Passma is a worm that spreads itself through infected email attachments, via vulnerable software and networks. The Passma worm may attempt to steal your username and password, computer name, IP address, and other personal information and send it to an attacker. The Passma worm may also infect your personal documents, delete your computer programs, and corrupt your computer system files.

Do You Have Passma?

When you’re infected with badware — whether it’s Passma, spyware, adware, a Trojan, or a virus — there are a few key symptoms. Have you noticed…

• Slow computer performance: It just takes one parasite like Passma to slow your computer dramatically. If your PC takes longer than usual to reboot, or if your Internet connection is unusually slow, you may be infected with Passma.
• New desktop shortcuts or switched homepage: Badware like Passma may change your Internet settings to redirect your homepage to another site. Badware can even add desktop shortcuts to your PC.
• Annoying popups: Badware can bombard your computer with popup ads, even when you’re not online. Through these popups, you may be tricked into downloading more spyware.

How to Remove Passma Manually

Before we get started, you should backup your system and your registry, so it’ll be easy to restore your computer if anything goes wrong.

To remove Passma manually, you need to delete Passma files. Not sure how to delete Passma files? Click here, and I’ll show you. Otherwise, go ahead and…

Remove Passma processes:

StopPassma DLL files:

Delete Passma files:

Unregister Passma registry keys:

Note: In any Passma files I mention above, “%UserProfile%” is a variable referring to your current user’s profile folder. If you’re using Windows NT/2000/XP, by default this is “C:\Documents and Settings\[CURRENT USER]” (e.g., “C:\Documents and Settings\JoeSmith”). If you have any questions about manual Passma removal, go ahead and leave a comment.

How Do You Remove Passma Files?

Need help figuring out how to delete Passma files? While there’s some risk involved, and you should only manually remove Passma files if you’re comfortable editing your system, you’ll find it’s fairly easy to delete Passma files in Windows.

How to delete Passma files in Windows XP and Vista:

1. Click your Windows Start menu, and then click “Search.”
2. A speech bubble will pop up asking you, “What do you want to search for?” Click “All files and folders.”
3. Type a Passma file in the search box, and select “Local Hard Drives.”
4. Click “Search.” Once the file is found, delete it.

How to stop Passma processes:

1. Click the Start menu, select Run.
2. Type taskmgr.exe into the the Run command box, and click “OK.” You can also launch the Task Manager by pressing keys CTRL + Shift + ESC.
3. Click Processes tab, and find Passma processes.
4. Once you’ve found the Passma processes, right-click them and select “End Process” to kill Passma.

How to remove Passma registry keys:

Because your registry is such a key piece of your Windows system, you should always backup your registry before you edit it. Editing your registry can be intimidating if you’re not a computer expert, and when you change or a delete a critical registry key or value, there’s a chance you may need to reinstall your entire system. Make sure your backup your registry before editing it.

1. Select your Windows menu “Start,” and click “Run.” An “Open” field will appear. Type “regedit” and click “OK” to open up your Registry Editor.
2. Registry Editor will open as a window with two panes. The left side Registry Editor’s window lets you select various registry keys, and the right side displays the registry values of the registry key you select.
3. To find a registry key, such as any Passma registry keys, select “Edit,” then select “Find,” and in the search bar type any of Passma’s registry keys.
4. As soon as Passma registry key appears, you can delete the Passma registry key by right-clicking it and selecting “Modify,” then clicking “Delete.”

How to delete Passma DLL files:

1. First locate Passma DLL files you want to delete. Open your Windows Start menu, then click “Run.” Type “cmd” in Run, and click “OK.”
2. To change your current directory, type “cd” in the command box, press your “Space” key, and enter the full directory where the Passma DLL file is located. If you’re not sure if the Passma DLL file is located in a particular directory, enter “dir” in the command box to display a directory’s contents. To go one directory back, enter “cd ..” in the command box and press “Enter.”
3. When you’ve located the Passma DLL file you want to remove, type “regsvr32 /u SampleDLLName.dll” (e.g., “regsvr32 /u jl27script.dll”) and press your “Enter” key.

That’s it. If you want to restore any Passma DLL file you removed, type “regsvr32 DLLJustDeleted.dll” (e.g., “regsvr32 jl27script.dll”) into your command box, and press your “Enter” key.

Did Passma change your homepage?

1. Click Windows Start menu > Control Panel > Internet Options.
2. Under Home Page, select the General > Use Default.
3. Type in the URL you want as your home page (e.g., “http://www.homepage.com”).
4. Select Apply > OK.
5. You’ll want to open a fresh web page and make sure that your new default home page pops up.

Passma Removal Tip

Is your computer acting funny after deleting any Passma files? I recommend using a program like File Recover from PC Tools. File Recover saves deleted files that otherwise can’t be recovered by Windows operating sytem.

Want to save time finding Passma files? Download Spyware Doctor, let it find the Passma files for you, and then manually delete Passma files.

How Did You Get Passma?

Wondering how Passma ended up on your PC? If you’re infected with Passma or other badware, perhaps you were using…

• Freeware or shareware: Did you download and install shareware or freeware? These low-cost or free software applications may come bundled with spyware, adware, or programs like Passma. Sometimes adware is attached to the free software to “pay” developers for the cost of creating the software, and more often spyware is secretly attached to free software to harm your computer and steal your personal and financial information.
• Peer-to-peer software: Do you use a peer-to-peer (P2P) program or other application with a shared network? When you use these applications, you put your system at risk for unknowingly downloading an infected file, including applications like Passma.
• Questionable websites: Did you visit a website that’s of questionable nature? When you visit malicious sites that are fishy and phishy, badware may be automatically downloaded and installed onto your computer, sometimes including applications like Passma. I recommend you use Firefox web browser, if you don’t already.

Understanding Passma

If you’re infected with Passma, you should know what you’re fighting. I’ll explain some definitions related to Passma.

Passma May Be a Worm

Worms are virus-like badware with destructive codes. Worms are able to mutate, or replace their own code by automatically, which makes worms very dangerous, difficult to find, and hard to delete. Similar to viruses, worms can spread to the other computers by secretly and automatically emailing themselves to other Internet users in your address book. The main difference between worms and viruses is that a worm wil replace your computer files rather than simply inserting their code into your files.

Passma is also known as: W32 Passma.worm.c, W32 Passmail-D, Passma WormW32 Passma, W32 Passma Worm C, Worm Win32 Passma, Worm.Win32.Passma