How to remove the nasty Roland Ransomware from your system

Guide to remove Roland ransomware

The DJVU ransomware is back with a new variant to hit the computer users. Since March, this ransomware family has launched 20 variants so far. Roland ransomware is a dangerous crypto virus that encrypts the files and makes them unusable.

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Threat Summary

Understanding Roland ransomware

A tech savvy mind doesn’t need any glorious words to understand the working methodology of Roland ransomware. Like its cousins, it causes menace by targeting particular file types and making them impossible to open and read.

Unfortunately, this ransomware uses a powerful cryptography algorithm to encrypt the data. The cryptographies generate a unique key for every locked file. As a result, decrypting the data manually becomes next to impossible.  Furthermore, the hackers start blackmailing the innocent users to extort money from them. Cyber criminals, force the victims to purchase the decryption key to restore their data. They demand large ransom in the form of bitcoins. After the successful infiltration of the dangerous crypto virus, it displays a ransom note whenever you try to open the locked files.

Apart from that, the developers offer a 50% discount for the victims who contact them within the first 72 hours of the attack. Hence, those victims are liable to pay $490 in exchange of the decryption key. The remaining victims have to pay $980. Of course in bitcoins! However, paying doesn’t guarantee the restoration of files.

In order to save yourself from the theft, we recommend you to take regular backup of your data/files. Moreover, rather funding these cyber crooks, try to delete Roland ransomware from your system.

Distribution Technique

The dangerous Roland ransomware gets on the machine majorly via spam e-mails with malicious attachments. The file attachments are in the form of MS Office document, PDF or Zip files. It is the most common method to spread Trojan viruses, harmful malware and ransom-demanding threats.

The e-mails are sent with a catchy subject line, which tricks the user to believe that it is from a shipping company. It notifies about some undelivered message or a shipment that have been made by you. Once you open/download the file attachment, it triggers the nasty payload in the background. Hence, your system will be infected by this crypto virus.

Apart from spam e-mails, software ‘cracking’ tools is another famous method used by the developers to proliferate ransomware. The tools are supposed to activate the licensed software for free. However, cyber criminals are using it to install malicious programs in the system.

Hence, it is advisable to delete the suspicious e-mails from time – time. In addition, cleaning the system using an antivirus tool is a must.

Threat Behavior

According to researches, two things which are common in all the ransomware families are – file encryption and ransom demanding.

One of the most dangerous cyber threats, Roland ransomware infiltrates the system without your knowledge. Once it gains the access of your system, it will target the most common file extensions. The Roland virus corrupts your files and appends .roland extension to the file name. It makes the files unusable and generates a unique decryption key for each file. The developers, asked large amount of ransom in the form of bitcoins. In addition, whenever you try to open a locked file, it will display a ransom – demanding message on your screen.

(Ransom note)

Hence, it becomes impossible to decrypt the files manually. The hackers ask for large amount which range from $490 to $980 in the form of bitcoins. With fear of losing the data, the victim is willing to pay the asked amount. However, there is no guarantee about the decryption of data even after paying the ransom.

Apart from encrypting the files, it can alter registry entries or add files to system folder. It can also disable the security functions of the system.

Users, instead of funding these cyber criminals, aim to fix Roland ransomware. It’s time to stop the development of any new variant of this family. Make sure to remove Roland virus completely from your system. Scroll down for easy Roland ransomware removal steps.

Removal guidelines for Roland ransomware

STEP A: Reboot your system to Safe Mode

Windows 7/ Vista/ XP

1. Click on Windows icon present in the lower left corner of the computer screen.
2. Select and click  Restart.
3. When the screen goes blank, Keep tapping  F8  Key until you see the Advanced Boot Options window.
4. With the help of arrow keys on keyboard, Select Safe Mode with Networking  option from the list and press the Enter Key. The system will then restart to Safe Mode with Networking.

5 Click on the username and enter the password (if any).

Windows 10 / Windows 8

1. Press and hold the Shift Key and simultaneously click on the windows icon present in the lower left corner of your computer screen.
2. While the Shift key is still pressed click on the Power button and then click on Restart.
3. Now select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings.
4. When the Startup Settings screen appears which is the first screen to appear after restart, select and click on Enable Safe Mode with Networking. The system will then restart to Safe Mode with Networking.
5. Click on the username and enter the password.

STEP B: Delete the malicious file in system Configuration setting

1. Type “Msconfig” in search box / Run Box, select it and press Enter.
2. Click on “Services” Tab and click on “Hide all Microsoft services”.
3. Select Roland ransomware from the list of remaining services and disable it by removing the tick mark from the checkbox and click on Apply button.

Windows 7

1. Click on the next tab – “Startup”.
2. Find any blank or suspicious entry or the entry with Roland ransomware mentioned and remove the check mark.
3. Click on Apply button and then click on OK.

Windows 10

1. Click on the next tab – “Startup”.
2. Take the mouse cursor to ‘Open task Manager‘ link and click on it.  This opens the Task Manager window.
3. Find any blank or suspicious entry or the entry with Roland ransomware mentioned and click on it.
4. Then click on Disable button.

STEP C: Remove the suspicious file using Command Prompt

Windows 7/ Vista/ XP

1. Click on Windows icon present in the lower left corner of the computer screen.
2. Select and click Restart.
3. When the screen goes blank, keep tapping F8 key until you see the Advanced Boot Options window.
4. With the help of arrow keys on keyboard, Select Safe Mode with Command Prompt from the list and press the Enter Key. The system will then restart to Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
5. Click on the username and enter the password (if any).

Windows 10 / Windows 8

1. Press and hold the Shift Key and simultaneously click on the windows icon present in the lower left corner of your computer screen.
2. While the Shift key is still pressed click on the Power button and then click on Restart.
3. Now select Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings.
4. When the Startup Settings screen appears which is the first screen to appear after restart, select and click on Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt. The system will then restart to Safe Mode with Command Prompt.
5. Click on the username and enter the password.

STEP D: Restore system Files & Folders

Method 1 using Control Panel

1. Click on the ‘Start’ button on the taskbar. This will open the Start menu.
2. Click on the ‘Control Panel’ button in the Start menu. This will open the control panel window.
3. In the Control Panel window, click on the ‘View by:’ button on the top right. Select the Large Icon option
4. In the control Panel window click on the ‘Recovery Icon’. This will open a window that will ask ‘Restore the computer to an earlier point in time’.
5. Click on the ‘Open system restore’ button. This will open the ‘system restore ’window where you need to click on the Next Button.
6.  Select the restore point that is prior the infiltration of Roland ransomware. After doing that, click Next.
7. This will open the ‘Confirm your restore point’ dialog box. Click on Finish button. This will restore your system to a previous restore point before your system was infected by Roland ransomware.

OR

Method 2 using Command Prompt

1. Type cmd in the search box and click on the command prompt to open the Command Prompt window. box and clicking on it.
2. Once the Command Prompt window shows up, enter cd restore and click Enter.(Ensure that you in the system32 directory of Windows folder in C Drive)
3. Now type rstrui and press Enter again.
4. When a new window shows up, click Next and select your restore point that is prior the infiltration of Roland ransomware. After doing that, click Next.
5. This will open the ‘Confirm your restore point’ dialog box. Click on Finish button. This will restore your system to a previous restore point before your system was infected by Roland ransomware.

OR

Method 3 : Directly type ‘rstrui’ in the search box

1. Type ‘Rstrui’ in the search box present on the task bar. This will open the System restore dialog box.

Continue to follow steps 4 & 5 of Method 2 to restore the System Files and settings.

Tips to prevent Roland ransomware from your system

1. Keeping the Operating System Updated- In order to remain protected and avoid such infections, it is recommended to keep your Operating System updated by enabling the automatic update on your system. The systems with outdated or older versions of Operating System become an easy target for the attackers.
2. Resist clicking on spam emails – One of the major techniques used for malware distribution is forwarding spam emails to the user. The system gets infected as soon as the user clicks on the attachment. These mails appear to be genuine, so be aware and resist falling for these tricks.
3. Keep an eye on third party installations- It is quite important that you take due care while installing any third party applications for they are major source of such infections. Such malware programs come bundled with the free applications thereby requiring the user to remain cautious.
4. Regular periodical backup- In order to keep your data and files safe, it is recommended to take regular back up of all your data and files either on an external drive or cloud.
5. Use Anti-Virus Protection- We strongly recommend the use of antivirus protection/internet security in your PC like Vipre and Hitman so that it remains safe.
6. Enable the Ad Blocker/Popup Blocker in your browser- Enabling the popup blocker/ ad blocker in your chosen browser will help you to stay protected from annoying adware.