Related: How to Format a USB Drive (And Why You Would Need To) Once you've done all that, consider copying all of your files off the external device, completely formatting the external device to wipe it clean, then moving your files back onto it.

*.* means all file names and folder names should be considered a match.

/d makes the command apply to folders as well (normally attrib only handles files).

/s makes the command recursively apply to all files and folders in the current directory and all subdirectories-basically the entire device in this case.

-h removes the 'hidden' status from all matching files and folders.

-r removes the 'read-only' status from all matching files and folder.

-s removes the 'system file' status from all matching files and folders.

The other parts of the command designate which files and folders to alter and how they should be changed: The attrib command is a native Windows function that alters the attributes of a particular file or folder. Restore all files and folders on the device with this command: Orient the Command Prompt to the external device by typing the drive letter you noted in step 2, then hitting Enter:ĭelete all shortcuts on the device with this command: Launch an elevated Command Prompt by opening the Power User Menu ( Windows key + X keyboard shortcut) and selecting Command Prompt (Admin). Make a mental note of the external drive's letter (e.g. Open File Explorer ( Windows key + E keyboard shortcut) and look under the Devices and drives section to find the external device. Here's how to remove the infection from the external device: Unfortunately, if you only have a Windows PC at your disposal, you'll have to plug the device in, scrub the virus off of it, then remove the shortcut virus from your PC too. If you have a USB flash drive, external hard drive, or SD memory card that's infected with a shortcut virus, the infection will spread whenever you plug it into a Windows PC. Fortunately, the process for manually removing a shortcut virus is relatively simple and painless. Many shortcut viruses remain undetected by antivirus software, so running a security suite with a virus scanner usually isn't enough.

Shortcut viruses mainly affect physical file transfer devices like USB flash drives, external hard drives, and SD memory cards, but can be transferred to computers when exposed to an infected device that takes advantage of Autorun or Autoplay in Windows.

Related: Computer Viruses to Watch Out For and What They Do When you launch one of these false shortcuts, you end up running malware that duplicates the virus and further infects your system, leading to stolen personal data, worsened system performance, and all kinds of other malware-related side effects. A shortcut virus is a kind of Trojan and worm combination that hides all of your files and folders, then replaces them with shortcuts that look identical to the originals.

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