Remove Lotej Virus Ransomware (+.Lotej File Recovery)

The Ransomware infections can certainly cause a lot of trouble to anyone who gets them in their computer since most people keep some form of valuable data on their machines. It could be personal family photos and videos, projects for university, or some work-related files, and if a Ransomware cryptovirus finds its way into the computer, any such data would become inaccessible to the user of the attached system. Of course, the hackers behind the attack offer their victims a way out of this mess – a ransom payment – pay the requested money and you get your files back (or so the hackers say). Of course, whether that is what would actually happen if you do pay them is another question – a question which no one can answer, which means that paying the money is a risky course of action.

 In this post, Lotej will be our main focus, and we will try to help its victims deal with the infection in the best way possible. Before we get any further, however, we need to mention that the full recovery of your data can’t be guaranteed if you are dealing with a threat like Lotej – oftentimes, there is simply no recovery method that is hundred percent effective. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to do anything – you can still minimize the consequences of the malware attack, and below, we will tell you what we consider to be the most advisable course of action.

Characteristics of the .Lotej virus

Knowing the main traits of a given form of malware can help you deal with the infection and also prevent future attacks from such threats. In the case of Lotej and other similar cryptoviruses, one particularly problematic factor is the lack of visible symptoms during infections with them. While some users may notice some increase in the CPU and RAM that are being used during the encryption process as well as a decrease in the free hard-drive space (which goes away after the encryption is finished), it’s generally unlikely for most people to detect a Ransomware in their computer. In addition, most antivirus programs aren’t properly suited to spot such threats, which is why it’s important to use an antivirus that has specialized protection features against Ransomware.

 Another problem with those viruses is the fact that the encryption on the files doesn’t go away when you remove the infection. Despite that, it is still important to remove the malware in order to make sure that no more data gets locked in the future – below this article, we can show you how to eliminate Lotej.

The .Lotej file encryption

As we said at the start of the post, the payment of the demanded ransom isn’t really the perfect option since it may not really get you back the access to your files. Therefore, we suggest that you remove the Ransomware and then look at the alternative options of file recovery that we have here, on this site. Though they may not be fully effective in all cases, it costs nothing to try them out, and if you are lucky and you manage to recover your important data, you would have saved quite a lot of money.

Lotej SUMMARY:

Remove Lotej Ransomware Guide

1: Preparations

Note: Before you go any further, we advise you to bookmark this page or have it open on a separate device such as your smartphone or another PC. Some of the steps might require you to exit your browser on this PC.

2: Task Manager

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to enter the Task Manager. Go to the Tab labeled Processes (Details for Win 8/10). Carefully look through the list of processes that are currently active on you PC.

If any of them seems shady, consumes too much RAM/CPU or has some strange description or no description at all, right-click on it, select Open File Location and delete everything there.

Also, even if you do not delete the files, be sure to stop the process by right-clicking on it and selecting End Process.

3: IP related to Lotej

Go to c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts. Open the hosts file with notepad.

Find where it says Localhost and take a look below that. 

If you see any IP addresses there (below Localhost) send them to us here, in the comments since they might be coming from the Lotej.

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4: Disable Startup programs

Re-open the Start Menu and type msconfig.

Click on the first search result. In the next window, go to the Startup tab. If you are on Win 10,  it will send you to the Startup part of the task manager instead, as in the picture:

If you see any sketchy/shady looking entries in the list with an unknown manufacturer or a manufacturer name that looks suspicious as there could be a link between them and Lotej , disable those programs and select OK.

5: Registry Editor

Press Windows key + R and in the resulting window type regedit.

Now, press Ctrl + F and type the name of the virus.

Delete everything that gets found. If you are not sure about whether to delete something, do not hesitate to ask us in the comments. Keep in mind that if you delete the wrong thing, you might cause all sorts of issues to your PC.

6: Deleting potentially malicious data – Lotej

Type each of the following locations in the Windows search box and hit enter to open the locations:

%AppData%

%LocalAppData%

%ProgramData%

%WinDir%

%Temp%

Delete everything you see in Temp linked to Lotej Ransomware. About the other folders, sort their contents by date and delete only the most recent entries. As always, if you are not sure about something, write to us in the comment section.

7: Lotej Decryption

The previous steps were all aimed at removing the Lotej Ransomware from your PC. However, in order to regain access to your files, you will also need to decrypt them or restore them. For that, we have a separate article with detailed instructions on what you have to do in order to unlock your data. Here is a link to that guide.