How to Recover Data from USB Shortcut Virus – Without Any Hassle
User Query:- “All the files that I had stored on my USB are not visible now. Only a shortcut of these files is visible and I can’t even open them. All those files are very important to me as I have been saving them for the past year. I guess they are infected by the Shortcut virus. Can you please suggest a method to recover data from USB shortcut virus and also how to avoid it in the future?”
As we can understand from the query above, it becomes a problem when a virus, particularly a Shortcut Virus, corrupts your data. They are a combination of Trojan and worm that enters your USB at random and prevents you from accessing your important files and folders. The users’ files and folders are replaced by shortcuts with identical names.
These shortcut viruses commonly attack USB pen drives, external hard drives, and SD memory cards.
What is the source of this virus? This is covered later in the blog. First, let’s look at how the user’s files are recovered data from pen drive shortcut virus.
Ways to Recover Data from Shortcut Virus?
Best Method to Recover Files Infected By Shortcut Virus from USB Pen Drive Using an Automated Tool
There is no other way to recover all of the lost files from the USB due to the Shortcut virus seamlessly except the USB Data Recovery Tool. This utility has the dual pen drive scan mode that can recover files from damaged pen drive even if the pen drive has been formatted to eliminate the virus. It recovers data from USB shortcut virus that has been corrupted, erased, or formatted. This software can recover files in a variety of formats, including DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, PDF, JPEG, PNG, MP3, MP4, and others.
Steps to Recover Data from Shortcut Virus
Follow the steps to understand how to use the tool:
Step 1: Download the tool on your system and navigate to the pen drive in the software interface.
Step 2: Select the Scan or Formatted Scan option. Scan option to recover deleted files from USB after format
Step 3: Following the scan, the tool will preview all of the data from the pen drive, including the deleted data. 
Step 4: To recover data from pen drive shortcut virus, choose the files you require and click Save to recover data from Kingston pen drive. 
Method 2: Recover Files from USB Infected by Shortcut Virus Using CMD That Were Lost Because of The Shortcut Virus.
The command prompt is an application of Windows used to perform different tasks. It can also be used to recover data from virus infected pen drive.
The following steps show you how you can also use the command prompt of a Windows computer to make your pen drive free from the Shortcut virus.
- Click on Win + R when on the desktop screen of your computer.
- In the Run box, type cmd and hit Enter.
- The command prompt will appear on the screen.
- Type the drive letter of your pen drive/ memory card to navigate to its directory.
- Type “attrib h:*.* /R /s -S -D -G” and hit Enter.
Method 2: Recovering Files Infected by the Shortcut Virus on a USB Drive Utilizing Anti-Virus Software
It is very crucial to install a competent and trusted anti-virus application on your PC. You can have anti-virus software to scan your pen drive for any harmful elements. Hopefully, the program will be able to recover data from pen drive that have been contaminated with shortcut viruses.
Where Do These Shortcut Virus Come From?
Last but not least it is also important to know where these viruses come from. So that you can be aware of the origin of this virus so that you can avoid them the next time.
A USB shortcut virus can originate from one of the following sources:
- USB Drive:- If you transfer a file from an infected flash drive to an uninfected one, there is a good possibility that the virus will also be transferred to the uninfected drive.
- Computer or Laptop:- If you insert a USB drive into an infected PC, the drive may get infected with a shortcut virus.
- Internet:- It is never a good idea to save data from dubious websites to your hard disc. Always run any items you download through reputable antivirus software.
What Is The Reason Behind Removing Them?
There are several reasons why you should eliminate USB shortcut infections as soon as possible. Among them are the following:
- Inaccessible Files:- Shortcut viruses can make files inaccessible, rendering them useless.
- Corrupting Flash Drives:- These viruses proliferate and have the potential to damage your entire disc.
- Spreading Viruses:- If you continue to use your virus-infected flash drive, you will put every computer you use in danger. This covers the devices you use at work, at home, and even at a friend’s house.
Wrapping Up
Shortcut virus becomes a pain for the users as they are neither able to see them or access them on the user’s USB. It becomes highly crucial for users to remove them and recover data from USB shortcut viruses that were deleted because of them. Thus, in this article, the methods to recover the lost files because of the Shortcut virus have been discussed.
