Winner Ransomware: File Recovery Solutions

Cryptoviruses are mostly considered as the worst malware kind as it blocks the users to access their very own files. One such a newly discovered entity is Winner Ransomware that is technically said to be a new variant derived from VoidCrypt ransomware family and can affect almost all possible file types without any prior notice. In order to learn about how it works on a compromised device, and how it can be sorted out on a computer if infected, read through this article.

Summary About Winner Ransomware

Name: Winner Ransomware
Type: Ransomware, cryptovirus, file locking virus
Symptoms: Files turning to be inaccessible, File extensions appended as .Winner, and a ransom note striking screen on attempt to access files.
Distribution: Bundled software installers, malicious links, intrusive advert campaigns, email campaigns, and so on.
Removal: If your system is unfortunately infected by Winner Ransomware, you should remove it first using a powerful scanner, following which the affected files can be restored using backups or other recovery alternatives.

Detailed Information About Winner Ransomware

Winner Ransomware is a new disastrous ransomware infection or a program which can easily be justified as such a malware that will encrypt data on computers without seeking any administrative approvals. As per the researchers, Winner Ransomware is created and distributed over the globe by cyber crime master minds to generate illegal gains, and thus they target innocent users in most of the cases. While creating this venomous object, they kept the only thing in their mind is to extort money from victimized users for which they use to hijack all saved data on computer at first, then forces the users to buy decryption key.

In most of the cases, this kind of malware terms are often distributed through spam email attachments, suspicious websites, bundled freeware or shareware objects, P2p file sharing, cracked software pieces, and more. In those instances the malware is never disclosed to users in prior as it has to do malicious activites which appears to users instantly once accomplished. Getting activated on a target computer somehow, the malware instantly scans the computer to encrypt all files and append those using .Winner extension.

After this, whenever the files are launched, it throws a ransom message on screen stating the system is really under attack and the files are inaccessible. Moreover, the note also illustrates the data is encrypted with AES or RSA cryptography and can be accessible only after being decrypted. However, to do so, the victims might have to pay demanded sum to hackers through Bitcoin wallet, but the security experts never recommend users to do so.

Removal and restoration explained

Malware creators claim to keep their promises to yield the decryption key after receiving the payment, but they should never be trusted as they offer no guarantee. Even the way to ask sum through Bitcoin can hardly be traced easily, so just risking your own financial values can be stupidity. What you should do is to remove Winner Ransomware with a powerful automatic solution and restore your files through possible recovery channels. According to experts, it’s mostly suggested to create regular backups of all important data and keep them saved on external drives, to meet any unwanted emergency. In case of being infected by Winner Ransomware, it can also be helpful to restore your files, but before that, you might have to clean Winner Ransomware permanently from your system.

Antimalware Details And User Guide

Click Here For Windows

Click Here For Mac

Step 1: Remove Winner Ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

Step 2: Delete Winner Ransomware using “System Restore”

Step 1: Remove Winner Ransomware through “Safe Mode with Networking”

For Windows XP and Windows 7 users: Boot the PC in “Safe Mode”. Click on “Start” option and continuously press on F8 during the start process until the “Windows Advanced Option” menu appears on the screen. Choose “Safe Mode with Networking” from the list.

Now, a windows homescreen appears on the desktop and work-station is now working on “Safe mode with networking”.

For Windows 8 Users: Go to the “Start Screen”. In the search results select settings, type “Advanced”. In the “General PC Settings” option, choose “Advanced startup” option. Again, click on the “Restart Now” option. The work-station boots to “Advanced Startup Option Menu”. Press on “Troubleshoot” and then “Advanced options” button.  In the “Advanced Option Screen”, press on “Startup Settings”. Again, click on “Restart” button. The work-station will now restart in to the “Startup Setting” screen. Next is to press F5 to boot in Safe Mode in Networking.

For Windows 10 Users: Press on Windows logo and on the “Power” icon. In the newly opened menu, choose “Restart” while continuously holding “Shift” button on the keyboard. In the new open “Choose an option” window, click on “Troubleshoot” and then on the “Advanced Options”. Select “Startup Settings” and press on “Restart”. In the next window, click on “F5” button on the key-board.

Step 2: Delete Winner Ransomware using “System Restore”

Log-in to the account infected with Winner Ransomware. Open the browser and download a legitimate anti-malware tool. Do a full System scanning. Remove all the malicious detected entries.

In case if you cannot start the PC in “Safe Mode with Networking”, Try using “System Restore”

• During the “Startup”, continuously press on F8 key until the “Advanced Option” menu appears. From the list, choose “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” and then press “Enter”

• In the new opened command prompt, enter “cd restore” and then press “Enter”.

• Type: rstrui.exe and Press “ENTER”

• Click “Next” on the new windows

• Choose any of the “Restore Points” and click on “Next”. (This step will restore the work-station to its earlier time and date prior to Winner Ransomware infiltration in the PC.

• In the newly opened windows, press on “Yes”.

Once your PC gets restored to its previous date and time, download the recommended anti-malware tool and perform a deep scanning in order to remove Winner Ransomware files if they left in the work-station.

In order to restore the each (separate) file by this ransomware, use “Windows Previous Version” feature. This method is effective when “System Restore Function” is enabled in the work-station.

Important Note: Some variants of Winner Ransomware delete the “Shadow Volume Copies” as well hence this feature may not work all the time and is applicable for selective computers only.

How to Restore Individual Encrypted File:

In order to restore a single file, right click on it and go to “Properties”. Select “Previous Version” tab. Select a “Restore Point” and click on “Restore” option.

In order to access the files encrypted by Winner Ransomware, you can also try using “Shadow Explorer”. In order to get more information on this application, press here.

Important: Data Encryption Ransomware are highly dangerous and it is always better that you take precautions to avoid its attack on your work-station. It is advised to use a powerful anti-malware tool in order to get protection in real-time. With this help of “SpyHunter”, “group policy objects” are implanted in the registries in order to block harmful infections like Winner Ransomware.

Also, In Windows 10, you get a very unique feature called “Fall Creators Update” that offer “Controlled Folder Access” feature in order to block any kind of encryption to the files. With the help of this feature, any files stored in the locations such as “Documents”, “Pictures”, “Music”, “Videos”, “Favorites” and “Desktop” folders are safe by default.

It is very important that you install this “Windows 10 Fall Creators Update” in your PC to protect your important files and data from ransomware encryption. The more information on how to get this update and add an additional protection form rnasomware attack has been discussed here.

How to Recover the Files Encrypted by Winner Ransomware?

Till now, you would have understood that what had happed to your personal files that got encrypted and how you can remove the scripts and payloads associated with Winner Ransomware in order to protect your personal files that has not been damaged or encrypted until now. In order to retrieve the locked files, the depth information related to “System Restore” and “Shadow Volume Copies” has already been discussed earlier. However, in case if you are still unable to access the encrypted files then you can try using a data recovery tool.

Use of Data Recovery Tool

This step is for all those victims who have already tries all the above mentioned process but didn’t find any solution. Also it is important that you are able to access the PC and can install any software. The data recovery tool works on the basis of System scanning and recovery algorithm. It searches the System partitions in order to locate the original files which were deleted, corrupted or damaged by the malware. Remember that you must not re-install the Windows OS otherwise the “previous” copies will get deleted permanently. You have to clean the work-station at first and remove Winner Ransomware infection. Leave the locked files as it is and follow the steps mentioned below.

Step1: Download the software in the work-station by clicking on the “Download” button below.

Step2: Execute the installer by clicking on downloaded files.

Step3: A license agreement page appears on the screen. Click on “Accept” to agree with its terms and use. Follow the on-screen instruction as mentioned and click on “Finish” button.

Step4: Once the installation gets completed, the program gets executed automatically. In the newly opened interface, select the file types that you want to recover and click on “Next”.

Step5: You can select the “Drives” on which you want the software to run and execute the recovery process. Next is to click on the “Scan” button.

Step6: Based on drive you select for scanning, the restore process begins. The whole process may take time depending on the volume of the selected drive and number of files. Once the process gets completed, a data explorer appears on the screen with preview of that data that is to be recovered. Select the files that you want to restore.

Step7. Next is to locate the location where you want to saver the recovered files.