PayDOS ransomware / virus (Free Guide)
PayDOS virus Removal Guide
What is PayDOS ransomware virus?
PayDOS ransomware looks retro – can it actually encrypt your files?
PayDOS virus is an in-development ransomware and how we see it now is likely to change in the nearest future. The malicious program reaches the target computer in the form of a .exe file, which saves a batch file into %Temp% folder. If you do not know what a batch file means, you should know that it is a file that contains instructions that the computer system needs to carry out. This particular batch file commands to search for specific file extensions and rename (not encrypt!) them. However, the virus does not rename the file entirely – it only changes one letter of the file extension. Of course, files remain recognizable, and what is best, just like its subsequent version Serpent virus, it does not damage them, which means victims can fully recover all of them. You can find detailed instructions how to do it below PayDOS removal guidelines presented at the end of this post.
After “encrypting” victim’s files, PayDOS ransomware launches Administrator: PayDOS program, which displays the ransom note starting with lines “I am so sorry you can see me. If you can, I have bad news. It seems all your data has been encrypted and there is nothing that you can do about this.” The malefactor asks the victim to pay 0.33 BTC (approximately $234) if he/she wants to get data back, but we are about to kill criminals’ dreams now. You can fix your files without paying the ransom by entering AES1014DW256 password. After doing this, remove PayDOS virus entirely using the FortectIntego software. You can also find detailed PayDOS removal guide below the article. 
Ransomware distribution tricks
Ransomware authors are hideous criminals who know what is the main spot of human beings. It’s curiosity; people tend to click on content that they clearly have no relation with and even when they realize that such click can get their fingers burnt. Criminals craft up emails that seem legitimate at first sight. You can see examples of typical titles that cyber criminals use for their malicious spam campaigns:
- Your Amazon Order No.#[random digits] has been dispatched;
- Invoice No. [random numbers];
- Your Account PayPal Has Been Limited;
- Medical Test Results.
Beware of hideous letters – they seem to be legitimate at first sight. Before opening an email, check what is the email address of the sender. Clearly, a sender who sends out “official” letters from an email address like JohnSmith2917@protonmail.ru is not an employee of a legitimate company like PayPal or Amazon. Therefore, you should never open attachments that come with such letters!
How to remove PayDOS ransomware?
Now that the system has already been contaminated, you should take actions to clean it up and make sure that the same or a different malicious program never gets in the system again. Users who are willing to remove PayDOS virus should not only enter the code above into the malicious program but also scan the entire system with a trustworthy malware remover for full PayDOS removal. We highly recommend you to start your PC in a Safe Mode with Networking to successfully remove malware from the computer.
Getting rid of PayDOS virus. Follow these steps
Manual removal using Safe Mode
Important! →
Manual removal guide might be too complicated for regular computer users. It requires advanced IT knowledge to be performed correctly (if vital system files are removed or damaged, it might result in full Windows compromise), and it also might take hours to complete. Therefore, we highly advise using the automatic method provided above instead.
Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Networking
Manual malware removal should be best performed in the Safe Mode environment.
Windows 7 / Vista / XP
- Click Start > Shutdown > Restart > OK.
- When your computer becomes active, start pressing F8 button (if that does not work, try F2, F12, Del, etc. – it all depends on your motherboard model) multiple times until you see the Advanced Boot Options window.
- Select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.
Windows 10 / Windows 8
- Right-click on Start button and select Settings.
- Scroll down to pick Update & Security.
- On the left side of the window, pick Recovery.
- Now scroll down to find Advanced Startup section.
- Click Restart now.
- Select Troubleshoot.
- Go to Advanced options.
- Select Startup Settings.
- Press Restart.
- Now press 5 or click 5) Enable Safe Mode with Networking.
Step 2. Shut down suspicious processes
Windows Task Manager is a useful tool that shows all the processes running in the background. If malware is running a process, you need to shut it down:
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open Windows Task Manager.
- Click on More details.
- Scroll down to Background processes section, and look for anything suspicious.
- Right-click and select Open file location.
- Go back to the process, right-click and pick End Task.
- Delete the contents of the malicious folder.
Step 3. Check program Startup
- Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open Windows Task Manager.
- Go to Startup tab.
- Right-click on the suspicious program and pick Disable.
Step 4. Delete virus files
Malware-related files can be found in various places within your computer. Here are instructions that could help you find them:
- Type in Disk Cleanup in Windows search and press Enter.
- Select the drive you want to clean (C: is your main drive by default and is likely to be the one that has malicious files in).
- Scroll through the Files to delete list and select the following:
Temporary Internet Files
Downloads
Recycle Bin
Temporary files - Pick Clean up system files.
- You can also look for other malicious files hidden in the following folders (type these entries in Windows Search and press Enter):
%AppData%
%LocalAppData%
%ProgramData%
%WinDir%
After you are finished, reboot the PC in normal mode.
Remove PayDOS using System Restore
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Step 1: Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt
Windows 7 / Vista / XP- Click Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
- When your computer becomes active, start pressing F8 multiple times until you see the Advanced Boot Options window.
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Select Command Prompt from the list
Windows 10 / Windows 8- Press the Power button at the Windows login screen. Now press and hold Shift, which is on your keyboard, and click Restart..
- Now select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings and finally press Restart.
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Once your computer becomes active, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt in Startup Settings window.
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Step 2: Restore your system files and settings
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Once the Command Prompt window shows up, enter cd restore and click Enter.
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Now type rstrui.exe and press Enter again..
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When a new window shows up, click Next and select your restore point that is prior the infiltration of PayDOS. After doing that, click Next.
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Now click Yes to start system restore.
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Once the Command Prompt window shows up, enter cd restore and click Enter.
Bonus: Recover your data
Guide which is presented above is supposed to help you remove PayDOS from your computer. To recover your encrypted files, we recommend using a detailed guide prepared by 2-spyware.com security experts.If your files are encrypted by PayDOS, you can use several methods to restore them:
Restore files without paying
There is no need to fix each distorted filename manually. Just enter AES1014DW256 code into the malicious program and hit Enter. This should fix all of your files immediately. Do not forget to scan the system with a proper security software to erase all malicious files and programs (PayDOS virus could be bundled with additional malware at the time it has been installed, so you must find and remove these extra components, too!)
Finally, you should always think about the protection of crypto-ransomwares. In order to protect your computer from PayDOS and other ransomwares, use a reputable anti-spyware, such as FortectIntego, SpyHunter 5Combo Cleaner or Malwarebytes
How to prevent from getting ransomware
Do not let government spy on you
The government has many issues in regards to tracking users' data and spying on citizens, so you should take this into consideration and learn more about shady information gathering practices. Avoid any unwanted government tracking or spying by going totally anonymous on the internet.
You can choose a different location when you go online and access any material you want without particular content restrictions. You can easily enjoy internet connection without any risks of being hacked by using Private Internet Access VPN.
Control the information that can be accessed by government any other unwanted party and surf online without being spied on. Even if you are not involved in illegal activities or trust your selection of services, platforms, be suspicious for your own security and take precautionary measures by using the VPN service.
Backup files for the later use, in case of the malware attack
Computer users can suffer from data losses due to cyber infections or their own faulty doings. Ransomware can encrypt and hold files hostage, while unforeseen power cuts might cause a loss of important documents. If you have proper up-to-date backups, you can easily recover after such an incident and get back to work. It is also equally important to update backups on a regular basis so that the newest information remains intact – you can set this process to be performed automatically.
When you have the previous version of every important document or project you can avoid frustration and breakdowns. It comes in handy when malware strikes out of nowhere. Use Data Recovery Pro for the data restoration process.
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