runs on every Windows startup.

WinHound does not produce false positives, provides updates and indeed finds well-known and widely spread spyware and adware parasites. Nevertheless, we DO NOT recommend purchasing and using this product.

The program is being promoted through aggressive and deceptive advertisements. Some insecure web sites and certain parasites illegally install WinHound to numerous computers without user knowledge and explicit consent by exploiting certain system vulnerabilities. Furthermore, WinHound is dropped by several hijackers and trojans that change the web browser's default settings, redirect the user to undesirable web sites and continuously serve unsolicited commercial advertisements and pop-ups. Although we are not sure who actually is responsible for such WinHound distribution and installation methods, we surmise that the application's vendor or its affiliates are trying to promote and sell the product that way.

It seems that WinHound uses components of PSGuard, another infamous corrupt spyware remover. Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta1 and some other reliable tools detect files installed by WinHound as PSGuard objects. 

Free version of WinHound refuses to remove any parasites it finds. It asks to register and purchase the full product. The program is prone to mislead the user. Even if it did not detect any malware, it still displays a warning message saying that “This computer is infected with malicious ware, and your system security is at serious risk.”