What is a shortcut virus

A Shortcut virus is a sort of trojan or worm combination that tries to hide all the files and folders and then changes them all to shortcuts, making the data in the files inaccessible. These shortcut viruses remain unrecognized by the antivirus software, so the security suite that is working with the virus scanner is not enough to detect and delete them. Once these false shortcuts are opened, the malware might run on your computer that can duplicate the virus and infect the system, eventually leading to personal data theft. This shortcut virus can affect even the physical file transfer devices such as the USB flash drives, external hard drives, and SD memory cards.

Best antivirus for shortcut virus

Shortcut virus remover

The Shortcut virus remover is a portable virus remover application. This can remove the shortcut virus from the pen drives. It is efficient in removing the .vbs Shortcut virus. This software help you recover the original file from viruses.

USB shortcut virus remover

The USB shortcut virus remover can help you to remove the viruses from the external storage devices, especially USB. It is easy-to-use command-line tool allows you to clear or remove the shortcut virus from the USB drives in less time.

USB fix free

The USB fix free application can help you to detect and remove the infected or corrupted USB memory sticks or any other USB drives.

Shortcut virus remover

There are several software products of various manufacturers for removing shortcut virus from your system. Some of the recommended software for removing shortcut virus are Shortcut virus fixfolder, Malwarebytes Anti-malware, Shortcut Virus Remover, Trojan removal tool, etc.

How to use shortcut virus remover

Execute the following steps to use shortcut virus remover.

First, open a new web browser and download the Shortcut Virus Remover software from its manufacturer’s site.
After downloading the application, run the file.
Next, launch the Shortcut Virus Remover software and click Scan for Shortcut virus.
Now, choose the drive from which you want to remove the virus. Click the Clean Virus option.
When asked for confirmation, click the appropriate button to confirm your action.

How to protect pen drive from shortcut virus

The following steps can help you to protect the pen drive from the shortcut virus.

First, insert the pen drive into the USB port of the computer.
Next, navigate to the Device Manager, and from the disk drives, select the name of the pen drive.
Right-click the pen drive name and select Properties.
Under the Policies tab, select the Better performance option and save.
Now, head to This PC and choose the USB drive from the drive list.
Right-click on the USB drive and select the Format option.
Select NTFS from the drop-down menu of the system type.
Again, click the Start button to format the USB file.
Next, go to This PC and choose the USB drive. The pen drive is now formatted. Now, you need to configure the USB flash drive with read-only option.
Right-click the USB drive and select the Properties option.
Now, click the Edit button in the Properties dialog box to modify the permissions.
Select the Read only option. Now, no malware/virus can access and modify your files in the pen drive.

How to remove shortcut virus from laptop

Perform the following steps can help you to remove shortcut virus from Laptop.

Method 1- Clear and remove the shortcut virus by using CMD.

First, right-click the Start menu and then select Command Prompt.
Log in with the administrator account and password when prompted.
Enter ‘attrib -h -r -s /s/D:\*.* and then press the Enter key.
Next, type del autorun. Inf and then press the Enter key.

Method 2- Erase shortcut virus from the Registry.

Long press Win + R keys together and enter regedit to go to the registry.
Go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER>Software>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>Run.
Search for any doubtful file name and then delete the files that have a virus.
Next, to stop the shortcut virus from getting into the PC startup application, proceed with the following steps.
Hold the Win+ R keys together and enter ‘msconfig’. Click the OK button.
Go to the Startup section. Deselect all the programs and files except for the antivirus software and the applications that you trust.
Finally, restart the computer.

How to remove shortcut virus in windows 7

To remove shortcut virus from your Windows 7 system using CMD, read and proceed with the guided instructions given below.

Launch the Command Prompt window on your system.
Make sure that you are signed in to your computer as an administrator.
On the cmd screen, type the attrib -h -r -s /s /d D:\*.* command.
Press the Enter button on your system’s keyboard.
In the above command, D denotes your drive’s letter.
Now, type the del autorun.inf command in the cmd window and press the Enter button to confirm the process.
Now the shortcut virus from your Windows 7 system will be removed.

How to remove usb shortcut virus from computer

Perform the guided instructions given below to remove the USB shortcut virus from your computer system.

You can use the Shortcut Virus Remover or Antivirus Software to remove the USB shortcut virus from your system.
Download anyone of the antivirus software from its official site.
After downloading the antivirus software, run it on your system.
Before you run the antivirus application, check if you have signed in to your system as an administrator.
Click the Scan button available on the main screen of the software.
Wait for the antivirus software to finish the scanning process. Once the software finishes the scanning process, a list of identified threats will be displayed on the screen.
You can perform the on-screen instructions to fix the threats.
After fixing the threats, restart your system and continue using it.
To get more remote assistance in removing the USB Shortcut virus from your system, click the Call button to get help from our technical experts.

How to prevent shortcut virus

If your system is infected by the shortcut virus, first, check if any external hard drive is installed on your system.
If so, remove it from your system.
After removing the external device from your system, install an efficient antivirus software that removes the shortcut virus from your system.
Once you have installed the antivirus software on your system, open it and begin the shortcut virus removal process by performing the on-screen instructions.
After removing the virus, restart your system.

How to remove folder shortcut virus

The troubleshooting instructions given below will help you to remove the folder shortcut virus from your USB drive.

Insert your USB drive into your system.
Make sure not to double-click the shortcut virus infected folder.
Now, navigate to your system’s Task Manager section.
Click the Processes tab and locate the process file causing the issue.
Right-click on it and select the End Process Tree option followed by End process tree.
Now, go back to your USB drive location, right-click on it, and select the Format option.
Click the OK button to confirm the format process.
Once your USB drive is formatted, check if the folder shortcut infected folder or file is removed from it.
You can contact our technical experts if the above method does not fix the issue.

How to remove shortcut virus from android phone

A simple and easy way to remove shortcut virus from your Android device is by connecting it to the computer that is defect-free and has an antivirus software installed.

First, connect your Android device to the PC installed with an antivirus software. You can use a USB cable for the connection purpose.
Select the USB Mass Storage option in the Transfer mode section.
Now, launch the antivirus software on your system.
Select your Android device from the drives section and click the Scan button.
Wait for the antivirus application to finish the scanning process.
Remove the threats displayed at the end of the scanning process by following the on-screen instructions.
After removing the threats, re-scan your Android device and check if any threat has gone undetected.
If so, repeat the virus removal process.

How to kill shortcut virus in laptop

To kill the shortcut virus from your laptop, read and proceed with the guided instructions given below.

Open the Run command on your laptop using the Windows + R keys.
Type the regedit keyword in it.
Now the Registry window will appear on the screen.
Now, click HKEY_CURRENT_USER --> Software --> Microsoft --> Windows --> CurrentVersion --> Run.
Check if there is any suspicious file is stored in the registry folder.
If found, delete it and close the window.
Now, in the Run command bar, type the command msconfig and press the Enter button on your system’s keyboard.
Select and disable unwanted apps installed on your system.
Make sure not to disable the antivirus software or any trusted apps on your system.
After disabling the unwanted apps, restart your system.