Hi, Chris -
I'm hoping somebody comes up with a solution. Is there a way to remove this virus without losing data?

I had a similar problem a month ago, and it caused me to quit a volunteer IT job I had for 18 years. The development director of our nonprofit got the "Merry Christmas" ransomware virus. A popup told her she needed to load fonts onto Google Chrome in order to view a Web page. The popup looked credible, so she approved the download. Then she tried to pass the blame onto me, saying I had not kept our Norton Antivirus and our backup software up-to-date (something I had done religiously for years). She then proceeded to tamper with our antivirus and backup software, and texted me that she and the Board of Directors needed to know why I hadn't kept them up-to-date.

I am surprised that Norton allowed her to approve the download and that Windows allowed her to run the *.exe file. Maybe they did try to stop her, but she's an impetuous sort that isn't stopped by anything.

Anyhow, I felt that my trust relationship with the nonprofit's staff had been broken, so I quit. I had been donating $500 a year and driving 100 miles a week for that organization, but I don't need that kind of crap. I had years of experience to offer them, but sometimes young staff members of nonprofits don't respect that and just treat their volunteers like old guys that don't know anything.

Hope you find a solution to your virus, Chris.

-Joe-