I first found nomoreransom.org referenced on a non-public site that I refer to for cyber threats. As I mentioned previously, you do have to be careful with general search results, as some criminals provide malware removal tools which actually install malware (which may wait months before becoming active) and they tend to use SEO to push their wares up the search results.

Would .jpg files be accessible if one dual booted from linux?

Dual booting doesn't help - the files will have been encrypted, so the content of a .jpg file isn't readable as a jpeg. It is quite possible that only the first part (maybe 1MB) of each file is encrypted, but that will contain the metadata making the whole file unreadable.
Fortunately in this case there is a decryption tool available. In general a backup on a separate computer or DVD etc is the only foolproof protection.

I was wondering earlier where the original photos were/are, and if any have perhaps ended up in MS OneDrive, Google Drive and suchlike.

Unlikely, but worth an ask.

Edit: Also emailed or similar to other family members or friends. Even actual prints than can be scanned. Were any older ones copied from an older computer and if so is that still available.

Edited by RobertoS (Fri 22-Nov-19 18:27:28)

In reply to a post by sheephouse:

In general a backup on a separate computer or DVD etc is the only foolproof protection.

External hard drive is ideal, these days USB sticks are larger in capacity and may also be sufficient for users with less data.

Unplugging after backup is key, although things like File History encourage the external storage to be connected at all times.

It is important that backups are not permanently accessible by the computer - if they are they will be encrypted too. Attached backups can protect against hard drive failures etc, but not against malware.

In reply to a post by sheephouse:

Dual booting doesn't help...

Thanks for the reply - I thought that maybe dual booting into linux might be a way of copying across encrypted files (particularly .jpeg, plain text documents, etc. from a Windows OS) and perhaps opening them on the linux partition might be possible.

Yep, it's a trade off. Permanently connected external storage with File History provides excellent backup coverage but puts them at risk of malware encrypting all the files.

I wonder how many people are sufficiently motivated to keep plugging in and out their backup device before and after each regular backup (until it's too late).

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

Yep, it's a trade off. Permanently connected external storage with File History provides excellent backup coverage but puts them at risk of malware encrypting all the files.

I wonder how many people are sufficiently motivated to keep plugging in and out their backup device before and after each regular backup (until it's too late).

Also, perhaps, disconnecting other booted machines, using the same OS, from the LAN? Or perhaps a user has to intentionally transfer files?

In reply to a post by 4M2:

Also, perhaps, disconnecting other booted machines, using the same OS, from the LAN?

Yes, if the device is connected to the LAN, and the infected PC knows the SMB password for it, or it has no password, it most definitely is at risk too.