Welcome to our .dot File Virus removal instructions. This article intends to help you remove .dot File Virus from your system and is designed to work for all Windows versions.
In case you are interested in the following article, probably your system has been infected with .dot File Virus. Now we are going to discuss what this malicious type of software really is and how it actually works. .dot File Virus can be one of the most disturbing malware manifestations a user may come across nowadays. Also, we are going to give you some information about the removal methods of ransom ware in general and .dot File Virus in particular. Just a tiny consolation- you can be sure you are not the only one infected with this virus. The number of the infected machines grows constantly every single day.
Brief review of Ransomware
Ransomware is among the most dangerous types of malware present at the moment. Such viruses infiltrate your machine, lock up your most commonly used files and request a certain amount of money to be paid for giving you back the access to them. Ransomware comes hand in hand with a Trojan horse. Generally, it gets to your computer system through email- you may have clicked on a suspicious hyperlink or downloaded an already infected attachment. Either way, you are in a serious trouble because you may never access your personal data again even if you pay the ransom.
Thus, the best advice about avoiding Ransomware can be just to avoid downloading anything or following any links from unknown sources/emails and unrecognizable senders. Prevention is always more efficient than fixation.
How does .dot File Virus operate?
Typically, .dot File Virus works in the same way as any other ransomware does. Their first step is to get into your system using a Trojan horse, and most commonly, through an email, containing it.
Please, remember, to remove the Trojan horse immediately after you have succeeded in getting rid of .dot File Virus.
The second step .dot File Virus performs is to scan your hard disks and flash drives for the locations (files) which are most commonly visited/used. Then this nasty virus enlists all such files and starts blocking them. As a result, you end up with your most favourite files encrypted. Such an encrypting process can take a noticeable amount of time and resources. At that particular moment it’s completely possible to notice the threat in your Task Manager. Normally, this would be the suspicious program that consumes the most RAM and has an unfamiliar name. However, most of the times, the infection is spotted only after it has become too late and the ransom message has emerged.
With the number of the .dot File Virus infections constantly growing, the hackers have started using another scam- after displaying the alert message, the same ransomware generates an offer message promoting an anti-ransomware tool that will help the user defeat the virus. Most likely, this is just another trick to further worsen the situation.
Should you or should you not pay the ransom?
One of the most commonly asked questions is whether it is a good idea to pay the requested amount of money to the hackers. Such questions increase in numbers at the same speed as the cases of .dot File Virus infections. The only correct answer to this question is that this depends on you. Paying and trusting or not paying and risking the files are both a personal choice that no one can make for you. What we can advise you is to never pay the ransom as such actions encourage the cyber criminals to keep going on with their illegal activities and harass more and more people.
Again, we want to remind you that even if you pay, no one can guarantee the recovery of the access to your files. You have absolutely no reason to trust the hackers. Also, remember that making business with criminals is itself recognized as a crime. Just treat these deceptive people as you would treat any other criminals.
The guide below will show you the basic steps of the .dot File Virus removal. You had better be careful and fully prepared when you finally decide to do that in order to avoid any further damage.
| Threat | .dot File Virus |
| Classification | Ransomware |
| Security Alert |
High. (Probably among the most serious malware threats that could possibly infect your computer; its likely result might be a permanent loss of access to some data). |
| Negative Effects | An unexplainable loss of access to particular files. Disturbing messages requesting ransom. Much slower overall performance. |
.dot File Virus Removal
Step 1
Reveal Hidden Files. If you don’t know how to do this, ask us in the comments.
Step 2
=> Search=> Copy/Paste “notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts” => Enter.
If you notice other IPs different from the localhost IPs – you might be in danger!
Ask for additional help in the comments.
Step 3
Right click on the Taskbar => Start Task Manager.
Navigate to Processes.
Locate any suspicious processes associated with .dot File Virus. Right click on the process = > Open File Location => End Process = > Delete the directories with the suspicious files.
Step 4
=> Search => Type:
- %AppData%
- %LocalAppData%
- %ProgramData%
- %WinDir%
- %Temp%
Hit Enter after each new search. Check each Folder and delete recent entries.
Step 5
Get Your Files Back!
The only way you can do that is by backpedaling to a moment when you were not infected. You can achieve this in one of two ways:
- System Restore. => Search field => Type System Restore => Enter.
Choose a Restore Point.
Click Next until the process has been completed. - Google and Download a Program called ShadowExplorer. Install and open it => Choose the Drive letter (C:, D:, F:, etc.) and date you want to restore information from => Right click on the files you want restored => Export.
If you run into any trouble – ask us for help in the comments section!
