How to Remove a Virus From a Flash

Drive
Two Methods:Removing Shortcut VirusesRemoving Autorun VirusesCommunity Q&A

Due to their portability, USB devices are convenient vessels for spreading viruses. USB devices
are vulnerable to two major types of viruses: the shortcut virus and the autorun virus. We will
discuss how to remove each virus with antimalware software and manually entered commands.
Read on to learn about the measures Windows is taking to protect your computer from the
autorun virus.

Method 1
Removing Shortcut Viruses

Understand the shortcut virus. The shortcut virus comes in

two forms. The first type of shortcut virus replaces your desktop
folder and file icons with shortcut iconsthe icon will either
appear with an arrow in the lower left hand corner, the word
shortcut in the title, and/or the extension shortcut.exe. The
second type of shortcut virus affects your USB or pen drive. This
form of the virus places all of the files on your USB into a hidden
folder and produces a shortcut.exe file of your pen drive.
Attempting to open these files will activate the virus and cause it to
spread to your PC.[1]
1.

Remove the shortcut virus with antivirus software. If your

USB is infected with the shortcut virus, you can remove the
malicious bug with antivirus software. Select Start > My
Computer. Right-click on the removable drive and select Scan for
Viruses. Follow the provided instructions to remove the shortcut
virus.
2.

o If you are using Windows RT 8.1 or newer, your computer comes with
Windows Defender. You can use the program to scan for viruses.

Launch Windows Defender and select Settings > Advanced. Check the
box next to Scan removable drives. Every time you run a full scan,
your USB drive will be checked for viruses.[2]
o If your computer is not equipped with antivirus software, download a
reputable anti-malware program.
o You should only have one anti-malware application downloaded and
running at a time.[3]
3. Remove the shortcut virus with a command prompt. You can manually remove the
virus from your flash drive within a command prompt window. To open the command
prompt window, click Start and search for cmd. Right-click on the cmd or
Command Prompt Window result and select Run as Administrator. In the command
prompt window:
o

Type in your USBs letter and hit Enter . To determine the drives letter, open

My Computer and identify the letter listed next to the removable drive.
Type del *.lnk and hit Enter .

Type attrib -s -r -h *.* /s.d/l/ and then hit Enter .

Open your flash drive. All of your files should return to normal.

<img alt="Image titled Remove a Virus From a Flash Drive Step 2"
src="http://pad2.whstatic.com/images/thumb/2/20/Remove-a-Virus-From-aFlash-Drive-Step-2.jpg/aid582181-728px-Remove-a-Virus-From-a-Flash-DriveStep-2.jpg" width="728" height="543" class="whcdn"
onload="WH.performance.clearMarks('image1_rendered');
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4
Backup your files. After removing the virus from your drive, you may wish to reformat
your thumb drive. Reformatting your USB drive will remove all existing data from the
drive, providing you with a clean, virus-free device. Before you reformat your drive,

backup all of the files on the USB. Scan through the items on your pen drive and delete
any unfamiliar files and folders. Move all of the files from your USB to a folder on your
desktop.[4]

<img alt="Image titled Remove a Virus From a Flash Drive Step 4"
src="http://pad3.whstatic.com/images/thumb/4/4d/Remove-a-Virus-From-aFlash-Drive-Step-4.jpg/aid582181-728px-Remove-a-Virus-From-a-Flash-DriveStep-4.jpg" width="728" height="547" class="whcdn">

5
Reformat your drive. Click Start and type cmd into the search bar. Launch the
Command Prompt Window. Type in the letter associated with the thumb drive and hit
Enter . Type format /q /x [INSERT YOUR DRIVES LETTER]: and hit
Enter

.[5] Return all of the files to your USB.[6]

Method 2
Removing Autorun Viruses

1. 1
Understand the autorun virus. Originally, when you inserted a USB drive into a port,
the USB drive automatically opened. If your USB drive was infected, this process
executed a file called autorun.inf, which housed the autorun virus. As a result, when the
USB drive automatically opened, it would activate the autorun virus. On Windows XP
models and newer, USB devices are no longer opened automatically, which in turn means
that the autorun.inf file is no longer executed automatically. This measure protects your
computer from the virus.[7]

2. 2
Scan the drive for a virus. If you are concerned about the integrity of your pen drive,
scan your drive for viruses before use. Click Start > My Computer. Right-click on the
removable drive and select Scan for Viruses. If a virus is detected, follow the provided
instructions to remove it.
o

If you are using Windows RT 8.1 or newer, your computer is equipped with
Windows Defender. To scan for viruses, open Windows Defender. Click Settings

> Advanced. Check the box next to Scan removable drives. Every time you run
a full scan, your USB drive will be checked for viruses.[8]
o

Some anti-malware software will automatically scan your USB drive every time it
is inserted into your computers port.[9]

If your Windows computer is not equipped with anti-virus software, download a

reputable program.[10]

3
Remove the autorun virus. To rid your portable drive of the virus, you need to delete
the autorun.inf file and restart your computer. Click Start > Run. Key in Cmd and hit
Enter . In the Command Prompt Window, type in the letter associated with your drive
followed by Enter . Type attrib -r -h -s autorun.inf and hit Enter . Type del
autorun.inf and then press enter Enter . Restart your computer to complete the
process.[11]

Community Q&A
Answered Questions
Add New Question
Is it safe to put the flash drive in my PC?

In order to remove the virus from your flash drive, you must plug it into the PC. Do
not open any files that are infected with a shortcut virus.

Helpful? 0 0

Ask a Question
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Video
Tips

Always scan your computer after this procedure as the virus could migrate from the
external USB storage device to your main drive.

Try scanning all of the files you would like to copy to your computer to see if they're safe
and not infected. If it's a picture you love and it's infected, print it out before deleting it,
then scan it back to your computer. You'll thank yourself.

Warnings

Every file you copy could be infected, if you can't afford to lose an infected document or
picture, print it out and scan it back to the computer from paper.

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Sources and Citations

1. http://www.trickseek.net/remove-shortcut-virus/
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovrb51xf2_U
3. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/how-find-remove-virus
Show more... (8)

Article Info
Categories: External Storage Devices
In other languages:
Deutsch: Einen Virus von einem USB Stick entfernen, Portugus: Remover um Vrus de um Pen
Drive, Espaol: eliminar virus de una USB, Italiano: Eliminare un Virus da un Dispositivo
Rimovibile, Franais: radiquer un virus d'un disque flash, :
, : U , Bahasa Indonesia: Menghapus Virus Dari Flash Drive

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