Laptop Encrypted With Ransomware: Partial Solution

[fixitclinic]

At Virtual Fixit Clinic 555 2020-06-13 Lund/Malmö Sweden we saw Sylviane from London's laptop with ransomware:

-From London UK: a laptop Acer Aspire ES 15 ES1-521-64BK 2016 A virus on the 17/02/2020 saying: All your files are encrypted. Find m3s9ei2em-readme.txt and follow instructions. I did some research, asked technicians, nothing and no one were really helpful (ie. technicians just could not be asked)

laptop Acer ES1-521-64BK 2009 or earlier around the 10/02/20, an event occurred. It said All your files are encrypted. Find m3s9ei2em-readme.txt and follow instructions. I opened it. It was in bad english and threatening. I did not act upon it. So yes, all my files are encrypted until that date apart from those which were in the trash can. Internet is working and all new files since then are fine. 

How could I recover my files? Is it safe to put all my new files on a USB stick before the ZOOM meeting date? I now save my files on clouds etc... I would love to recover my photos. I asked a few people, however, everything they said was not convincing so I did not try.

(Video here: https://youtu.be/Q47FAllCWVY?t=826)

Fixit Coach John P from Cambridge, Massachusetts US reports: "We were unable to identify the ransomeware type, it did not seem to exhibit any of the signs the common ones did.  I recommended she take the encrypted files and place them on a thumb drive so she could get her computer wiped and back up and running.  She was working off a loaner from the university and she did not have it for too long.  My recommendation then was to take that thumb drive and bring it to a computer shop to see if they could do anything with the files."