How to Recover Files Infected by Shortcut Virus | Guide

A shortcut virus is a type of Trojan/worm combination that hides files and folders on USB pen drives, external hard drives, and SD memory cards. And then the shortcut virus will replace all of them with shortcuts with the same names. If you connect an infected USB drive to your computer, the virus will transfer to your computer and affect the files on your PC.

How to open or recover short files on a USB flash drive

This annoying issue makes it difficult for people to open or view files. But no worries. It is possible for you to recover deleted files from hard drive and recover temporary files from pen drives or other USB flash drives in the following two ways.

Solution 1. Restore Shortcut Files Using CMD

If the flash drive is not formatted, the short files must be stored in the hardware under private mode. How to recover files from shortcut virus using CMD? You can recover hidden files using CMD by following these steps:

Step 1. Press Windows + R and type: cmd. Click "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator".

Step 2. Type: attrib -h -r -s /s /d *.* and press Enter.

Complete all these steps and you can view your files on the pen drive. If you can't find the files you want, you can try another solution: get the short files with data recovery software.

Solution 2. Recover Shortcut Files with Data Recovery Software

If CMD can't extract files and recover short files, don't despair, you can use MyRecover. This powerful data recovery tool can help you recover virus-infected files from multiple hard drives and storage devices, such as USB flash drives, memory cards, pen drives, external hard drives, and more.

Key features of MyRecover:

The intuitive user interface allows easy navigation and data recovery in just three clicks.

Apply to any data loss situation, such as lost or deleted partitions, disk format, virus infection, system/computer crash recovery, etc.

Built-in scanning ensures that you find and restore game data with a high recovery success rate and fast speed, while keeping the name, directory, path, format and t -their original file type.

Work with all Windows OS, including Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, 11, and Windows Server.

Any data lost on USBs, including photos, videos, audio files, documents, emails, compressed files, etc., can be recovered, up to 200+ formats.

Now, Free Download and install MyRecover on your computer. Meanwhile, connect your flash drive to the computer.

Step 1. Open MyRecover. Hover over the flash drive with deleted files and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. It will automatically perform Quick Scan & Deep Scan to find deleted files. Once found, it will show your deleted files that can be recovered here. You don't have to wait for the process to finish if you find the files you want to recover.

Step 3. Select the deleted files you want and then click Recover xx files to recover deleted files from PC. You can also click Recycle Bin in the left panel to select files in their original location.

Conclusion

If you encounter a shortcut virus, or install it on a public computer or open an online malware, remember that you can easily recover your data. You just have to remember that only the right file recovery software and the right way can get you out of any dangerous situation.

Do not put your USB in public computers and prevent yourself from opening malware online. Just backup your data when you feel comfortable in your daily life.