How to Recover Virus Infected Files from USB Dirve and Pen Drive

Experiencing a virus attack can be devastating, especially when it results in unexpected data loss on a hard drive, external hard drive, memory card, or USB pen drive. If you've had the misfortune of being attacked by one or more unknown viruses, you'll know the stress and worry that comes with it. The loss of important data can be a significant blow, making it essential to take preventive measures to protect your digital assets.

If your USB drive is infected with a virus, recovering your files can be a daunting task, especially if you're not sure where to start. Fortunately, there are two possible solutions: you can try to recover hidden files from the infected USB drive using the Command Prompt, or you can use professional data recovery software to retrieve your virus-infected files. If the first method doesn't work, you can proceed to the second one, which should help you recover your important files.

How to Recover Hidden Files from Virus Infected USB Pen Drive Using Command Prompt

If your data is hidden, inaccessible, or lost due to a virus attack on a USB pen drive, try using the Command Prompt (cmd) to recover hidden files. This is a free and well-understood option that can help you retrieve your data. The process is similar across various OS versions, including Windows 10, which I will be using for this demonstration.

Step 1. Plug your USB drive, pen drive, or memory card into your computer

Step 2. To open the Command Prompt, go to the Start menu, type "cmd" in the search bar, and hit Enter. This will display a list of programs, including "cmd.exe".

Use CMD to recover files from virus infected storage media step 1

Step 3.To recover virus-infected files, click on "cmd.exe" which will direct you to the Windows command line. From there, you can access tools and commands to help you recover your files.

Step 4. The command `attrib -h -r -s /s /d *.*` is used to remove the system, read-only, and hidden attributes from all files and subdirectories in the current directory and below. When you run this command, it will remove the attributes from all files and directories, making them visible and editable. The `/s` option tells the command to operate on all subdirectories, and the `/d` option tells it to operate on directories themselves, not just their contents.

Windows will then start to find and display the virus-infected and hidden files on the external hard drive, memory card, or USB drive. Once the process finishes, you can navigate to your disk or card and check if you can see all of the previously virus-infected files.

If you're unable to recover your data, don't worry. You can try using a third-party data recovery software. This will give you another chance to recover your lost data.

How to Recover Virus Infected Files from USB with Qiling Virus Attack Data Recovery Software

When you fail to recover hidden files from a virus-infected USB using the command line, Qiling hard drive data recovery software can help. This professional recovery tool supports restoring files from all storage devices, including USB, pen drives, SD cards, hard drives, solid-state drives, emptied Recycle Bins, and more.

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With a powerful file recovery utility, you can recover virus-infected files in various types, and even repair corrupted photos, videos, and documents if a virus corrupts them. To start recovering files from a virus-infected USB drive, follow the step-by-step tutorial below.

Step 1. Select file types

Launch Deep Data Recovery. Select file types and click "Next" to begin the recovery process.

Select file types that you want to recover

Step 2. Select the virus infected drive to scan

To recover files affected by a virus, run Qiling virus file recovery software on your Windows PC. Select the disk that was attacked by the virus to scan for lost or hidden files.

If you're dealing with a virus-infected HDD where files were hidden or deleted, it's best to install the software on a separate volume or an external USB drive to prevent overwriting of existing data.
If the infected device is an external hard drive, flash drive, or memory card, it's okay to install the software on the local drive of the computer.

Step 3. Check all scanned results

Deep Data Recovery will immediately start a scan process to find deleted or hidden files on the virus-infected hard drive. To quickly locate wanted files, you can use the Filter or type grouping feature to display only pictures, videos, documents, emails, etc.

Step 4. Preview and recover deleted/hidden files

Once the scanning process is complete, you can preview the recovered files and select the ones you want to recover. Click the "Recover" button to save the restored files to a different, secure location on your computer or storage device, avoiding the original lost location.

Recover Virus Infected Files FAQs

If your USB flash drive, pen drive, or computer is infected with a virus, don't panic! There are ways to recover your files.

1. How show hidden files from virus infection in pen drive?

To recover hidden files from a virus-infected USB pen drive, you can use either the attrib command lines or a professional virus file recovery tool. The attrib command lines can help, or alternatively, a dedicated virus file recovery tool can be applied to recover infected files.

2. How can I recover files from virus infected USB?

Step 1. To open the Command Prompt, go to the Start menu, type "cmd" in the search box, and press Enter.

Step 2. To access the Windows command line, you can simply click on the "cmd.exe" file, which will then direct you to the Windows command line interface.

Step 3. To recover virus-infected files, use the command `attrib -h -r -s /s /d G:\*.*` (replace `G` with your actual drive letter) to remove hidden, read-only, and system attributes from all files on the specified drive. This can help recover files that were accidentally marked as hidden, read-only, or system files by a virus.

3. How do I recover hidden files on my USB?

To view and retrieve hidden files from a USB drive, go to File Explorer options, select View, click on Hidden files and folders, and choose Show hidden files, folders, and drives. Click Apply and then OK. This will make your hidden files visible on the USB drive.

4.. How can I remove virus from my USB without deleting files?

You can remove a virus from a USB pen drive without losing any data by following a specific process.

Step 1. In the Search box, type cmd to open the command prompt.

Step 2. Now, type your flash drive letter (for example J) followed with colon i.e. J:.

Step 3. The command "find . -type f -exec rm -i {} \;" is used to recursively delete files in the current directory and its subdirectories. Here's a breakdown of the command: "find" is the command used to search for files, "." refers to the current directory, "-type f" specifies that only files should be deleted, "-exec" is used to execute a command for each file found, "rm -i" is the command used to delete files, "{}" is a placeholder for the file name, and "\;" is a terminator for the command.