Sep 26, 2016

Microsoft Edge is Frozen with a Warning Page “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes”-Unlock Guide

Need help! Microsoft Edge is Frozen with a Warning Page “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes” This morning, I was attacked by a very dangerous virus while surfing overs some old gaming sites. After opening the website when I clicked the news tab at the top, then my browser locked up suddenly. A pop-up warning appeared in the middle of the page stating “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes unless you call the number that we have provided for further information”. What was even more frightening, there was also an audio file playing this message. I immediately had my power button turn off my computer and turned it back on. However, the warning page came back once I Opened Edge. Can you help me unlock it? Thanks.

Brief Description of Fake Warning “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes”

Fake warning “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes” is caused by the tricky virus. It is created to promote fake tech support for illegal money. The Internet has been awash with all manner of scam virus for a long time. The cyber criminals make up fake system alerts and errors to scare users into paying money to remove non-existed viruses. Once the scam virus sneaks into your system, it blocks your browser and display alerts. It claims that your computer is infected with viruses prompting you to call a number for tech support. We don’t suggest you call the tech support or send money to them. They are the owners of the virus which attacks your computer. If you call them, they will trick you into purchasing useless software or unneeded service. You ought to remove the fake warning “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes” manually. If you have problem in removing the virus, please contact a reliable company like YooCare for help.

How Does the Fake Tech Support Virus Work?

As soon as the fake tech support virus attacks your computer, it changes your browser settings and hijacks the browser completely. The fake warning page “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes” is able to block Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Safari, Internet Explorer, Bing, Mozilla Firefox and other browsers. On the warning page, you also can hear a voice telling you that your computer is at considerable risk. To make is authentic, it lists your IP address, location, operating system and other personal information. It kindly provides help by giving you a free toll number. It says the tech support company will help you fix the issues once you call. Otherwise, your hard drive will be deleted. The virus makes it difficult to close the warning. When you click on “X” button to close it, a dialog box appears asking you to call tech support. After you click on OK, the warning is still there. Though you can quit the page after you force stop it, you will be redirected to the fake warning page again after you start the browser. In this situation, you may believe what the fake waring says and call the listed number. It is a bad idea to ask cyber criminals for help. We strongly suggest you remove the fake warning page “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes” manually.

Processing manual removal is supposed to have a certain level of computer literacy. If you are not sure how to start and are afraid of making any critical mistakes damaging the computer system, please live chat with YooCare Expert now.

Microsoft Edge is Frozen with a Warning Page “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes”-Unlock Guide

1. Clean Add-ons and Extensions

* Internet Explorer:

(1). Click Tools in the Menu bar and then click Internet Options

Tools in IE

(2). Click Programs tab, click Manage add-ons and disable the suspicious add-ons

Manage-browser-add-ons22

* Firefox:

(1). Click Tools in the Menu bar and then click Add-ons

Tools-in-Firefox

(2). Click Extensions, select the related browser add-ons and click Disable

* Google Chrome:

(1). Click Customize and control Google Chrome button → Tools → Extensions

Customize-and-control-Google-Chrome-button

(2). Disable the extensions of fake tech support virus
2. End Relevant Processes

(1). Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc together to pop up Windows Task Manager, click Processes tab

Task-Manager

*For Win 8 Users:

Click More details when you see the Task Manager box

Win-8-Task-Manager

And then click Details tab

Details-Tab-in-Win-8-Task-Manager

(2). Find out and end fake tech support virus’s processes

3. Show Hidden Files

(1). Click on Start button and then on Control Panel

(2). Click on Appearance and Personalization

Appearance-and-Personalization

(3). Click on Folder Options

Folder-Options

(4). Click on the View tab in the Folder Options window

(5). Choose Show hidden files, folders, and drives under the Hidden files and folders category

Show-Hidden-Files-Folders-and-Drives

(6). Click OK at the bottom of the Folder Options window

*For Win 8 Users:

Press Win+E together to open Computer window, click View and then click Options

View-in-Computer-Window

Click View tab in the Folder Options window, choose Show hidden files, folders, and drives under the Hidden files and folders category

View-Tab-in-Folder-Options-Window

4. Delete Relevant Registry Entries and Files

(1). Delete the registry entries related to the fake tech support virus through Registry Editor

Press Win+R to bring up the Run window, type “regedit” and click “OK”

Regedit

While the Registry Editor is open, search and delete its registry entries

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run\[RANDOM CHARACTERS].exe

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run ‘Random’

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Random

(2). Find out and remove the associated files

%AllUsersProfile%\random.exe

%AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Templates\random.exe

%Temp%\random.exe

Video Shows You How to Safely Modify Windows Registry Editor:

Conclusion

Is your browser hijacked by warning website? Does the pop-up website tell you that your computer is infected with viruses or suspicious activities have been detected and prompt you to call the tech support company? We have to tell you that all the alerts are fake. Do not trust the fake warning of “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes”. Apart from fake tech support scam virus, your computer is fine. Your hard drive will not be deleted. Though this virus is sticky and stubborn, do not try to call the scam tech support for help. When seeing this bogus alert, just calm down and remove the scam virus to get rid of fake warning page “your hard drive will be deleted in five minutes”. If you are not good at computer, please contact an expert for help.

Can’t remove the virus and are afraid of making any critical mistakes damaging your computer? please contact YooCare Expert for further removal help.

Published by & last updated on September 26, 2016 7:20 am

Leave a Reply

Problems with your PC, Mac or mobile device?

Live Chat Now

Thanks for using YooCare Services!

Here're some of the support team members who are passionate about their works and support our customers 24/7.

As Seen On