How to remove shortcut virus from computer or USB drive? Step by step guide

One of the biggest fears of Internet users is to contract viruses and infect their computers with them. But hey, although the word " virus » is generally generalized to designate all types of computer threats, it exists in reality several types of these threat of which a person can be a victim on the network .

Thus, they go small " virus »To the most complex threats, which are essentially Trojans, worms, spyware and ransomware . So, each has its own characteristics and uses different tactics to infect the user.

In this post, we will focus specifically on the "direct access virus" which, in addition to infecting a PC, is also capable of infecting USB memory. Then we present to you the main methods you can use to eliminate this type of virus , as well as to avoid it.

What is the "shortcut" virus and how does it really work?

While this is true, shortcut viruses are a type of computer threat that mix a trojan horse and a worm in a single disclaimer that focuses on the computer infection from malware and, therefore, all the files and folders on the computer become shortcut files, so the originals are camouflaged.

In this sense, fundamentally, what shortcut virus does is hide all icons and folders that user has on their system and immediately he replaces them with shortcuts that look the same as the originals, but are not. . Thus, it starts to infect the computer.

Regarding its operation, we can say that this virus type spreads from one PC to another by means of flash memories, USB sticks, memory cards and even Internet or Bluetooth connection exchanges .

In addition, it should be noted that the most common virus of this type found in removable drives is identified as " autorun.inf »And is responsible for the infection of the system and the multiplication of the virus by the creation of unlimited shortcuts .

Steps and methods to remove a virus that creates shortcut folders on my PC

Once the user knows that the shortcut virus has invaded their computer, the most important question of all is "How do I remove the shortcut virus from my PC or USB drive?" “; Fortunately, there are several methods that can be used to do this and best of all, they don't require a lot of work.

So, if you want to get back your files that have been disguised as shortcuts again, here are the methods you can use:

Use CMD without using any programs

In case you didn't know, Shortcut Virus is malicious program that only runs on Windows computers . That is, Mac OS and Linux users can rely on it as they are not affected by such malfunction.

In view of this, Windows has a useful tool which allows you to get rid of such virus in two by three , that is, very easily. This tool basically uses the command console that the operating system contains, which is opened from the same start menu.

However, keep in mind that you have to be absolutely careful when using this CMD command line because improper use can cause serious results .

Once that is clarified, know the step by step to remove virus with Windows CMD:

• To begin with, make sure that the infected disk or memory is connected to the computer .
• Then click on the Start icon on your PC and type the command » DCM In the search area.
• Now to open this command, press enter .
• It is time to write the drive letter of your hard drive partition or USB flash drive to the PC. Sometimes it can be /: D, E, G , etc.
• After that, type " attrib g: *. */D/s -h -r –s " and press enter again . In this way, you can recover your files from PC or USB drive.

Use an antivirus program

Another of the most used alternatives is to resort to anti-virus programs which facilitate these procedures and allow you to remove the virus with direct access from your PC or from your USB stick. However, although there are many antivirus software out there, it is necessary that you use one. able to detect direct access virus and thus also allow you to scan USB memory .

So, one of the most recommended programs for this in Windows is avast Antivirus . Which uses various detection methods with powerful tools that find virtually all existing viruses.

These methods are:

• Scanner : The antivirus has a powerful engine that is responsible for preventing the entry of computer viruses, malware, spyware and any program that can damage the computer. Besides, you can scan ZIP, 7-ZIP, CHM, CAB, MIME files, among others.
• Anti-rootkit : Basically, this is a feature of Avast Antivirus capable of preventing attacks " Rootkit ”, Using Gmer technology.
• Anti Spyware : As the name suggests, it does not allow spyware to install itself on your computer and steal all of your information for illegal use.
• Heuritic (motor) : It is an engine capable of detecting known viruses and offering you this information in advance.
• Code simulation : tool that allows a code simulation to avoid damaging the system, after performing a manual or automatic analysis.

As an additional solution, we also advise you to use the program » Trojan Remover On your Windows computer. Since it is an antivirus with tools that allow you to keep your computer clean and prevent thus any type of trojan to access it .

In other words, it is based on an anti-rojan program that is ideal for detecting and eliminating direct access viruses, as it is a combination of a Trojan horse and a worm, as we have seen. indicated at the beginning.

With shortcut virus remove

If you prefer to put aside the use of the Windows command line and have another program as an alternative, the best option for you is to use » Shortcut Virus Remover Which refers to free software with the ability to remove the annoying virus from direct access in a very easy way.

Since then, it automatically deletes all files, as well as direct access folders and thus manages to recover your original files .

As for the process which you need to go through to do it with the help of Shortcut virus Remover, it is as follows:

Download Shortcut Virus Remover for Windows

Download Shortcut virus Remover for Mac

• Once you download the program in question, navigate to it and you will see two options: Pendrive and Computer . Among them, click on » Pen drive If you want to erase the virus from a USB stick. On the other hand, select " Computer If you want to remove the virus from your computer.
• As in this case we will focus on removing the virus from the USB, we have chosen " Pen drive And after that you have to click on the corresponding letter of the USB drive.
• Then press the button " Scan For the program to start scanning for and detecting the virus.
• After completing the above process the shortcuts will be found and there it is time to click on » Remove To remove the virus.
• Finally, you can have the original files or documents recovered by the program on your USB stick or disk.

As you will see, this program is more efficient than the others that we recommend, because it focuses solely and exclusively on the removal of the direct access virus and in the same way, the recovery of the original records.

How to prevent our Windows hard drive, Mac or external USB memory from getting infected with a computer virus?

Considering so much latent computer insecurity today, it is valuable to know some ways that you can prevent computer hard drive or external USB memory that you are constantly using to be infected with any type of computer virus , that is to say the simplest. even the most powerful.

To do this, here are some recommendations to follow:

• You must improve the security of your web browser to prevent it from automatically running potentially harmful programs. Since, in general, this type of software can be found on any website that you visit afterwards. Which is recommended for Windows and Mac.
• Whenever possible, be sure to uninstall programs you no longer use on your computer . Considering that many times outdated software can generate security issues and infect the computer without any consideration because you have an outdated tool installed.
• We recommend that you be very careful when opening files that are shared with you via email, whether through download links or by any other means. To do this, it is best to do not open files from unknown sources that may be malware .
• In case you need to open or insert external third party files or media very frequently, it is better to have a system divided into compartments (such as Tails), in order to prevent viruses from infecting your PC and accessing personal files.
• It is very important that you install updates for programs hosted on the computer, as soon as they are available . Typically, Windows and Mac computers require you to download and run a new installer for this.
• You should not insert the input and output devices of USB flash drive, USB flash drive, CD-ROOM and DVD when the legal operating system starts to boot. In addition, we also recommend that you create a virus-free boot disk .
• It is important that you were using a firewall (Internet, USB, operating system) in order to prevent access to any unknown operation, whether internal or external.

All these recommendations and many others are necessary to take into account to keep a computer free from any type of virus and that, in this way, it does not infect a USB stick when it is inserted into it.

Likewise, it is important to analyze any external memory before validating it on the computer , to avoid any problem in case it shows errors (for example, you can do it under Windows entering Safe Mode ).

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments, we will get back to you as soon as possible, and it will be a great help for more community members as well. Thank you!