Remove .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware

What is .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware

.IQ_IQ Files Ransomware file-encoding malware, more commonly known as ransomware, will encrypt your data. Ransomware is a very serious contamination as you could end up permanently losing your data. What’s worse is that it’s quite easy to infect your computer. If you have it, you probably opened a spam email attachment, clicked on a malicious advert or fell for a fake download. As soon as a PC is infected, the encoding process begins, and afterwards, crooks will demand that you pay a certain sum of money for file decryption. You will probably be demanded to pay between tens and thousands of dollars, it depends on what data encoding malware you have, and how valuable your data is. Even if you are requested to pay a small amount, we do not advise giving in. Don’t trust crooks to keep their word and restore your files, as there is nothing preventing them from simply taking your money. There are many accounts of users receiving nothing after complying with the demands. This kind of thing might reoccur or something may happen to your system, so wouldn’t it wiser to invest the requested money into some kind of backup option. We’re sure you can find a good option as there are many to select from. For those who did back up data before the infection took place, simply delete .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware and then proceed to restore files from where you’re keeping them. It’s crucial to prepare for these kinds of situations because you’ll likely get infected again. If you wish to stay safe, you have to familiarize yourself with potential contaminations and how to safeguard your computer from them.

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.IQ_IQ Files Ransomware distribution methods

You generally get the ransomware when you open a corrupted email, press on an infected advert or use dubious platforms as a source for downloads. However, that does not mean more complicated way won’t be used by some data encrypting malware.

You could have recently opened a malicious email attachment from a spam email. All data encoding malware creators need to do is add an infected file to an email and then send it to hundreds/thousands of people. You may usually discover those emails in spam but some users check the folder for potentially missing important emails, and if the file encrypting malware email is written at least somewhat convincingly, they open it, without considering why it landed in spam. In addition to grammatical mistakes, if the sender, who definitely knows your name, uses greetings such as Dear User/Customer/Member and strongly encourages you to open the attachment, you should be vary. Your name would be automatically inserted into an email if it was a legitimate company whose email ought to be opened. Expect to see company names like Amazon or PayPal used in those emails, as familiar names would make people trust the email more. It may have also been the case that you engaged with the wrong ad when browsing suspicious pages, or downloaded from an unreliable source. If you regularly engage with ads while visiting weird pages, it’s not really surprising that you got your system infected. And stick to official pages when it comes to downloads. You ought to never download anything from ads, whether they are pop-ups or banners or any other type. Applications generally update themselves, but if manual update was needed, you would be notified through the program itself.

What does .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware do?

If you infect your computer, you could permanently lose access to your data, and that is what makes ransomware a highly harmful threat to have. It has a list of files types it would target, and it’ll take a short time to locate and encrypt them all. Weird file extensions will appear attached to all affected files, and they’ll commonly indicate the name of ransomware. A data encrypting malware will use strong encryption algorithms, which may be impossible to break. A note with the ransom will then launch, or will be found in folders that have encoded files, and it should explain everything, or at least try to. The note will request that you buy a decryption tool file recovery, but paying is not the best option for many of reasons. The hackers will not feel bound to help you, so what is stopping them from just taking your money. You would also support crook’s projects, in addition to possible money loss. And, more and more people will become interested in the already very successful business, which allegedly made $1 billion in 2016 alone. We would advise investing in a backup option, which would always be there in case you lost your original files. And if this kind of infection occurred again, your data wouldn’t be endangered as you could just access them from backup. Our advice would be to do not pay attention to the demands, and if the threat still remains on your device, eliminate .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware, for which you’ll find instructions below. If you become familiar with how these infections are spread, you should be able to dodge them in the future.

.IQ_IQ Files Ransomware termination

To check if the infection is still present and to eliminate it, if it is, we recommend you download malicious threat removal software. You may have chosen to uninstall .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware manually but you could end up further damaging your computer, which it is not suggested. A wiser option would be to implement professional malware removal software. Malware removal programs are made to remove .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware and similar infections, so problems should not occur. Below this report, you will find instructions to help you, in case you are not sure how to proceed. In case it was not clear, anti-malware will only be able to get rid of the infection, it will not help with data recovery. We should mention, however, that in certain cases, a free decryptor may be developed by malware researchers, if the file encrypting malicious software is decryptable.

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Learn how to remove .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware from your computer

• Step 1. Remove .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware using Safe Mode with Networking.
• Step 2. Remove .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware using System Restore
• Step 3. Recover your data

Step 1. Remove .IQ_IQ Files Ransomware using Safe Mode with Networking.

• a) Step 1. Access Safe Mode with Networking.
• b) Step 2. Remove .IQ_IQ Files 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 .IQ_IQ Files 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 .IQ_IQ Files 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.