Santa_helper@protonmail.com ransomware / virus (Improved Instructions)

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

1. Click Start > Shutdown > Restart > OK.
2. 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.
3. Select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.

Windows 10 / Windows 8

1. Right-click on Start button and select Settings.
   
   
2. Scroll down to pick Update & Security.
   
3. On the left side of the window, pick Recovery.
4. Now scroll down to find Advanced Startup section.
5. Click Restart now.
   
6. Select Troubleshoot.
7. Go to Advanced options.
8. Select Startup Settings.
9. Press Restart.
10. 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:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open Windows Task Manager.
2. Click on More details.
   
3. Scroll down to Background processes section, and look for anything suspicious.
4. Right-click and select Open file location.
   
5. Go back to the process, right-click and pick End Task.
   
6. Delete the contents of the malicious folder.

Step 3. Check program Startup

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open Windows Task Manager.
2. Go to Startup tab.
3. 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:

1. Type in Disk Cleanup in Windows search and press Enter.
   
   
2. 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).
3. Scroll through the Files to delete list and select the following:
   

   Temporary Internet Files
   Downloads
   Recycle Bin
   Temporary files

4. Pick Clean up system files.
   
   
5. 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 Santa_helper@protonmail.com using System Restore

• Step 1: Reboot your computer to Safe Mode with Command Prompt
  Windows 7 / Vista / XP
  1. Click Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
  2. When your computer becomes active, start pressing F8 multiple times until you see the Advanced Boot Options window.
  3. Select Command Prompt from the list
  
  Windows 10 / Windows 8
  1. Press the Power button at the Windows login screen. Now press and hold Shift, which is on your keyboard, and click Restart..
  2. Now select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings and finally press Restart.
  3. Once your computer becomes active, select Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt in Startup Settings window.
• Step 2: Restore your system files and settings
  1. Once the Command Prompt window shows up, enter cd restore and click Enter.
  2. Now type rstrui.exe and press Enter again..
  3. When a new window shows up, click Next and select your restore point that is prior the infiltration of Santa_helper@protonmail.com. After doing that, click Next.
  4. Now click Yes to start system restore.
  Once you restore your system to a previous date, download and scan your computer with FortectIntego and make sure that Santa_helper@protonmail.com removal is performed successfully.

Bonus: Recover your data

Guide which is presented above is supposed to help you remove Santa_helper@protonmail.com 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 Santa_helper@protonmail.com, you can use several methods to restore them:

Quick file restoration using Data Recovery Pro

Data Recovery Pro is a tool that you can use if you are out of time. It runs automatically and recovers files that have been accidentally deleted, or encrypted. To get this software running, follow the instructions below:

• Download Data Recovery Pro;
• Follow the steps of Data Recovery Setup and install the program on your computer;
• Launch it and scan your computer for files encrypted by Santa_helper@protonmail.com ransomware;
• Restore them.

Useful features of Windows Previous Versions

System Restore and Windows Previous Versions features are a ray of light in a situation, when you desperately need to recover important individual files, but not the whole computer system. It is useful to keep the System Restore function enabled because it allows recovering data using the Windows Previous Versions feature. The recovery can be carried out like this:

• Find an encrypted file you need to restore and right-click on it;
• Select “Properties” and go to “Previous versions” tab;
• Here, check each of available copies of the file in “Folder versions”. You should select the version you want to recover and click “Restore”.

Benefits of ShadowExplorer

ShadowExplorer is a useful data recovery tool, but only in cases when the ransomware which infected the computer has not deleted Volume Shadow Copies of the encrypted files. If you are lucky to still have these files intact, complete these steps:

• Download Shadow Explorer (http://shadowexplorer.com/);
• Follow a Shadow Explorer Setup Wizard and install this application on your computer;
• Launch the program and go through the drop down menu on the top left corner to select the disk of your encrypted data. Check what folders are there;
• Right-click on the folder you want to restore and select “Export”. You can also select where you want it to be stored.

Try out OzozaLocker decrypter

You may also try to recover your file using the OzozaLocker decrypter. This tool may work since Santa_helper@protonmail.com is a version of it which means that it is more or less based on the same source code which may still be flawed enough for the decrypter to work.