Remove Shortcut Virus Without Formatting or Any Data Loss

A shortcut virus is a malicious program that spreads through flash drives, the internet, third-party software etc. It injects itself to the system startup, creates a few executable files inside the USB drive which look like shortcuts. Also, it creates a replica of your original files & folders and hides the original folders and files inside the USB drive. And when you click on it to open your files, it multiplies itself and installs some more viruses and malicious software, browser plugins, keyloggers etc.

Type of shortcut virus

There are three types of shortcut virus (File shortcut virus, Folder shortcut virus, Drive shortcut virus)

• File shortcut virus: As the name suggests, In this a shortcut of the whole drive is created. No matter what type of drive is.
  
• Folder shortcut virus: A shortcut of the folder is created with all its contents wrapped together
  
• File shortcut virus: Makes the shortcut of an executable file. This is the least effective virus among all three types.

Permanently Remove shortcut virus

This shortcut virus is so smart that even most of the Portable antivirus Software is unable to detect it. Or if somehow they discover it or delete it, it somehow manages to recover itself. So you need to look at this permanent solution to remove the shortcut virus from your computer.

Remove shortcut virus permanently

Using command prompt is the best and most effective way to permanently remove shortcut virus From USB/Pendrive and recover files. And it doesn’t require you to download any shortcut virus remover tool etc.

So first insert the virus infected USB/Pendrive to your PC, And note down the USB drive letter (for example the USB drive letter name is “F”). Now open the command prompt as administrator, and perform the command below.

attrib -h-r-s/s/d f:\*.* (assuming f is the Drive Label for Pendrive).

OR you can type the command like “attrib f:*.* /d /s -h -r -s”

Note: Replace “F” with your Pendrive drive letter.

About This Command

Attrib is an MS-DOS command that helps us to alter the properties of file/folder.
-h stands for “remove hidden”
-r stands for “remove read-only”
-s “System file attribute.”.
/S Processes matching files in the current folder and all subfolders.
/D Process folders as well.

Just wait for the process to finish completely and this will permanently remove the shortcut virus from the USB/Pendrive.

Tweak Windows registry to remove shortcut virus

This is another effective way to completely remove shortcut viruses from your PC.

Right-click on the Taskbar and select Task manager. Now on Task Manager> Select process (More detail) > Scroll down below and search “wscript.vbs” process > Select them and end task

If the Drive gets infected again and again even after following the above-given methods, Just Install an Antivirus and do a Boot Time Scan, using this will remove all the malware in boot Time.

Now Press Windows key+R and type ‘regedit‘ and press Enter to open the Registry editor. Then navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Search for the registry key “odwcamszas.exe” and right-click then select. You may not find the exact same key but search for some other junk values which do nothing. Now reboot your PC to save the changes.

Remove Shortcut Virus using Virus remover tools

When Command prompt codes end up with no result, we can try the Shortcut Virus Remover tool, Since the Shortcut virus is just a process, one can easily find the process running on the PC, You can find and remove the process, or use the tool given below to remove the process.

Using USB Fix :

1. Download USB Fix.
2. Connect your USB drive / External HDD drive, which contains the shortcut virus.
3. Run the USBFix software.
4. Click on Deletion. On clicking it, the process to remove the shortcut virus will start. It will then ask you to restart your PC.

Using Shortcut Virus Remover :

1. Download Shortcut virus remover
2. Connect your USB drive / External HDD drive, which contains the shortcut virus.
3. Run software.
4. Follow on-screen instructions.

How To Avoid Shortcut Virus Infection

Following are the Precautions to be taken to avoid the Shortcut virus from entering into your personal devices,

1. Disable Autorun, so that the Pendrive won’t run automatically
2. Scan for virus and then use the Pendrive,
3. Don’t use Pendrive in Public PC’s
4. Don’t use Harmful websites
5. Keep your Antivirus up to date

These are the best ways to remove shortcut viruses from your PC, Pendrive, Laptop or Computer. And I am sure applying these solutions permanently remove shortcut virus from your USB drive, Pendrive etc. have any query suggestion about this post feel free to discuss on the comments below.