Dawn writes:
Friends were on a web site to see how to hook up a zip line for their pond. There was a link that was suppose to show a part they needed. When they clicked on it a woman dancing on a pole came up. They exited right away but now all that shows up when they try to start their computer is something that wants them to spend $100.00 or more for antivirus. I have told them not to give out any information as that is a scam but is there a way to get into their computer to fix the problem or set it to a previous date?
That is what’s known as a ransomware attack. Lockscreen ransomware locks your screen and asks that you pay for to have it fixed. You’re correct that your friends should not give out any information. This is a scam.
The best way to defend against ransomware is to keep your security and virus protection software up-to-date and only open attachments from trusted sources.
If your Windows computer is hijacked by ransomware, Microsoft suggests two ways to remove the infection. The first way is to restart your computer in safe mode and run the Microsoft Security Scanner. After completing the scan, restart your computer.
If that doesn’t work, you’ll need access to another non-infected computer that has access to the Internet. You can download a copy of Windows Defender Offline here and follow the instructions on how to create a bootable device. Then boot your infected computer from that device.
It’s a complicated process, so the best thing to do is make sure you don’t get infected in the first place. Make sure you install security software and keep your definitions up-to-date.
If that doesn’t help, your friends will need to to contact a legitimate company where they live and have a professional take care of the problem.
~ Cynthia
Cynthia,
Great tip on Windows Defneder Offline. It helped me and a friend of mine get his computer cleaned up. I now keep 2 USB sticks with WDO on them, one has the 32bit version and one with the 64bit version, since I get asked to help with stuff like this all the time. The advantage of course is that if you already have it around you don’t need to find another computer to download it with. Also be sure to put it on a USB sick that way when you boot with it WDO will update itself automatically with the latest version and malware signatures. It will format the stick so make sure there isn’t anything on it you want, it needs about 250MB I think so if you have an old smaller stick around you aren’t really using anymore that would be perfect. But the peace of mind of having it around would make it worth the 8-10 bucks a new 4GB stick would cost, What I did was buy new 4GB sticks and then put the stuff from a 2GB sticks on the new 4GBs and used the 2GBs for WDO.
I think everyone should subscribe to the newsletter it is a great help
I’ve fixed this type of problem on 5 different computers over the past couple of years by booting into safe mode, then running a system restore rolling it back by 2 weeks or so. Reboot, and it’s worked perfectly every time. It’s a quick, easy fix to this type of thing — well at least worked for us!
I have seen this problem in the past to and as to keeping your anti virus up to date the ransom ware has some way as to shut off your anti virus and spyware capabilities haven’t figured out how it does this but I will so it can get through to your computer but yes I have started in safe mode and fixed the problem also but also running anti spyware and anti malware programs can also help