How to Remove 259 Ransomware or Recover Files Encrypted by 259 Ransomware?

What is 259 Ransomware?

This virus is called ransomware because it is fraudulently extorting money from victims. 259 ransomware enters the system via spam messages that contain tempting information. The user clicks on the message and the virus, meanwhile, immediately arrives at the device. 

How to Remove 259 Ransomware

If you have backups of your encrypted files or don't try to recover the lost files, then scan your computer with one or more antivirus and anti-malware programs or reinstall the full operating system.

How to Recover Files Encrypted by 259 Ransomware

If you want to recover files encrypted by ransomware you can try to decrypt them or use file recovery methods.

Restore the backup. If you do regular backups on a separate device and check from time to time that those are in order and that the files can be successfully restored - well, you probably won't have any problem getting your files back. Simply scan your computer with a pair of AVs and anti-malware programs or reinstall the operating system, and then restore it from the backup.

Recover some files from cloud storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.) if you have any connection. Even if encrypted files have already been synchronized with the cloud, a lot of cloud services keep old versions of files changed for some time (usually 30 days).

Recover Shadow Copies of your files if they are available - ransomware usually tries to delete them as well. Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) is a Windows technology that periodically creates shadows for your files and allows you to reverse changes made to those files or recover deleted files. If VSS is enabled in conjunction with system restore: it is enabled by default in Windows XP for Windows 8 and disabled by default in Windows 10.

Use the file recovery software. This probably won't work for Solid State Drives (SSD - it is a newer, one of the fastest and most expensive types of data storage devices) but it is worth trying to store your data on a Hard Drive (HDD) - older and most common to date as a storage device). When you delete a file from your computer - and I mean completely deleted: use Shift + Del or empty the Recycle Bin - the SSD is deleted from the drive right away. On the HDD, however, instead, it is marked as deleted, and space it occupies on a hard drive - as available to save, but the data is still there and is usually recoverable by special software. However, the more you use the computer, especially if you do something that writes new data to the hard drive, the more chances that your deleted file will be replaced and will be removed forever. That is why, in this guide, we will try to recover deleted files (if you remember, the ransomware creates an encrypted copy of a file and deletes the original file) without installing anything on the disk. We only know that this may still not be enough to successfully recover your files - after all, when the ransomware creates the encrypted files it writes the new information to the disk, possibly on top of the files it has just deleted. This really depends on how much free space there is on your hard drive: the more free space, the less chance that new data will replace old data. we will try to recover deleted files (if you remember, the ransomware creates an encrypted copy of a file and deletes the original file) without installing anything on the disk. We only know that this may still not be enough to successfully recover your files - after all, when the ransomware creates the encrypted files it writes the new information to the disk, possibly on top of the files it has just deleted. This really depends on how much free space there is on your hard drive: the more free space, the less chance that new data will replace old data. we will try to recover deleted files (if you remember, the ransomware creates an encrypted copy of a file and deletes the original file) without installing anything on the disk. We only know that this may still not be enough to successfully recover your files - after all, when the ransomware creates the encrypted files it writes the new information to the disk, possibly on top of the files it has just deleted. This really depends on how much free space there is on your hard drive: the more free space, the less chance that new data will replace old data. when the ransomware creates the encrypted files it writes the new information to the disk, possibly on top of the files it just deleted. This really depends on how much free space there is on your hard drive: the more free space, the less chance that new data will replace old data. when the ransomware creates the encrypted files it writes the new information to the disk, possibly on top of the files it just deleted. This really depends on how much free space there is on your hard drive: the more free space, the less chance that new data will replace old data.

Going further, we need to 1) prevent ransomware from encrypting recovery files, if the malware is still active; 2) try not to replace the deleted files with the ransomware. The best way to do this is to disconnect your hard drive and connect it to another computer. You will be able to browse all folders, scan them with antivirus programs, use file recovery software, or restore data from Shadow Copies. While it is best to download all the tools you will need beforehand and disconnect your computer from the Internet before connecting the infected hard drive, just to be safe.

The Disadvantages of This Method:

This may void the warranty.

It is more difficult to do with laptops, and you will need a special case (disk case) to put a hard drive on before connecting it to another machine.

It is possible to infect the other computer if you open a file on the infected drive before scanning the drive with the antivirus and removing all malware found; or if all antivirus software fails to find and delete the malware.

Another, easier, is to load in safe mode and do all the file recovery measures there. However, that means using the hard drive and potentially replacing some data. In this case, it is preferable to use only the portable versions of the recovery software (those that do not require installation), transfer them to an external device, and save all recovered files on an external device as well (external hard drive, Pen drive, CD, DVD, etc.).