Remove Gtf ransomware

About this threat

Gtf ransomware will try to encrypt your files, and that’s why contamination is something you must bypass. This kind of malicious software is more widely known as ransomware. There are numerous ways you could have infected your system, such as via spam email attachments, malicious ads or downloads from sources that are unreliable. If you continue reading the article, you will find more tips on how you can avoid an infection in the future. A ransomware infection could lead to very serious outcomes, so you have to be aware of its spread methods. It can be especially shocking to find your files encrypted if it’s your first time running into ransomware, and you have little idea about what type of threat it is. Files will be unopenable and you would soon find that you are asked to give cyber crooks a certain amount of money so as to unlock the files. Do keep in mind that you’re dealing with cyber criminals and it is unlikely that they will feel any accountability to aid you. It is much more likely that they won’t assist you. Furthermore, your money would go towards supporting future malware projects. We ought to also say that malware specialists do help victims in data recovery, so you might get lucky. Research that before paying even crosses your mind. For those who do have backup, simply eliminate Gtf ransomware and then recover data from backup.

Download Removal Toolto remove Gtf ransomware

How to prevent a ransomware contamination

This section will talk about how your machine got infected and whether you could prevent them in the future. Commonly, ransomware uses pretty basic methods to contaminate computers, but it’s also possible infection occurred through something more elaborate. Attaching infected files to emails and hosting their malware on different download platforms are what we refer to when we say simple, as it does not need a lot of abilities, therefore low-level ransomware authors/spreaders can use them. Ransomware through spam is still perhaps the most frequent infection method. Hackers would be sold your email address by other hackers, add the infected file to an email that’s made to appear kind off legitimate and send it to you, hoping you wouldn’t hesitate to open it. Typically, those emails have signs of being bogus, but if you have never come across them before, it may not be so. If you vigilant enough, you might see particular signs that give it away, such as the sender having a nonsense email address, or countless mistakes in the text. We wouldn’t be surprised if you encountered known company names such as Amazon or eBay because users would lower their guard when dealing with a known sender. You may never be too cautious, therefore, always check if the email matches the sender’s legitimate one. If your name isn’t used in the email, for example, in the greeting, that itself is quite suspicious. Your name will definitely be used by a sender with whom you’ve dealt with before. As an example, if Amazon sends you an email, they’ll have automatically inserted the name you have provided to them if you’re a customer of theirs.

If you wish for the short version, you just have to be more cautious when dealing with emails, which mostly means you should not rush to open files attached to emails and always make sure the sender is legitimate. And when on a dubious site, avoid adverts as much as possible. If you do, you could end up with ransomware. It is best to ignore those ads, no matter how appealing they might be, because they are hardly reliable. In addition, do not download from untrustworthy sources. If Torrents are your favored download source, at least download only torrents that were used by other people. Program flaws can also be used for malicious software to get in. Thus keep your programs updated. Software vendors frequently release patches for flaws, all you have to do is install them.

What happened to your files

The file encoding malicious program will begin searching for certain files to lock as soon as it is launched. Do not be surprised to see photos, documents, etc locked as those are likely to be the highly valuable files to you. Once the files are found, they will be encrypted with a strong encryption algorithm. If you aren’t sure which files have been affected, the unusual file extensions attached to all encrypted ones will help you. You’ll then see a ransom message, in which cyber crooks will explain that your files have been locked and demand that you get their proposed decryptor. Different ransomware request different sums, some request as little as $50, while others as much as a $1000, in digital currency. While you are the one to decide whether you’ll pay or not, do consider why it’s not recommended. You could have other file recovery means available, therefore you need to look into them before you make any decisions. A decryptor that wouldn’t cost anything may be available, if someone specializing in malicious software analysis was able to decrypt the ransomware. You might also just not recall backing up your files, at least some of them. You could also try to recover files through Shadow Explorer, the ransomware might have not erased the Shadow copies of your files. And start using backup so that you don’t risk losing your files again. If you just realized that you did make backup before infection, proceed to file restoring after you eliminate Gtf ransomware.

Gtf ransomware elimination

We cannot recommend manual termination, for one big reason. One mistake might mean severe damage to your machine. It would be better to use an anti-malware program because the software would take care of everything for you. Those programs are made to eliminate Gtf ransomware or similarly harmful infections, thus there shouldn’t be issue. Unfortunately, the program isn’t capable of decrypting files. File recovery will need to be carried out by you.

Download Removal Toolto remove Gtf ransomware

Learn how to remove Gtf ransomware from your computer

• Step 1. Remove Gtf ransomware using Safe Mode with Networking.
• Step 2. Remove Gtf ransomware using System Restore
• Step 3. Recover your data

Step 1. Remove Gtf ransomware using Safe Mode with Networking.

• a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Networking.
• b) Step 2. Remove Gtf ransomware.

a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Networking.

For Windows 7/Vista/XP

1. Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
2. Press and keep pressing F8 until Advanced Boot Options appears.
3. Choose Safe Mode with Networking

For Windows 8/10 users

1. Press the power button that appears at the Windows login screen. Press and hold Shift. Click Restart.
2. Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart.
3. Choose Enable Safe Mode with Networking.

b) Step 2. Remove Gtf ransomware.

You will now need to open your browser and download some kind of anti-malware software. Choose a trustworthy one, install it and have it scan your computer for malicious threats. When the ransomware is found, remove it. If, for some reason, you can't access Safe Mode with Networking, go with another option.

Step 2. Remove Gtf ransomware using System Restore

• a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
• b) Step 2. Restore files and settings.

a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

For Windows 7/Vista/XP

1. Start → Shutdown → Restart → OK.
2. Press and keep pressing F8 until Advanced Boot Options appears.
3. Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

For Windows 8/10 users

1. Press the power button that appears at the Windows login screen. Press and hold Shift. Click Restart.
2. Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart.
3. Choose Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt.

b) Step 2. Restore files and settings.

1. You will need to type in cd restore in the window that appears. Press Enter.
2. Type in rstrui.exe and again, press Enter.
3. A window will pop-up and you should press Next. Choose a restore point and press Next again.
4. Press Yes.

While this should have taken care of the ransomware, you might want to download anti-malware just to be sure no other threats are lurking.  

Step 3. Recover your data

• a) Using Data Recovery Pro to recover encrypted files.
• b) Restore files through Windows Previous Versions
• c) Using Shadow Explorer to recover files

While backup is essential, there is still quite a few users who do not have it. If you are one of them, you can try the below provided methods and you just might be able to recover files.

a) Using Data Recovery Pro to recover encrypted files.

1. Download Data Recovery Pro, preferably from a trustworthy website.
2. Scan your device for recoverable files.
3. Recover them.

b) Restore files through Windows Previous Versions

If you had System Restore enabled, you can recover files through Windows Previous Versions.

1. Find a file you want to recover.
2. Right-click on it.
3. Select Properties and then Previous versions.
4. Pick the version of the file you want to recover and press Restore.

c) Using Shadow Explorer to recover files

If you are lucky, the ransomware did not delete your shadow copies. They are made by your system automatically for when system crashes.

1. Go to the official website (shadowexplorer.com) and acquire the Shadow Explorer application.
2. Set up and open it.
3. Press on the drop down menu and pick the disk you want.
4. If folders are recoverable, they will appear there. Press on the folder and then Export.

* SpyHunter scanner, published on this site, is intended to be used only as a detection tool. More info on SpyHunter. To use the removal functionality, you will need to purchase the full version of SpyHunter. If you wish to uninstall SpyHunter, click here.