CryptoConsole - How to remove

CryptoConsole Ransomware is a very dangerous virus that can attack your computer and steal (lock) your files. Every internet user should be aware of the ransomware and properly protect his computer from this kind of viruses. However, if it is already too late and your computer is infected with CryptoConsole Ransomware, wait no more and solve this problem right now.

First of all, you have to eliminate CryptoConsole from your system. It can be done either manually or automatically, so it’s up to you which removal method to choose. If you want to do it fast and effortless, we recommend to eliminate the virus automatically. All you have to do is 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 applications should automatically detect and remove CryptoConsole just in a few moments. It will also protect your computer from similar infections in the future, so it’s worth to keep it installed. You can use other anti-malware software of your choice as well.

In case you prefer to perform this removal manually – scroll down below this article and take a look at our step-by-step CryptoConsole manual removal guide. We have developed it to assist you through this complicated process of virus removal. Try to complete all steps correctly and you will be able to eliminate CryptoConsole manually by your own.

If you have some questions regarding this topic or removal process, 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 CryptoConsole please continue reading this article.

About CryptoConsole Ransomware

If you don’t know what is ransomware yet – it’s a dangerous virus distributed by cyber criminals. The main goal is to encrypt files stored on infected computer, request ransom in order to unlock them and make money this way. So once your computer gets infected with CryptoConsole or any other similar ransomware virus, all files stored on hard drive will be scanned in order to find the ones what could be encrypted. And that’s basically any file that you use – images, audio and video files, text documents, etc. After that, CryptoConsole will lock those files adding an unique extension to every of those files. From now on you can’t open or use any of them.

Immediately after that, you will notice a new file on your desktop. It is called “Howdecrypt files.hta” – basically it’s a ransom note. If you open it, you will find detailed instructions how to pay the ransom and receive decrypter for your encrypted files.

Your files are encrypted!
Your personal ID
Discovered a serious vulnerability in your network security.
No data was stolen and no one will be able to do it while they are encrypted.
For you we have automatic decryptor and instructions for remediation.
How to get the automatic decryptor:
1) Pay 0,25 BTC
Buy BTC on one of these sites:
localbitcoins.com
www.coinbase.com
xchange.cc
bitcoin adress for pay:
1KG8rWYWRYHfvjVe8ddEyJNCg6HxVWYSQm
Send 0,25 BTC
2) Send screenshot of payment to [email protected] ([email protected]). In the letter include your personal ID (look at the beginning of this document).
3) You will receive automatic decryptor and all files will be restored
* To be sure in getting the decryption, you can send one file (less than 10MB) to [email protected] In the letter include your personal ID (look at the beginning of this document). But this action will increase the cost of the automatic decryptor on 0,25 btc…
Attention!
No Payment = No decryption
You really get the decryptor after payment
Do not attempt to remove the program or run the anti-virus tools
Attempts to self-decrypting files will result in the loss of your data
Decoders other users are not compatible with your data, because each user’s unique encryption key

As you can see, cyber criminals want you to pay the ransom in Bitcoins. The exact amount is 0.25 BTC – around $230 at the current exchange rate. Even though it is relatively small amount of money, we do not recommend to do it. First of all, there are no guarantees that you will retrieve your files even after paying the ransom. Moreover, this way you would be supporting cyber criminals and that’s not a good thing to do.

Unfortunately, there are no working decryption tools for this ransomware at the moment, but cyber security experts are working on it and we will keep you updated. There is a way to restore your files if you have a legitimate copy of your hard drive that was made before the CryptoConsole infected your computer. You can perform a system restore and restore your computer to the previous date. Take a look at our instructions how to do that: https://www.2-viruses.com/how-to-do-a-system-restore

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

 

Step 2. Complete removal of CryptoConsole

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 CryptoConsole. You can check other tools here.  

Step 3. Restore CryptoConsole 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 CryptoConsole 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 CryptoConsole 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