HitmanPro is a popular second opinion scanner that helps you in removing rootkits, trojans, viruses, worms, spyware, adware, and other malware using behavioral analysis, cloud computing, and virus definitions from Dr. Web, Emsisoft Anti-Malware, G Data AntiVirus, BitDefender, and IKARUS. From its stables comes HitmanPro.Kickstart. Now HitmanPro.Kickstart, is not free, and we normally do not cover hardware, but since Ransomware is so much in the news these days, we thought of covering some good tools that can help your system recover, should your system get hijacked.
HitmanPro.Kickstart
HitmanPro.Kickstart will help you rescue a ransomed PC. It lets you start your computer from a USB flash drive to remove malware that has ransomed or locked your computer and does not allow you to access it. The application is considered to be user-friendly, and you don’t need knowledge of other environment platforms like Linux or Windows PE to use HitmanPro.Kickstart.
For those who are not familiar with Ransomware here is a little explanation:
Ransomware is a kind of malware (malicious software) that criminals install on your computer without your consent. Ransomware gives criminals the ability to lock your computer from a remote location. Then it will present a pop-up window with a warning that says that your computer is locked and claims that you will not be able to access it unless you pay.
Most of the time, after the attack of ransomware, your desktop is no longer accessible, and you cannot start any other program. That’s why we need a program that boots from a disk-like a rescue disk or multi-environment bootable disk to help us to remove such nasty malware. The CryptoLocker ransomware, recently in the news, is one such example.
Ransomware Removal Tool
According to the developers of HitmanPro.Kickstart, the normal rescue CD, is way too complicated for an average user to operate or remove the malware, and that’s why they developed HitmanPro.Kickstart. This program will boot from USB and take you to a familiar Windows screen that helps you remove the Malware. All you need to do is boot up your system using the HitmanPro.Kickstart a USB flash drive and you’re set to go.
How to Create HitmanPro.Kickstart USB Flash drive
- Download HitmanPro from here.
- Install it and start HitmanPro
- Click on the ‘flying kick guy’ icon next to the Settings button
- Now insert the flash drive and follow the on-screen instructions.
Now all you need to do is make sure that Boot from an external device is enabled in BIOS. Then plug in your USB and reboot your machine.
Remove Ransomware
Remember HitmanPro.Kick is not free. It offers a free 30 days trial version. If you have already tried the HitmanPro trial on the same computer it will force you to buy the license before it removes the malware again.
I haven’t personally tested HitmanPro.Kickstart but do let us know what you think of this product.
You may want to also check out HitmanPro.Alert. This product is freeware. CryptoPrevent and BitDefender AntiRansomware are other handy tools which provide your computer a shield against ransomware.
