Remove shortcut virus from Pendrive and PC

Remove shortcut virus from Pendrive and PC

A shortcut virus is a type of trojan/worm combination that hides all your files and folders, then changes them all with a shortcut that looks exactly the same.

When you launch one of these incorrect shortcuts, you run malware at the end that duplicates the virus and infects your system, leading to the stolen personal data, the system performance deteriorates, And all other malware related side effects.

Removing a Shortcut Virus from Pendrive or an External Device

If you have a USB flash drive, external hard drive, or SD memory card that is infected with a shortcut virus, then the infection will spread whenever you plug it into a Windows PC. Here's how to remove the infection from an external device:

• Plug in the infected external device.
• Open the file explorer (Windows key + e keyboard shortcut) and find the external device below to see the device and drive section, then mentally note the drive letter (eg :).
• Launch an elevated command prompt by opening the Power User Menu (Windows key + X keyboard shortcut) and selecting Command Prompt (Admin).
• Type the drive letter given in step 2 prompt for the external device, then enter: 

           E:

• Delete all shortcuts on the device with this command: 

del * .lnk

•  Restore all files and folders on the device with this command: 

Attrib -s -r -h / s / d *. *

• done!

The Attribute command is a native Windows function that changes the attributes of a particular file or folder. The other parts of the command specify which files and folders to change and how they should be changed:

• -s removes the "system file" status from all matching files and folders.
• -r removes the "read-only" status from all matching files and folders.
• It removes "Hidden" status from all matching files and folders.
• /s restores the command to all files and folders in the current directory, basically the entire device in this case.
• / d applies to the command folder as well as (normally handles only on files).
• *. * Means that all file names and folder names should be considered as a match.

When you do all that, consider copying all your files from external device, format the external device to clean it completely, then take your files back to the external device. Learn more about how to format external drives. (But first, make sure to clean your computer! Instructions below.) How to format a USB drive and why you will need it

How To Remove A Shortcut Virus From Your PC Permanently

If your Windows PC is infected with a shortcut virus, at any time you plug in any other external device, the infection will spread to that device. Here's how to remove shortcut virus using CMD (on a Windows machine):

• Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc Keyboard shortcut).
• In the Processes tab, see wscript.exe or wscript.vbs, right-click on it and select End Task. If you see both of them, then go ahead and do it for both.
• Close the Task Manager.
• Open the Start menu, search for regedit and launch Registry Editor.
• In Registry Editor, go to the following in the left sidebar: 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER / software / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Run

• In the right panel, look for any weird looking major names such as Odvoydas, WXCKYz, OUzzckky, etc. For each, run a Google search to see if this shortcut is related to the virus.

• If so, right-click on them and select Delete. Do this at your own risk! Always make sure that you know what a key does before tampering. By accidentally removing an important key, the Windows can become unstable.
• Close Registry Editor.
• Open the Run prompt (Windows + R keyboard shortcut), type msconfig, then click OK to open the system configuration window.
• In the Startup tab, look for any weird-looking .EXE or .VBS programs, select each and click Disable.
• Close the system configuration window.
• Open the Run Prompt (Windows key + R keyboard shortcut), type% TEMP%, then click OK to open the Windows Temp folder. Erase everything within. (Do not worry, it's safe!)
• In the file explorer, go to the following folder:

 C: \ Users \ [username] \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Windows \ Start Menu \ Programs \ Startup

• Look for any weird-looking .exe or .vbs files and delete them.
• Done!

If the above does not work, you can also try using USBFix Free. This is technically to clean USB drives and other external devices, but you can point it to regular system drives and it will clear them too. It works very well as a shortcut virus remover tool. Many people have seen success with this, but if this backfire and you lose data, then we can not be held responsible. Always back up your data!

Note: If the infected drive or partition is similar to your Windows system (for most users, which means C: Drive), then there is no easy way to clear all the false shortcuts. Fortunately, in Windows 8.1 and 10, you can choose to reset or refresh the Windows. On Windows 7, you have to reinstall Windows.