Been hit with above virus. Think I picked it up when trying to find a live football match on the net. had mixed advice about it. One computer guy said just say goodbye to all your files, wipe clean the hard drive, reinstall a clean windows package £50+

another guy said don't listen to that computer guy he is a liar cant be trusted (strong words about a competitor) we can sort it out and you wont lose any files. No fix no fee or £35 if we sort it.

any other opinions? thanks

I suggest you wait for Mark to reply, as I'm sure he will.

No fix no fee. .
Thats more like if we cant do it your files are gone but we wont charge you.

How important is the data on your pc, if its not important just format and reinstall.

Do you have a name for the ransomware.

If your files are so important then you need guarantees that its going to work, not just a no fee were sorry.

To do it properly, you need to clone or image the drive. Then try and fix it.

Personally, if you can get your files / pictures off there, i would reinstall from scratch so you know its a clean system and there isn't further trouble ahead.

You should also consider updating your passwords on anything and everything, and keep an eye on your bank statements. If your locked out you should at the least disconnected it from the internet, cable or wifi. Update router passwords for your wifi.

Maybe a bit over the top, but we dont know what your dealing with just yet.

Will it allow you to do a system restore??

General trick for cryptolocker is to boot up in safe mode, delete all the cryptolocker stuff, reboot. Then restore all the files you want from system restore, takes your files back in date to last restore but gets you going.

It is better to do a clean install, you never know what hidden wonders might have been included.

What security software were you using? Most should have stopped this happening.

Crypto locker is the worst virus of them all I am afraid. I work in IT and have had many people with it.

the first version of crypto locker can be decrypted but the newer versions can't. If you don't have your files system restore won't work as all a system restore will do is restore the operating system and leave your personal files on touched.

Crypto locker has a built-in mechanism which disables system restore and previous versions so you can't roll back. The only way to get your files back is if you have a backup. The crypto locker virus itself can quite easily be removed from the computer using AVG or similar.

Have Avast security software. did a virus scan only day or 2 before and it didn't flag anything. Don't know if this virus just hits you or takes its time over a few hours or day to screw your docs and pictures up. had a few warnings whilst on net about long script running.

You need AutoSandbox and DeepScreen switched on in Avast to prevent cryplocker and a number of other nasties, one of the reasons I didn't like Avast when I ran it for a few months.

Great Video that DD i want the music.

It really does screws with your files.
They are nasty pieces of work.

If you downloaded a app to view the sport, i would guess that is a good starting point. As you probably gave it the permission to run.

I'm a cyber security analyst and systems engineer, I've came across cryptolocker ransomware many times, mainly due to research: There is no "fix" for cryptolocker, it encrypts your files with RSA Encryption, the only way to decrypt it is to get the private key, which would be from the "attacker" themselves, hence the name ransomware. No company should charge you £50 for a format and reinstall, that's a bit pricy seeing someone could do it themselves rather easily. Also, no one can guarantee you a fix for £35 without losing files, not unless he somehow manages to have the private keys, if so, I'm sure a lot of people would like to have a friendly chat with him. Just to add, Kaspersky labs managed to gain access to one of the ransomwares control servers, they released a tool which managed to decrypt a small amount of infectees, a quick Google will bring the information up. Hope it helps!

I know it's like bolting the stable door after the Horse has gone, but you should always regularly back up your personal files to an EXTERNAL HDD (Hard drive), and remove the HDD from the computer after backup, otherwise the cryptolocker will infect that drive as well.
If you end up getting infected, format ALL the drives in the PC, then re-install the OS and then restore your files from the External HDD, not forgetting to remove it after the restore.
DON'T leave it connected!
It's a drawn out process but at least you don't lose everything.
To speed up the OS instalation, you can always make a system image and a repair disk, once you have the PC set up as you want.

Good Point about the External Drives being disconnected.
I didnt know that / forgot about that.

Seems the first computer guy was correct and not a liar .. Unfortunately the promises of the "we can fix it no problem and you wont lose any files £35 " were not forthcoming and he had to wipe my hard drive and reinstall. Are computer shops that desperate they have to malign their competitors and make false promises of their own in order to get business

its like they hold you to ransom, as you need your computer the longer they take the more desperate you become, and then the point comes when you say "Just do what you have to do". ..

So are you saying you went to the £35 no fee.
If so were you charged.

This is interesting:

http://www.zdnet.com/article/cryptowall-ransomware-vaccine-available-for-free-download/

Would you trust it!!. Damage done for me. Went with the no fix no fee guy who then couldn't do it but did a delete and clean of hard drive--and charged more than £35. At least am back up and running again and thankfully my last previous back up meant I only lost a few files. Which reminds me--back up time