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Help (FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most common questions which people asked related to Shortcut Virus Remover.

I think this means, shortcuts are not removed and your files are still hidden. But my answer is if you have used Shortcut Virus Remover correctly this won’t happen. I'm telling that very confidently because I have used it more than thousand times for many types of external devices in different windows operating systems. There is no any error in this application.

Anyway, now if you are in this situation check below steps,

  1. Did you download the Shortcut Virus Remover? It looks as follows.
    Windows XP
    Shortcut Virus Remover Windows XP
    Windows 7
    Shortcut Virus Remover Windows 7
    Windows 10
    Shortcut Virus Remover Windows 10
  2. Did you download it directly to your removable device, or to you PC?
    If it is in your PC you need to move it to your removable device.

  3. Did you place Shortcut Virus Remover in Root Folder of your removable device?
    Root folder means: –
    Open my computer
    Open your removable drive
    Now, you should see the Shortcut Virus Remover (this is the Root Folder).

    If you have placed it in any other folder place it in to Root Folder.

  4. Did you run the application (double click to open)?
    A small window should open, completely a light blue screen.
    Then it will ask your permission to repair your USB drive by pressing a key.

  5. Did you conform it by pressing any key?

That's all you need to do. Those are the steps to remove Shortcut Virus from a removable device with the Shortcut Virus Remover.

I suggest you to try it again.

The problem is not with your removable device. Your computer is infected by the Shortcut Virus.

When you use this tool it removes the shortcuts and recovers all your data. Then it finish its job.
But in next second the Shortcut Virus in your computer start its job. It hide all your data and create shortcuts looks like very similar to them. At the same time it copies virus files to your removable device.
This is what you experienced, when you used Shortcut Virus Remover in your computer. Simply, using this tool for a removable device with an infected computer is completely useless.
My suggestion is to use a virus free computer to get back your data.

But if you can’t find a virus free computer, there are some other ways to get back your data.

  1. Open your removable device from My Computer
  2. Click on the Address Bar
  3. Type the name of the file or folder you want to open
  4. Hit Enter

The file or folder will open as usual.

In Windows, default file exploring application is Windows Explorer. Using it we can’t find our data in removable devices. That is the effect of the Shortcut Virus. As the solution I suggest to use a 3rd party application which facilitate to explore the windows file system.

WinRAR is a well-known application which we can use for this purpose. It uses to compress the data. But before to that WinRAR facilitates to explore the windows file system to select files and folders. If you open your removable device using WinRAR, you will see your hidden files and folders. I have tested WinRAR and it is working. WinRAR is easy to use and you can do this with its free version.

WinRAR Download

There are many other free applications can use for this purpose, but I haven’t tested.

This will make visible your files and folders. But at the same time it neutralize a Windows security setting which prevent from being removing or renaming of "Protected Operating System Files" by users.

If you don’t have any other option to recover your, data you can try this in your own risk (being more careful will eliminate the risk completely).

  1. Open your removable device as usual from My Computer.
  2. Check the tool bar on top of the window and follow below mentioned path,
    • Windows XP:
      Tools – Folder option – View
    • Windows 7:
      Organize – Folder and search option – View
    • Windows 8:
      View – Options – Change folder and search options – View
  3. Remove the tick on Hide protected operating system files.
  4. Click OK.

    (Remember to reset this setting immediately after you finish the recovering process, because it is unnecessary risk to your system)

    Now you will see your all files and folders in your Removable disk.
    You can use them as usual. But remember to not to do any change in your system drive (the drive where Windows is installed or usually C: drive).
    Because the setting you changed, make visible the hidden system files and any change on those files will affect badly to your Windows Operating system.

    Steps to Recover your Data

  5. Create a new folder in your hard disk, in any place.
  6. Copy everything from your removable disk to new folder and also copy the Shortcut Virus Remover.
  7. Run the Shortcut Virus Remover in the new folder.
    It will reset your data to normal. Shortcut Virus will not affect on it.
  8. Now reset the setting you changed, Hide protected operating system files.

I can suggest you two solutions.

Solution 1 – Run few MS Dos commands and remove the virus (follow below mentioned steps).

Solution 2 – Send me an email (Read the content under this topic before to send the request).

Solution 1

  1. Open command prompt,
    • Windows XP:
      Start – Run - Type cmd.exe - Hit Enter
    • Windows 7:
      Start – Search programs and files - Type cmd.exe - Open cmd.exe in the results
    • Windows 8:
      Open your removable device through My Computer - File - Open command prompt - Open command prompt as administrator

      (With Windows 8, skip steps 2, 3, and 4)

  2. Open My Computer and find the drive letter of your removable device.
    (Assumption – my drive letter is H)

  3. In Command Prompt type H:\ and hit Enter
    (Replace H with your removable device drive letter)

  4. Recheck that the drive letter in Command Prompt with your removable device. It is very important.

  5. Type attrib –s –h –r /s /d *.* and Hit Enter.
    (With this step your all missing files and folders will be visible. Sometimes this process may take some time, which depends on the amount of files and folders you have).

  6. Delete all shortcuts and unknown files that looks unfamiliar to you

Solution 2

Send me an email telling that you can’t download it. I will try to mail it to you. But I will send it as a WinRar compressed file, because email services are not allowing to mail applications. And it may take up to 72 hours if you are not lucky. Because I send all replies myself manually.

admin@shortcutvirusremover.com   


To remove Shortcut Virus from a computer, following method is the most reliable at the moment and I suggest you to try it. But keep in mind sometimes this doesn’t work.

Follow the steps.

  1. Stop the processes of "Shortcut Virus"
    1. Open the Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
    2. Go to "Process" tab and look for the process "Wscript.exe".
    3. Now Right Click on "Wscript.exe" and select "End Task".

  2. Remove Shortcut Virus from Registry
    1. Open "run" - (Windows key + R).
    2. Type "regedit" and press "Enter".
    3. Navigate to
      "HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run".
    4. Normally only "(Default)" key should be there.
    5. If Shortcut Virus is available then it will appear as "odwcamszas", "WXCKYz", or "OUzzckky". Delete it.
    6. Delete any unusual keys or extension end with .vbs, .ini, .lnk, or .exe.

  3. Remove Shortcut Virus from Startup
    1. Open "run" - (Windows key + R).
    2. Type "msconfig" and press "Enter".
    3. In "Startup" tab, uncheck everything except your antivirus.
    4. Click "OK".

  4. Remove Shortcut Virus from Temporary Files
    1. Open "run" - (Windows key + R).
    2. Type "%temp%" and hit Enter. Now temp folder will be open.
    3. Delete everything inside (Don’t worry, its safe).
    4. Restart the computer.

  5. Install a Virus Remover
    If you need a double guarantee, you can download and install a reliable Virus Remover.


If you have any other question, you can contact me via email:

admin@shortcutvirusremover.com