PowerLocky virus - How to remove

Crooks design ransomware viruses so they would run through different layers of society and destroy their will to fight. Frightened people tend to be more easily manipulated: that is why such crypto-infections thrive from victims’ overwhelming shocks. PowerLocky is a recently discovered disease, circulating around the Internet and lurking for its prey. It is similar to the infamous Locky virus and appends the same extension to the encrypted files: .locky. A more detailed analysis will be described in the preceding parts of this article.

About PowerLocky virus

As soon as a ransomware can celebrate its successful invasion of your privacy and security, it usually places an ordinary file in one of the directories of users’ PCs. PowerLocky virus’ payload might be dropped in a similar manner. Then, it is about time to begin the encryption process with AES-128 cipher. It targets a variety of files, from which a couple would be finished up with such extensions: .docx .dot .dotm .dotx .fla .flv .frm .gif .gpg .hwp .ibd .jar .java .jpeg .jpg .key .lay .lay6 .ldf .m3u .m4u .max .mdb .mdf .mid .mkv .mov .mp3 .mp4 .mpeg .mpg. Of course, the full list of the targeted data is way longer: that means that all of your files can be ruined. The corrupted entities will have an extension appended to it: .locky. To inform users about the situation at hand and give some valuable “tips”, crooks leave behind a letter named _HELP_instructions.html.

We present a special software Locky Decrypter which Allows to decrypt the return statement and control to all your encrypted files is.
How the buy to Locky decrypter?
1. Download and install Multibit application. This will give you your own Bitcoin- wallet address. You can find it under the “Request ” tab. Paste this in the “Your BTC- address” field below.
2. Buy Bitcoins, the price is 500 $ / 0.74290893 BTC and send it to your own Bitcoin-wallet address, they will show up in the Multibit app that you installed eartier. From there, hit the “Send” tab. The remaining of BTC of Post Send (bitcoin) to the this-the Bitcoin wallet address: lEBfQtzia9JbKzAAwBcnXB6n447jECumg2
Now the submit the The form the below, only the if you’ve Actually sent the Bitcoins. Upon manual verification of the transaction you will receive the decrypter through email within 12 hours. The ALL of your files is / the data will of the then the BE unlocked and decrypted automatically, the HTML ransom files is will of Also the BE removed.
The Do the NOT the remove the HTML ransom files is or the try to Temper A files is in the any way, Because decrypter will of not work Anymore.
Please the remember the this is the only ! way to ever regain access to your files again

How to Decrypt the Files Encrypted by PowerLocky Virus?

PowerLocky virus demands a ransom of a 500 $ / 0.74290893 BTC. This transaction will have to be done via Bitcoin payment system and more specific instructions are presented in the letter from hackers. However, we cannot help but wonder why does the message has so many errors: sometimes it is even difficult to quickly grasp what hackers are trying to explain. You should never trust these “helpers” and avoid spending money on them. Especially when there are two options for decrypting your data. Download, install and execute this decryptor. Or try this one, if the previous did not work. As for the future, make sure to learn from your mistakes and store your valuable data in backup storages.

How is PowerLocky Virus Distributed?

Internet users are mostly targeted via their email accounts. Crooks can send around seemingly legitimate notifications, informing about specific innovations or necessities. At many occasions, these letters will look very convincing and it will be hard to separate safe ones from dangerous. But the first red flag might be the fact that usually such messages have attachments or links. Avoid being lured to press such content: you might download PowerLocky ransomware. The consequences can be very unfortunate.

The recommended manner to eliminate PowerLocky ransomware is to employ antivirus tools. Spyhunter or Hitman can clean out your system and make sure that no mistakes are made. On the other hand, you also choose a manual removal instead.

How to recover PowerLocky 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 PowerLocky ransomware has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of PowerWare ransomware

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 PowerWare virus. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore PowerLocky 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 PowerLocky ransomware 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 PowerWare ransomware 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.