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The Shortcut Virus

Last updated: Jun 25, 2023

Shortcut Virus infected USB Flash drive
Shortcut Virus Infected USB Flash Drive
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Shortcut Virus infected USB Flash drive HD image

This is about a well-known virus, the Shortcut Virus, which converts everything to shortcuts, which make everything useless. For the first time, this happened a few years ago. My USB flash drive was full of important documents.

When I tried to open my documents, they didn’t open, nothing happened, there was no response at all. There was also a difference. All files and folders looked like shortcuts. Their names were OK, but their icons were like shortcuts.

It was a virus attack. A malware, which uses removable external devices to spread from one computer to another. When a USB removable device plugged-in to an infected computer, this virus create its own files in the USB device and also it create their icons tobe appear as same as existing files. Then it hides all original existing files and folders.

When someone opens a file or folder from this infected USB device on another computer, he or she is actually opening a virus. Then that is the end of a healthy computer. After this happens, the main issue is not the infected computer,

but how to get back the original files and folders from the USB device.

My Solution

I coded a data recovery software, specially to rectify this issue. A combination of a shortcut remover and a data recovery software. A simple application that can recover all the data in a second. If you are suffering with this shortcut problem in your flash drive, external hard disk, or any other USB storage device (this can happen to any removable or external device), this is the best solution.

There are many methods on Google to solve this issue, and I also tried almost all of them. But most of them were very difficult to use and not efficient. Also, there are many computer softwares promissing to solve this. But only few are capable what they granting. Some of them make the issue worse and finish it by deleting everything. After studying all of those methods, finally I could develop my own method. A very efficient and effective data recovery software,a shortcut remover. The Shortcut Virus Remover. A simple, small, and very fast application.
When you face this problem anywhere, anytime, you only need two steps to get rid of it.

  1. Download the Shortcut Virus Remover to your USB removable device.
  2. Double-click (to run the application).

Shortcut Virus Remover

When you face this situation, the best way to recover your data is MS DOS. You can reverse the changes made by the virus to your external device by entering some MS DOS commands into the Command Prompt. After that, you need to manually remove the shortcuts without losing any valuable documents to complete the recovery process. That is the most secure and effective way to recover your data. But it becomes difficult when it occurs repeatedly, because we are unfamiliar with MS DOS and many people do not know how to work with MS DOS.

Shortcut Virus Remover was developed to overcome those issues with unbelievable characteristics.



  • Very simple and easy to use.
    Every time when shortcuts appear on your removable device, simply run the Shortcut Virus Remover. Only once it will ask your permission to proceed by pressing any key, and that's all. All your data will be recovered. Shortcuts will be removed. No settings. No buttons. No installation. Simply double-click to run.
  • 100% Free.
    Shortcut Virus Remover is a freeware. Free to download and free to use. 100% free data recovery tool. No payments, no registrations, no agreements, nothing.
  • Only 4KB.
    Have you ever seen or heard about any software that is less than 10 KB? Believe me, this shortcut remover is only 4 KB.
  • Will never be damaged by virus attacks.
    This problem occurs because of a virus. Most attacks, in most cases, result in consequential software damage. Because of that, if you have any antivirus software on your USB drive, it will be useless after an attack. But this shortcut remover is not traditional computer software. It is a batch file. A batch file is a text file that contains multiple MS-DOS commands and executes them in sequence to perform various actions. Since MS-DOS is a very simple language and all commands in a batch file are visible and editable with any text editor, there is no way to add complex programming codes to this batch file.
  • Not only for flash drive data recovery.
    This MS DOS program is not only for flash drive data recovery, it can be used for all removable storage devices as data recovery software. But not for internal hard disk recovery. Shortcut Virus Remover is data recovery software for removable external devices.
  • Compatibility with any Windows version.
    This shortcut remover is MS-DOS based computer software and will run on any Windows operating system. In Windows 95, 98, XP, Vista, 7, 8, and also in Windows 10.


Screen Record Video, How it Works.

We created a simple video for you, to show, "How to Remove the Shortcut Virus from a USB Pen Drive, SD Card, or External Hard Disk".

Check it out. It is only 4 minutes


Important Facts to Keep in Mind

  • Shortcut Virus Remover impact on .lnk files (shortcuts). Because of that, don't use this shortcut remover on internal Hard Disks (It will harm your desktop shortcuts).
  • Don’t rename it when you download. It will work only with its original name, shortcutvirusremover.bat.
  • If your computer is infected with shortcut virus, please visit the Help (FAQ) Page. I have tested few solutions to get rid of this from personal computers.

I remind you again, this data recovery software is only for removable USB external devices.
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by Eranda Gunathilaka