Jan 24, 2024 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions
The USB drives might have made our data highly portable, but they have also increased our data's vulnerability. So, running into a virus through your USB drive can happen to anyone. One of the commonly occurring viruses is the autorun virus is one. This often causes that you need to recover the virus-infected USB drive.
I guess you might enter this page with a confusion "how do I stop USB autorun", right? Then congratulations, you've been in the right place. You will learn comprehensive knowledge of autorun virus and the methods to remove it. Also, some extra tips will be provided for you to recover your lost data.
What is autorun virus? Before diving into the details of the autorun virus, first, you should understand the term of Computer Malware. Malware is any software that can be a virus, ransomware, or spyware. Attackers specifically design malware software to damage your system, hacking your information, or getting unauthorized access to your system.
The autorun virus is a type of computer malware. It is dangerous, and it can copy itself into your flash drives, hard drives, or any external storage device. It can come to your system through the internet, 3rd party software installation, or from USB drives.
When you have the autorun virus in your USB, you can see a file named "autorun.inf" inside your USB drive. This file prevents you from accessing any of the files inside your USB. Whenever you click on "autorun.inf" file, it will start creating copies of itself through the system.
Autorun virus will block you from accessing the files on your USB drive. When you execute the "autorun.inf" file, it can also create a keylogger into your system. The keylogger will start tracking your keystrokes, and this can cause exploitation of your emails, passwords, and credit card numbers to the stealers. Disaster, right?
As all mentioned above, Autorun virus seems to be so dangerous, but actually, it is not mean you have no choice to delete it from your computer system or USB drive. Solutions are ready here.
You can perform a virus scan to detect whether the computer is attacked by autorun virus. Follow this way:
How can I remove the autorun inf virus from my computer or USB drive permanently? After the introduction of part 1, you now have developed some understanding related to the autorun virus. But, the main question in your mind now should be regarding "How can I remove autorun virus from my USB drive?". Now let's get it.
There are a few methods that can help you to remove the autorun virus from your USB. We will discuss the best and most straightforward ways here. The methods include:
It is a straightforward method and works great in Windows below version 7. If you are using the latest Windows versions such as Windows 8 or 10, use the other two techniques.
Step 01: Plug your USB And Open It.
Make sure you plug your USB flash drive into your PC and safely open it.
Step 02: Create A Blank Document
Right-click inside the USB and create a blank document with "autorun.inf" name.
Step 04: Replace Files
A pop-up window will appear when you will create the document. Click on Replace button in the appeared window. It will remove the autorun virus file with a blank text document.
Note: This method is simple but does not working in Windows 8 and above.
Using CMD for autorun virus inf file removal is another way and does not cause your USB drive's loss of data. The steps will be explained below.
Step 01: Launch CMD
Step 02: Entering Commands in CMD
Step 03: Deleting the Autorun File
These steps will remove the autorun inf file from your USB drive. If you see the "Access denied" message during step 02, run CMD as an administrator.
If the above two methods did not work, you could also try this method. Just open your USB drive with WinRar and copy its files on your computer disk. Format your USB drive after that using SD Memory Formatter. It will delete the autorun virus from your USB drive.
We hope that any of the above methods have helped you remove the autorun virus from your USB drive successfully. However, if you have lost data from your infected USB drive, we will help you recover it in the next section.
Sometimes, the autorun virus on your computer may have something to do with the newly installed programs or add-ons. If that’s the case, follow this way to remove the program from your computer to remove the autorun virus:
Wait for the uninstalling process to complete, then, restart your computer to check whether the autorun virus has been removed.
Nobody likes to lose their essential data to viruses. After you have removed the virus, your data may have also lost. However, the good news is that data recovery here is possible.
To recover the data from your autorun virus-infected USB, we will use Wondershare Recoverit data recovery software.
Why Wondershare Recoverit?
The Wondershare Recoverit data recovery software is a 3-step data recovery software. It supports multiple storage media and data file types. Using this software, you can retrieve data in Windows OS and MAC.
Key Features:
First, download and install the Wondershare RecoverIt software on a respective PC system. The software is available for both Windows and Mac PC systems.
With Recoverit data recovery software, select the location from where you deleted your screenshots, and then click the "Start" button to begin the scanning process.
Now, the program will start scanning your selected hard disk to search deleted screenshots; scanning will take a while.
Hit the "Start" button to begin the scanning of the storage media. The scanning duration will depend on the number of files the system needs to scan. You have the leisure of stopping the scan process and resuming it at your convenience.
With the preview, you can select only those files you want to recover. This benefits you by saving your time during the recovery process. After selecting the files, you can click on the Recover button, and the file recovery will start.
After the deep scan, you can check all recoverable screenshots. You can preview the specific recoverable files, select your data, and click the "Recover" button to get them back.
This article has helped you understand the autorun virus and how it affects your computer system. We have discussed ways to make your USB device free from autorun virus. From my personal perspective, I recommend using CMD to remove the autorun virus, as it is easy to use, less likely to cause data loss, and works in significant cases.
Protecting your data from viruses is essential. But you cannot exclude the possibility of losing your data through computer malware programs. However, even if you lose your data, you can recover it.
Data recovery through infected USB drives has become ever more manageable with Wondershare Recoverit software. No matter how you lose your data, we highly recommend Wondershare Recoverit software because it makes you 3-step away from your data recovery.
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Sue Wayne
staff Editor