.Fat32 Files Virus – How to Remove and Restore Data

This article aims to help you by showing how to remove the .fat32 files ransomware virus from your computer and how to restore files that have been encrypted with the added .fat32 file extension.

A ransomware infection, going by the extension .fat32 which it adds to the files of the infected computer after it encrypts them has been reported to be spread via a multitude of ways online. The virus is from the file encryption kind, meaning that it replaces portions of data from the original files with data from the encryption algorithm it uses, making the files no longer able to be opened. After this is done, the ransomware adds a ransom note, named info.txt. In it, there are instructions on how to pay a hefty ransom of $700 in order to get the files decrypted and working. If you have been infected by the .fat32 files virus, read this article in order to learn how to remove this ransomware and how to try and restore .fat32 encrypted files without having to pay the ransom.

Threat Summary

Name	.fat32 Files Virus
Type	Ransomware, Cryptovirus
Short Description	Aims to encrypt the files on your computer and then asks for $700 dollars as a payoff for their decryption.
Symptoms	Adds the .fat32 file extension to the encrypted files and an info.txt ransom note on the infected computer.
Distribution Method	Spam Emails, Email Attachments, Executable files
Detection Tool	See If Your System Has Been Affected by .fat32 Files Virus Download Malware Removal Tool
User Experience	Join Our Forum to Discuss .fat32 Files Virus.
Data Recovery Tool	Windows Data Recovery by Stellar Phoenix Notice! This product scans your drive sectors to recover lost files and it may not recover 100% of the encrypted files, but only few of them, depending on the situation and whether or not you have reformatted your drive.

Distribution Methods

For the .fat32 files virus to infect a computer, the malware uses various different types of techniques. The primary of those is to slither onto your computer via e-mail spam. To do this, the malware uses multiple different setups and techniques that obfuscate it’s infection file. The infection file itself may be masked as different fake legitimate files such as:

• Invoices.
• Receipts.
• Documents.
• Fake program installers.
• Game patches.
• Game cracks.

Most of the files, that could infect your computer with the .fat32 files virus may be sent to you via the same spam e-mail tactict possibly as a previously detected ransomware virus, named Stroman which is very similar to the .fat32 files virus in that it uses similar ransom note, but demands less as ransom. The tactic which may be used by .fat32 may include uploading the malicious file as a fake document and sending it via e-mail to unsuspecting users, while including various deceitful messages to the file, like the following:

In addition to this, the ransomware virus, may also cause infection via fake setups, game patches and other seemingly legitimate executables that are uploaded on torrent sites or suspicious software-provider websites.

.Fat32 Files Ransomware – More Information

Once the .fat32 file infection has compromised your computer, the primary malicious file of this virus is dropped and alongside it other support files may also be dropped on your drive. The malicious files are usually located in the following Windows folders:

• %AppData%
• %Local%
• %LocalLow%
• %Roaming%
• %Temp%

As soon as the files are copied on your computer, the ransomware may connect to the server of the cyber-criminals operating it and enlist your computer in a list of infected devices, available to them only. This happens either via your unique key or an identifier created for your computer.

In addition to the dropped files, .fat32 virus also drops a ransom note which is called info.txt and has the following ransom note:

“Your data set are encrypted.

We can help decrypted files.

Price for full decrypt all files 700$

You will get decrypt soft + personal key + manual.

For recover your files – contact us email:

[email protected]

Please use public email for contact: gmail etc.

For you to be sure, that we can decrypt your files

You can send us 1-2 encrypted files and we will send back it in a decrypt format FREE.

For download files use only dropmefiles.com not more then 10 Mb

Send us an email:

1.Personal ID

2.link dropmefiles.com

after wait decrypted files and further instructions.

Personal ID:

Hef0b1e0pI2y98boOKa7ciG2lUV8XIHAdoC5me99

Do not rename encrypted files

Not use false encryption key, it cause pernament data loss”

You must pay within 72 hours, or the price will be more.

The BitCoin payment address of this ransom virus is the same like the one used with the recently detected Stroman ransomware detection, suggesting that the two infections may have more in common than initially thought. In addition to this, the .fat32 files virus may also add registry value entries with sub-keys in them that are specifically created in order to make it so that the file, responsible for encryption runs automatically on system start. The targeted sub-keys for this to happen are the following:

→ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

In addition to those, the .fat32 ransomware may also modify the following reigstry sub-keys as well:

→ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop\

Futhermore, .fat32 files virus may also attack the system recovery and shadow volume copies on your computer and delete them, by utilizing the following commands in Windows Command Prompt as an administrator:

→ process call create “cmd.exe /c
vssadmin.exe delete shadows /all /quiet
bcdedit.exe /set {default} recoveryenabled no
bcdedit.exe /set {default} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures

.Fat32 Ransomware – Encryption Process

For the encryption, .fat32 files virus does not choose just any file to encode. The ransomware uses very specific tactic – it skips the important Windows files in the %Windows% and other system directories, while in the same time hunts of the most often used files on your computer, like the following:

• Documents.
• Microsoft Office files.
• Images.
• Music.
• Archives.
• Program files that are used very often.
• Virtual drive files.
• Database files.
• Other often used file types.

The way the encryption process is conducted Is that the ransomware hunts for specific file types, like the following:

“PNG .PSD .PSPIMAGE .TGA .THM .TIF .TIFF .YUV .AI .EPS .PS .SVG .INDD .PCT .PDF .XLR .XLS .XLSX .ACCDB .DB .DBF .MDB .PDB .SQL .APK .APP .BAT .CGI .COM .EXE .GADGET .JAR .PIF .WSF .DEM .GAM .NES .ROM .SAV CAD Files .DWG .DXF GIS Files .GPX .KML .KMZ .ASP .ASPX .CER .CFM .CSR .CSS .HTM .HTML .JS .JSP .PHP .RSS .XHTML. DOC .DOCX .LOG .MSG .ODT .PAGES .RTF .TEX .TXT .WPD .WPS .CSV .DAT .GED .KEY .KEYCHAIN .PPS .PPT .PPTX ..INI .PRF Encoded Files .HQX .MIM .UUE .7Z .CBR .DEB .GZ .PKG .RAR .RPM .SITX .TAR.GZ .ZIP .ZIPX .BIN .CUE .DMG .ISO .MDF .TOAST .VCD SDF .TAR .TAX2014 .TAX2015 .VCF .XML Audio Files .AIF .IFF .M3U .M4A .MID .MP3 .MPA .WAV .WMA Video Files .3G2 .3GP .ASF .AVI .FLV .M4V .MOV .MP4 .MPG .RM .SRT .SWF .VOB .WMV 3D .3DM .3DS .MAX .OBJ R.BMP .DDS .GIF .JPG ..CRX .PLUGIN .FNT .FON .OTF .TTF .CAB .CPL .CUR .DESKTHEMEPACK .DLL .DMP .DRV .ICNS .ICO .LNK .SYS .CFG”

After this has occurred, the ransomware virus may further begin to perform other types of activities, such as leave behind the .fat32 file extension to the encrypted files, making them appear like the image at the beginning of the article displays.

Remove .fat32 Ransomware and Restore Encrypted Files

In order to remove this ransomware infection from your computer, recommendations are to focus on removing the malicious files either manually or automatically (proffered) using the ransomware removal instructions below. They are specifically desgined to help you isolate the threat first and then remove it safely. For maximum effectiveness of the removal, malware researchers strongly advise to use an advanced anti-malware software which can help you delete the malicious files of .fat32 automatically and protect your PC against future infections as well.

If you want to restore files that have been encrypted by this ransomware virus, recommendations are to try out the alternative tools for file recovery below. They are specifically designed to help you recover as many files as possible without having to pay the ransom.

Manually delete .fat32 Files Virus from your computer

Note! Substantial notification about the .fat32 Files Virus threat: Manual removal of .fat32 Files Virus requires interference with system files and registries. Thus, it can cause damage to your PC. Even if your computer skills are not at a professional level, don’t worry. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using a malware removal tool.

1. Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove .fat32 Files Virus files and objects

Boot Your PC Into Safe Mode

1. For Windows 7,XP and Vista. 2. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. Fix registry entries created by .fat32 Files Virus on your PC.

For Windows XP, Vista, 7 systems:

1. Remove all CDs and DVDs, and then Restart your PC from the “Start” menu.
2. Select one of the two options provided below:

– For PCs with a single operating system: Press “F8” repeatedly after the first boot screen shows up during the restart of your computer. In case the Windows logo appears on the screen, you have to repeat the same task again.

– For PCs with multiple operating systems: Тhe arrow keys will help you select the operating system you prefer to start in Safe Mode. Press “F8” just as described for a single operating system.

3. As the “Advanced Boot Options” screen appears, select the Safe Mode option you want using the arrow keys. As you make your selection, press “Enter“.

4. Log on to your computer using your administrator account

While your computer is in Safe Mode, the words “Safe Mode” will appear in all four corners of your screen.

Step 1: Open the Start Menu

Step 2: Whilst holding down Shift button, click on Power and then click on Restart.
Step 3: After reboot, the aftermentioned menu will appear. From there you should choose Troubleshoot.

Step 4: You will see the Troubleshoot menu. From this menu you can choose Advanced Options.

Step 5: After the Advanced Options menu appears, click on Startup Settings.

Step 6: Click on Restart.

Step 7: A menu will appear upon reboot. You should choose Safe Mode by pressing its corresponding number and the machine will restart.

Some malicious scripts may modify the registry entries of your computer to change different settings. This is why manual clean up of your Windows Registry Database is strongly recommended. Since the tutorial on how to do this is a bit lenghty, we recommend following our instructive article about fixing registry entries.

2.Find malicious files created by .fat32 Files Virus on your PC

Find malicious files created by .fat32 Files Virus

1. For Windows 8, 8.1 and 10. 2. For Windows 7,XP and Vista.

For Newer Windows Operating Systems

Step 1:

On your keyboard press  + R and write explorer.exe in the Run text box and then click on the Ok button.

Step 2:

Click on your PC from the quick access bar. This is usually an icon with a monitor and its name is either “My Computer”, “My PC” or “This PC” or whatever you have named it.

Step 3:

Navigate to the search box in the top-right of your PC’s screen and type “fileextension:” and after which type the file extension. If you are looking for malicious executables, an example may be “fileextension:exe”. After doing that, leave a space and type the file name you believe the malware has created. Here is how it may appear if your file has been found:

N.B. We recommend to wait for the green loading bar in the navination box to fill up in case the PC is looking for the file and hasn’t found it yet.

For Older Windows Operating Systems

In older Windows OS’s the conventional approach should be the effective one:

Step 1:

Click on the Start Menu icon (usually on your bottom-left) and then choose the Search preference.

Step 2:

After the search window appears, choose More Advanced Options from the search assistant box. Another way is by clicking on All Files and Folders.

Step 3:

After that type the name of the file you are looking for and click on the Search button. This might take some time after which results will appear. If you have found the malicious file, you may copy or open its location by right-clicking on it.

Now you should be able to discover any file on Windows as long as it is on your hard drive and is not concealed via special software.

Automatically remove .fat32 Files Virus by downloading an advanced anti-malware program

1. Remove .fat32 Files Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool and back up your data

Remove .fat32 Files Virus with SpyHunter Anti-Malware Tool

1. Install SpyHunter to scan for and remove .fat32 Files Virus.2. Scan with SpyHunter to Detect and Remove .fat32 Files Virus. Back up your data to secure it against infections and file encryption by .fat32 Files Virus in the future.

Step 1:Click on the “Download” button to proceed to SpyHunter’s download page.

Download

Malware Removal Tool

It is highly recommended to run a scan before purchasing the full version of the software to make sure that the current version of the malware can be detected by SpyHunter.

Step 2: Guide yourself by the download instructions provided for each browser.
Step 3: After you have installed SpyHunter, wait for it to automatically update.

Step1: After the update process has finished, click on the ‘Scan Computer Now’ button.

Step2: After SpyHunter has finished scanning your PC for any .fat32 Files Virus files, click on the ‘Fix Threats’ button to remove them automatically and permanently.

Step3: Once the intrusions on your PC have been removed, it is highly recommended to restart it.

Back up your data to secure it against attacks in the future

IMPORTANT! Before reading the Windows backup instructions, we highly recommend to back up your data automatically with cloud backup and insure it against any type of data loss on your device, even the most severe. We recommend reading more about and downloading SOS Online Backup .

SOS Online Backup

2. Restore files encrypted by .fat32 Files Virus

Restore Files Encrypted by .fat32 Files Virus

Ransomware infections like .fat32 Files Virus aim to encrypt your files using an encryption algorithm which may be very difficult to directly decrypt. This is why we have suggested several alternative methods that may help you go around direct decryption and try to restore your files. Bear in mind that they may not be 100% effective but they may help you little or a lot in some situations.

Method 1: Scanning your drive’s sectors by using Data Recovery software.
Another method of restoring your files is by trying to bring back your files via data recovery software. Here are some suggestions for preferred data recovery software solutions:

• Stellar Phoenix Data Recovery Technicians License(Pro version with more features)
• Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery
• Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery

Method 2: Trying Kaspersky and EmsiSoft’s decryptors.
If the first method does not work, we suggest trying to use decryptors for other ransomware viruses, in case your virus is a variant of them. The two primary developers of decryptors are Kaspersky and EmsiSoft, links to which we have provided below:

• Kaspersky Decryptors
• Emsisoft Decryptors

Urgent! It is strongly advisable to first remove the .fat32 Files Virus threat before attempting any decryption, since it may interfere with system files and registries. You can do the removal yourself just in 5 minutes, using an advanced malware removal tool.

Method 3: Using Shadow Explorer

To restore your data in case you have backup set up, it is important to check for shadow copies in Windows using this software if ransomware has not deleted them:

• Shadow Explorer

Method 4: Finding .fat32 Files Virus decryption key while it communicates it via a network sniffing software.

Another way to decrypt the files is by using a Network Sniffer to get the encryption key, while files are encrypted on your system. A Network Sniffer is a program and/or device monitoring data traveling over a network, such as its internet traffic and internet packets. If you have a sniffer set before the attack happened you might get information about the decryption key. See how-to instructions below:

Instructions on How to Find Decryption Key for Files Encrypted By Ransowmare

Optional: Using Alternative Anti-Malware Tools

Remove .fat32 Files Virus Using Other Alternative Tools

STOPZilla Anti Malware

1. Download and Install STOPZilla Anti-malware to Scan for And Remove .fat32 Files Virus.
Step 1: Download STOPZilla by clicking here.
Step 2: A pop-up window will appear. Click on the ‘Save File’ button. If it does not, click on the Download button and save it afterwards.

Step 3: After you have downloaded the setup, simply open it.
Step 4: The installer should appear. Click on the ‘Next’ button.

Step 5: Check the ‘I accept the agreement’ check circle if not checked if you accept it and click the ‘Next’ button once again.

Step 6: Review and click on the ‘Install’ button.

Step 7: After the installation process has completed click on the ‘Finish’ button.

2. Scan your PC with STOPZilla Anti Malware to remove all .fat32 Files Virus associated files completely.
Step 1: Launch STOPZilla if you haven’t launched it after install.
Step 2: Wait for the software to automatically scan and then click on the ‘Repair Now’ button. If it does not scan automatically, click on the ‘Scan Now’ button.

Step 3: After the removal of all threats and associated objects, you should Restart your PC.

Vencislav Krustev

A network administrator and malware researcher at SensorsTechForum with passion for discovery of new shifts and innovations in cyber security. Strong believer in basic education of every user towards online safety.

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