"Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software" ransomware - How to remove

“Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software” ransomware is a virus that displays a fake warning on the infected computer saying that your computer is blocked and you have to pay a fine to regain access. A program can also encrypt a part of your files with no guarantee to recover them. This type of programs show how important it is to have regular backups of your data, if you don’t want to lose any of it.

Here is a message that you will receive, if your computer was infected by “Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software” ransomware. Keep in mind that it does not have to be exactly the same as this one. There are several versions of these warnings, but their contents are practically the same:

Your computer was automatically blocked. Reason:Pirated software

Your computer is now blocked. 84 files have been temporarily blocked. To regain computer access and restore files you are requires to pay a fine. Blocked files will be permanently removed from your computer if the fines is not paid.
The NSB has two ways to pay a fine:

1. You can pay your fine online through BitCoin. BitCoin is available nationwide. Click the tabs below to find the nearest vendor. You computer will be unblocked after the payment is made.
2. You can come to your provincial courthouse and pay the fine at the ‘Cashiers’ window. Your computer will be unlocked within 4-5 days.

To regain access transfer bitcoins to the following address

After the payment is finalized enter Transfer ID below.

As you see, the warning demands you to pay a fine which is supposed to solve the issue. You can pay a fine online using Bitcoins or offline at your local courthouse. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that all your modified files will be reverted, even if you make a payment. You will just send the money to the cyber criminals who have developed “Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software” ransomware. The only purpose of such programs is to rip computer users off.

To avoid “Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software” ransomware and similar infections, make sure you keep your operating system and your programs updated. Always get your updates from official sources, as cyber criminals tend to imitate various updates by generating fake popups. Never open email attachments from unknown senders either, as infected emails are also a popular way to distribute malicious programs. Make sure you use a reputable antivirus and anti-malware software and have regular backups of your data too.

It is not easy to remove “Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software” ransomware from your computer. If your PC has been blocked, you have to login to another account on your system or use Safe Mode with Networking and install http://2-viruses.com/downloads/spyhunter-i.exe. Running a full system scan with this program should eliminate this ransomware.

How to recover "Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software" ransomware 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 VirRansom has infiltrated to your system and then click “Next”.
• To start System restore click “Yes”.

 

Step 2. Complete removal of "Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software" 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 VirRansom. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore "Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software" ransomware 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 VirRansom 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 "Your Computer was Automatically Blocked. Reason: Pirated Software" 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.