The issue of virus changing your files and documents into shortcuts have been common, but most of us are not aware of the solution. If it just happened on your 1GB pendrive which holds only a few unimportant files, you normally would just reformat that pendrive, and yeay! problem solved! But what if that happened to your 500GB external hard drive? What if that hard drive of yours holds all of your important documents?? Now, you feel the pain.
Great news is, I've actually two ways to solve this problem, both proven effective, and one even being tested on my friend's laptop. The first method is simple, just open your windows explorer, click "Organize" on the upper toolbar, and click on "Folder and search options". Next, click on the "view" tab, where you will see a list of advanced settings. Search for "Hidden files and folders" within the list, then mark on "show hidden files, folders, and drives". Apply the changes and close that windows. Now, go to your infected hard drive and check if there's a list of hidden folders and files that have been hidden. If you see it, good news for you, your problem is practically solved. Now, you just have to highlight all the hidden folders and right click. Go to "Properties" and change the "attribute" from "hidden" to "read-only". Now, your files have reappeared. Don't forget to delete all the shortcuts in your hard drive and run a virus scan.
The second method would be a little bit harder, but in case the first method fail to help you, you can use this one. First, you have to click the Windows Start button and search for "CMD" in the search box, then press "enter" to open "cmd". (Note: "cmd" stands for command prompt, in case you don't know ;) ) In your "cmd", type in "attrib -h -r -s /s /d g:\*.* " (omit the quotation marks). Remember to replace the "g" with the letter of your infected drive. For example, if your external hard drive is "(F:)", then replace "g" with "f". After you've checked the spacing of your command, tap "enter" to activate the command. Now, you just have to wait for the repairing to be done. After a minute or two, open your infected hard drive again and check if the files and folders have already reappeared. If they are back, you just have to delete all the shortcuts in your hard drive, and then double check all your files to see whether they are safe. When you've confirmed everything, you can now do a virus scan on your hard drive to check if there's any leftover of virus in it.
Great news is, I've actually two ways to solve this problem, both proven effective, and one even being tested on my friend's laptop. The first method is simple, just open your windows explorer, click "Organize" on the upper toolbar, and click on "Folder and search options". Next, click on the "view" tab, where you will see a list of advanced settings. Search for "Hidden files and folders" within the list, then mark on "show hidden files, folders, and drives". Apply the changes and close that windows. Now, go to your infected hard drive and check if there's a list of hidden folders and files that have been hidden. If you see it, good news for you, your problem is practically solved. Now, you just have to highlight all the hidden folders and right click. Go to "Properties" and change the "attribute" from "hidden" to "read-only". Now, your files have reappeared. Don't forget to delete all the shortcuts in your hard drive and run a virus scan.
The second method would be a little bit harder, but in case the first method fail to help you, you can use this one. First, you have to click the Windows Start button and search for "CMD" in the search box, then press "enter" to open "cmd". (Note: "cmd" stands for command prompt, in case you don't know ;) ) In your "cmd", type in "attrib -h -r -s /s /d g:\*.* " (omit the quotation marks). Remember to replace the "g" with the letter of your infected drive. For example, if your external hard drive is "(F:)", then replace "g" with "f". After you've checked the spacing of your command, tap "enter" to activate the command. Now, you just have to wait for the repairing to be done. After a minute or two, open your infected hard drive again and check if the files and folders have already reappeared. If they are back, you just have to delete all the shortcuts in your hard drive, and then double check all your files to see whether they are safe. When you've confirmed everything, you can now do a virus scan on your hard drive to check if there's any leftover of virus in it.
I get access denied when I try the second option.
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