Go to this section and follow the directions:
How to prevent your computer from becoming infected by CryptoLocker
yours is the best resource offered so far. Thanks!
What ConservativeMind said is right, get a CD of the type he mentioned and run it. When Windows is running, most contemporary viruses and such have the ability to shut down not only your anti virus, but any application Windows can use to defeat it. I’ve seen them shut down msconfig, registry editor, services editor, even task manager, so you couldn’t shut down specific processes.
In that case the only option is to run anti virus and malware scans from a bootable CD, so the operating system is not running, therefore the software installed cannot run since it is placed in the Start Up routine and runs before even the antivirus is loaded.
It may also be possible to recover data by the same method, while running from a bootable CD instead of Windows. I don’t know if this type of malware actually encrypts files, or just acts like it does while the software itself is running. Like some I’ve seen that try to make everything in the Windows folder write protected, but boot to a CD and that attribute can be changed or it acts normally while the malware is not running.
I don’t have any of the newer ones, mine is at least 10 years old, I got out of the computer repair business a while back. 15 years of it and I got burned out on that, and it was getting to the point it was usually better to just reinstall than try to locate and fix crap like this.
And consider setting up a Linux server and possibly a Linux hardware firewall. The workstations behind it can run Windows with no trouble, but putting Windows on a server that is the connection to the Internet is literally advertising for trouble. Windows has an application that allows remote connections. As long as it is enabled, it’s sitting there waving its arm around yelling “here I am”...Remote Assistance Service should always be disabled for a server connected to the internet...It’s useful inside the network, but a problem when exposed to the internet.
The difference is Linux never allows Administrator access. You have to enter a password to install any software, period. Software cannot install itself. Some viruses have been written specifically for Linux, but they don’t get far for that reason. It’s difficult to infect one computer, but not impossible, but 99% of Linux machines will not let it install.
You can also get specific Linux versions that act strictly as a firewall, or server, print server, you name it. And a lot of them can run on older equipment newer Windows versions would laugh at. My first attempt at Linux was a Pentium 233MMK machine, Mandrake 8 ran great, Windows XP wouldn’t even install on that machine. XP required 400MHz minimum, and ran like a dog on that. So you could actually get an older 1GHz machine with 512MB RAM, make sure it has good hardware, set it up as a Linux hardware firewall, and it would run fine. That still wouldn’t stop software of this type getting in through email, the best antivirus in existence can’t stop them all.
Distro Watch is a good place for info
Use an external hard drive for backups, and unplug it the minute the backups are finished. If you use a computer, keep it disconnected from the internet. Even connected internally to a network is risky, it can be infected from other workstations. That’s why an external hard drive is best. With 2 TB and larger available, they are usable for backups these days. Mine for pictures is 1.5TB...always unplugged except while transferring.