Crying Ransomware - How to remove

Crying Ransomware, also known by the name of Cry Ransomware is a deadly virus which can cause severe damage to your files and computer system in general. As you might already know ransomware infections lock (encrypt) files on infected system and then ask to pay the ransom in order to unlock them. If you were unlucky enough to get infected with this virus, please consider reading this article to the end, since we will reveal best techniques to solve this problem.

First thing you need to do is to eliminate Crying ransomware from your computer before it causes more damage. This process can be executed either manually or automatically, so it is up to you which removal method to choose. In case you have never done this before, we suggest to go for automatic removal – it is much easier and less time consuming. Simply download reliable anti-malware application, such as Spyhunter, install it on your computer and then run a full scan of all files stored on your hard drive. Either one of these programs should successfully detect and remove Crying Ransomware from your computer. You can also use other anti-malware tools of your choice as well.

Manual removal is a little but more complicated, thus we have developed a step-by-step Crying Ransomware manual removal guide – it can be found below this article. Try to complete all steps correctly and you should be able to remove the virus manually by your own. However, you should know that the removal of the virus will not bring your files back, it will only eliminate infection itself.

If you have some questions regarding this topic, feel free to ask them in the comments section below and we will do our best to answer them all. To learn more about specific features of Crying Ransomware please continue reading the article.

Features of Crying Ransomware

Once inside of your computer Crying Ransomware will run a scan of all files stored on your hard drive. This scan is aimed to detect all files that could possibly be encrypted. It includes photos, audio and video files, text documents, .exe files – basically all files that a regular user would use on a daily basis. When the scan is over, encryption process will automatically start and all those files will be enriched with an extension ‘.crying’. From now on it is impossible to open any of those encrypted files.

Immediately after that you will notice a new file on your desktop called read_it.txt. It is so called ransom note and it contains information about steps you should take to retrieve your files. Text from a ransom note:

Your’re Files have been encrypted.

Please read the program to learn how to decrypt your files.

If the program won’t open so you can read it. You can start the program again and again until it opens the form with the information displayed.

As you can see, there are no useful information in this note, but you are asked to open additional file, called “info”. The virus will create a new button on your computer called “What happened” and if you click it, new window with following information will pop-up:

Q: What has happend to my computer?
A: Your Computer is Infected by “Cry” Ransomware.

Q: Can i remove this?
A: Yes, Just send 0.05 Bitcoins to the address on the main page.

Q: AnyWay i can get my files back?
A: Yes, Although it’s highly unlikely to happen.

Q: Why has this happend tome?
A: You downloaded something leaked/cracked/downloaded this itself.

Q: Is this some type of joke?
A: Check your Files, They all have the extension .crying.

In addition to that, your screensaver will be changed to an image with some additional information. Users that can’t find instructions on how to pay the ransom are asked to visit dark web website via Tor browser for further information.

Cyber criminals behind Crying Ransomware demands 0.5 BTC as a ransom, which equals around $1,300 at the current exchange rate. It is a lot of money and we do not recommend to pay the ransom. First of all, there are no guarantees that you will retrieve your files even after paying the ransom. Secondly, you would support cyber criminals this way and we do not recommend to do that.

Unfortunately, there are no decryptor for this ransomware at the moment, but we will inform you as soon as it is released. Currently the only way to retrieve your files is to perform a system restore and restore your files to the state previous of infection. To be able to successfully do it you have to have a valid copy of your hard drive and perform several step-by-step actions. Instructions can be found here: https://www.2-viruses.com/how-to-do-a-system-restore.

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of Crying 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 Cry ransomware. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore Crying 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 Cry 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 Crying 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.

Manual removal