Drume Ransomware Virus - How to remove

Would you like to pay $490 for the ability to use your own files? That’s what Drume ransomware will offer after it enters your computer. This severe infection is going to encrypt most of your personal files stored on the hard drive, so they can be kept as a hostage. Also, $490 is considered to be a discounted price if you don’t hesitate and pay within 72 hours after the infection. Regular price is 50% bigger – $980.

Obviously, it is ridiculous to pay money for files that rightfully belongs to you. However, some unlucky users are forced to do that because they are simply not aware of other ways to get those files back. If your computer is infected with Drume virus but you are reading this article, you are sort of lucky, because we will teach you how to avoid paying the ransom and bypass this requirement. Also, we will tell how to completely remove this malware from your computer and ensure that it would remain safe in the future, so just keep reading.

Why Drume Encrypts Files

So you already know some key facts about Drume virus – it enters computer systems, encrypts files and then asks for a ransom to be paid. It’s kind of self-explaining why they use encryption technology – to block your access to files and to be able to manipulate this matter. However, you are still missing out on some technical details of Drume, which are needed to better understand this infection and ransomware viruses in general.

We have examined some viruses that are pretty similar to this one – Mr-X666, Golden Axe, or DJVU Ransomware, so we know how it works. First of all, malicious files of the ransomware need to be uploaded to your computer and most of the time that is done by sending spam emails with files attached to it. Cyber criminals are good ’social and they imply those techniques to spread viruses. Those emails declare that you have some important information waiting for you in the attached files. However, those files turn out to be a virus. That’s why we do not recommend to open emails from the Spam folder.

Once that is done, Drume will use a special cryptography to change the structure of your files, attach .drume extension at the end of every file and then upload two files on your desktop – sample.jpg and _open_.txt. It is a ransom note and it goes like this:

ATTENTION!

Don’t worry my friend, you can return all your files!
All your files like photos, databases, documents and other important are encrypted with strongest encryption and unique key.
The only method of recovering files is to purchase decrypt tool and unique key for you.
This software will decrypt all your encrypted files.
What guarantees you have?
You can send one of your encrypted file from your PC and we decrypt it for free.
But we can decrypt only 1 file for free. File must not contain valuable information.
You can get and look video overview decrypt tool:
https://we.tl/t-W8DuFk4wwu
Price of private key and decrypt software is $980.
Discount 50% available if you contact us first 72 hours, that’s price for you is $490.
Please note that you’ll never restore your data without payment.
Check your e-mail “Spam” folder if you don’t get answer more than 6 hours.

To get this software you need write on our e-mail:
[email protected]

Reserve e-mail address to contact us:
[email protected]

Your personal ID:
–

As you can see, they also provide two email addresses – [email protected] and [email protected] to contact them. However, we do not recommend to do that, neither pay the ransom. You can’t be guaranteed that they will provide you with a decryption tool even after paying the ransom. Also, you would be supporting cyber criminals by doing this, and that’s not a good thing to do.

How To Restore Files Locked by Drume

Before restoring your files, you should completely eliminate Drume from your system. It can be done by scanning your computer with Spyhunter. Either one of those programs should be able to immediately detect and eliminate all files associated with Drume.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to use yet, because removing the virus is not enough. You also need to perform a system restore to get your files back. If you need further instructions, please follow our step-by-step guide provided below.

Automatic Malware removal tools

How to recover Drume Ransomware Virus encrypted files and remove the virus

Step 1. Restore system into last known good state using system restore

1. Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt:

for Windows 7 / Vista/ XP

• Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
• Press F8 key repeatedly until Advanced Boot Options window appears.
• Choose Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

for Windows 8 / 10

• Press Power at Windows login screen. Then press and hold Shift key and click Restart.
• Choose Troubleshoot → Advanced Options → Startup Settings and click Restart.
• When it loads, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list of Startup Settings.

 

2.Restore System files and settings.

• When Command Prompt mode loads, enter cd restore and press Enter.
• Then enter rstrui.exe and press Enter again.
• Click “Next” in the windows that appeared.
• Select one of the Restore Points that are available before Drume Ransomware Virus has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Drume Ransomware Virus

After restoring your system, it is recommended to scan your computer with an anti-malware program, like Spyhunter and remove all malicious files related to Drume Ransomware Virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Drume Ransomware Virus affected files using Shadow Volume Copies

If you do not use System Restore option on your operating system, there is a chance to use shadow copy snapshots. They store copies of your files that point of time when the system restore snapshot was created. Usually Drume Ransomware Virus tries to delete all possible Shadow Volume Copies, so this methods may not work on all computers. However, it may fail to do so. Shadow Volume Copies are only available with Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. There are two ways to retrieve your files via Shadow Volume Copy. You can do it using native Windows Previous Versions or via Shadow Explorer. a) Native Windows Previous Versions Right-click on an encrypted file and select Properties → Previous versions tab. Now you will see all available copies of that particular file and the time when it was stored in a Shadow Volume Copy. Choose the version of the file you want to retrieve and click Copy if you want to save it to some directory of your own, or Restore if you want to replace existing, encrypted file. If you want to see the content of file first, just click Open.

b) Shadow Explorer It is a program that can be found online for free. You can download either a full or a portable version of Shadow Explorer. Open the program. On the left top corner select the drive where the file you are looking for is a stored. You will see all folders on that drive. To retrieve a whole folder, right-click on it and select “Export”. Then choose where you want it to be stored.

Step 4. Use Data Recovery programs to recover Drume Ransomware Virus encrypted files

There are several data recovery programs that might recover encrypted files as well. This does not work in all cases but you can try this:

• We suggest using another PC and connect the infected hard drive as slave. It is still possible to do this on infected PC though.
• Download a data recovery program.
• Install and scan for recently deleted files.

Note: In many cases it is impossible to restore data files affected by modern ransomware. Thus I recommend using decent cloud backup software as precaution. We recommend checking out Carbonite, BackBlaze, CrashPlan or Mozy Home.