Are virus attacks bothering you? Do you want to recover files lost because of a virus attack?
Viruses are common on computers. People take various precautions to defend themselves against malware attacks, but they may still feel unprepared.
Every day, viruses and other types of malicious programs handle countless data loss horror stories, and even the most tech-savvy person with many skills is not immune.
One of the most serious consequences of a virus infection is damage or loss of data from the computer. There is a high risk of loss of data on a volume or disk infected with a virus, although methods exist to recover this data.
Computer viruses can delete, damage, or change your files. Viruses do it cleverly. Apart from deleting your data, some types of malware can cause indirect data loss, such as ransomware. The ransomware will encrypt your files until you pay the hacker a fee to open them. Some viruses, for example, delete files as soon as you click on them.
How Viruses Attack Computers
Computer viruses can spread and new ways to trick antivirus are constantly developing. Viruses can spread by:
Installing Malicious Applications.
Nowadays, many pirated apps from paid apps are available for free. Downloading files like this is vulnerable to viruses. Be aware, no one will provide paid applications for free if you don’t have a particular interest.
Malware can be transmitted to your system by using pirated software. In addition, some applications do not have verified publishers and if you install such programs from unknown sources, your device’s operating system may be in jeopardy.
Visiting unsafe websites.
Not every website is safe and you should avoid visiting dangerous websites. These websites can harm your device. If you get a danger warning from the browser you are using, cancel visiting the website.
You can’t tell what scripts or programs are running on the page. Malicious websites and unrecognized emails can compromise the integrity of your system. Such sites have the potential to install Malicious Codes or Virus Scripts on your device.
Using an Infected External Device
Malicious apps can live on any external device, such as portable storage. If you attach an external storage device that has a virus, your computer will be contaminated.
Conversely, if you attach portable storage to a computer that is infected with a virus, your portable storage will also be infected.
Virus Attack Types, and Opportunity to Recover Files
Several forms of computer viruses affect your computer and data in different ways. Some viruses may not affect your data at all. It is very important to understand and differentiate between computer viruses.
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Impossible to Restore
Spacefiller virus
While spacefiller infections may not always cause immediate damage, they may replace files that have been deleted, either intentionally or accidentally.
Overwriting virus
May cause damage by overwriting system files and user data. LoveLetter is a regularly detected overwriting malware. This deadly virus can function as a trojan and email worm.
Since it is difficult to recover overwritten files, the best thing you can do is format the infected drive to prevent the further spread of the overwritten virus.
Potential to Recover
Resident Viruses
Resident viruses hide in computer memory (RAM), which allows them to spread easily to other parts of the computer and infect all data they come into contact with.
Some resident viruses simply block logical access to files by changing their attributes and removing the pointer used to access them. Others are much more destructive and can permanently delete files they encounter.
Encryption Virus
One example is ransomware, which prevents data access by encrypting it using strong encryption techniques. The attacker then threatens the victim by deleting the encrypted data unless a ransom is paid.
Some encryption viruses depend on the encryption technique used. Some are easily solved by widely available decryptors. However, there are some types of ransomware whose file encryption technology is nearly perfect and difficult to crack.
Recoverable
Macro Viruses
This type of virus is commonly found in Office documents. When users open infected documents, they also open viruses hidden within them, allowing them access to other parts of the system.
Macro virus problems can be avoided by disabling Visual Basic support in Office applications. Documents that have been infected and damaged can often be reconstructed using data recovery software.
Web Scripting Virus
When you visit a malicious website or download an infected file, a web script virus can transfer your data to a remote site and then destroy it, causing even more damage.
A virus that infects files
This type of virus mostly infects executable files such as .exe,.com, and so on. Infected executables can cause your operating system to become unstable and generate error messages that interrupt your work. In severe circumstances, a virus that infects a file can render all files stored in it inaccessible.
Virus in Boot Sector
This virus is addressed to the boot sector and is executed every time the infected machine boots. Since this type of virus often prevents access to the operating system, recovering deleted files is much more difficult, but not impossible.
Recover Lost or Deleted Files by Virus Attack
Use third-party Data Recovery Software
You can use Data Recovery Software which is widely available on the Internet. Some are paid and many are also available for free.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free is one of the very simple and efficient free Data Recovery Software which can help you recover lost data because of a virus attack.
Disk Drill is software that can recover your files and supports a wide variety of file systems and storage device types.
Recoverit is a lost file recovery program that has the option of recovering only the files you need. You can use this lost file recovery program to search for specific files and memory locations, and save your search results to continue recovery later.
Use Ransomware Decryption Software
First, you must identify the Ransomware variant that attacked your computer. Then search for the Ransomware Decryption Tool on the internet.
If a Ransomware Decryption Tool is available for the ransomware that has been encrypted your data, the chances of decrypting and recovering your files are pretty good. Check to see if any of these ransomware decryption tools can help you.
Use the built-in tools in Windows
Microsoft also offers tools to help you recover lost data. One of them is the ability to restore deleted files from a backup.
Here’s how to enable Windows backup to recover deleted data:
- Find and launch Control Panel.
- Select System and Security from the list of options, then Backup and Restore.
- Clicking “Choose another backup to restore files from” displays the restore backup dialog box.
- If you’ve made a backup of your Windows, it will appear here and you can click on it to activate it.
Malware threats and virus attacks will be a big problem in the coming years. The only way to be safe is to be aware of what we see on the internet and the disks we connect to our computers.