There are many occasions in which you have to use your external storage device to copy files to a computer you don’t own. This PC may not have the latest and the most advanced antivirus software. In such cases, your external drive may get infected with a virus and malware.
The most common infection is the shortcut virus that executes code to generate shortcuts to all the files in the device without the user’s consent. Users can get rid off this frustrating problem in several ways. Today, we’ll share with you the easiest method to remove shortcut virus from USB pen drive on your Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 computer.
This method requires you to waste your time in editing Windows registry. Furthermore, you don’t have to type any code in the Windows command prompt.
You can disinfect your flash drive from this virus in a second without losing critical data. This method requires your computer to have an Antivirus with the latest update. If your PC lacks one, then download Bitdefender, AVG or Avast antivirus and install it. These three applications are free and compatible with all versions of Windows OS.
Once installed, update the software’s virus definitions and restart your PC. Insert the infected external storage i.e pen drive or flash drive into the USB. Navigate to the My Computer window. If your flash storage drive has important files, copy them all to any folder on your PC. Now, open the antivirus software. Perform a complete scan operation of the folder where you’ve stored the pen drive data as a backup.
This will remove all infected files and malware from the folder. Now, it’s time to erase all data on your mass storage hardware. To do so, choose the proper disk from My Computer, right-click on it and click the format menu to open a new window.
Check the quick format box and hit the Ok button. Now, wait for the operation to complete. To recover pen drive data, navigate to the folder where you had backed up your flash drive files. Now select each file and copy it your storage.
