Surely many fans of the Windows operating system are familiar with the situation when a banner appears on the monitor with the threatening inscription “Attention, your computer is locked!”. And then comes the text with the threat of deleting all data from the computer in the near future. To avoid this, it is proposed to pay a fine by depositing funds to the specified mobile number and receive an unlock code. Even turning off the computer, I can’t remove the hated banner. When you turn it on again, it still flaunts on the monitor.
What to do if the computer is locked? Top up your account? In no case! After entering the specified amount or sending SMS to the proposed number, no unhappy user will receive any unlock code, and the computer will remain locked. This is how the most ordinary scammers act, who launch virus programs on computers and expect that there are naive users on the network. This type of online fraud has existed for a long time, and the size of the fine is constantly growing. Typically, an operating system lock occurs when you try to play or download a video of dubious content.
So, the computer is locked, and no actions are performed. What to do? In this case, you can do two things - contact a specialist or try to unlock the system yourself.
Unlock via safe mode
If the computer is blocked by a virus, you can try to unlock it by restoring the system. To do this, turn off the computer and turn it on again. When you turn on before starting Windows, press the F8 key. In the window that opens, you will be asked to select the download option. In this case, “Safe Mode” is required, in which the computer only loads the drivers necessary to start the OS. It is possible that the system will boot without a banner.
Now you should click “Start”, then “All Programs”, select “Standard”, then “Utilities” and start “System Restore”. A window will open in which you need to select the day and recovery point from the list , mark the desired line and click "Next". Confirm recovery point by clicking Finish. Now the computer will restore the state that preceded the described event that occurred on the selected day, that is, before the banner appeared. The system will start without a banner, but the virus will remain on the computer.
If everything turned out to be done and the system booted normally, you should update the antivirus program and run the scanner to fully check the disk.
There is a likelihood that the banner got to the computer through a browser, which at startup may offer to restore the session. In no case should this be done.
BIOS Unlock
If the computer is locked, you can try to unlock it through the BIOS. You need to enter this system immediately after turning on the computer by pressing a specific button or key combination. Different manufacturers have different buttons and key combinations, for example: F1, F2, Del, Ctrl + Alt + Ins, Ctrl + Alt + Del, Ctrl + Alt + Del and others.
The start page opens with the system date and system time, where you need to change the date a few days ago, that is, before the banner appeared. Then you need to save the modified dates by pressing F10 and exit the BIOS. If this saving method did not work, go to Exit and select “Saving Changes”, highlight “Yes” and press Enter. After that, the computer will reboot, and the system will start without a banner.
Download from LiveCD with antivirus software
If these methods did not help and the computer is still locked, you will have to use a special program to kill viruses. To do this, you need another computer connected to the Internet. You need to go to the Dr. Web, in order to download from there a program called Dr. Web LiveCD. The downloaded image must be burned to a CD using the Nero program and thereby obtain a bootable disc. Then load the locked computer from the disk on which the antivirus program is installed. Now you need to configure Dr. Web and start scanning. There is a high probability that a fraudulent virus will be destroyed and the computer will turn on normally.
In some cases, none of the above methods helps and you have to use an extreme tool - reinstalling Windows.