How to use CMD to remove virus from USB drive, SD card, flash drive or any disk in Windows 10?
Follow this guide, all command lines are covered, it's worth trying to remove the virus from your computer.
On this page, we have provided four practical methods to help you remove viruses and help you recover deleted files using powerful file recovery software. If you find yourself in this dilemma, follow the solutions given here to clean the viruses and restore your files:
• Solution 1. Remove the virus with CMD
• Solution 2. Run antivirus software
• Solution 3. Run Windows Defender
• Solution 4. Format the infected device
• Other tips. restore files
What damage can viruses cause?
We absolutely hate computer viruses. But do you know exactly how viruses can harm your computer?
Simply put, a computer virus is simply a type of program that causes your computer to behave in an unwanted way. It could be a dangerous infiltration designed to crash your computer, delete important files, track your habits, or give hackers access to your personal information...
A virus is a big nuisance. Some viruses such as Locky virus and CryptoLocker, also known as ransomware, delete computer files, encrypt them or even change the file extension to .locky or .encypt. Other viruses hide files and do not allow users to hide them.
It's certainly true that a virus is something you want to remove as soon as you find it. Among the many options, many users try to remove viruses using CMD.
Why can you remove a virus using CMD?
In fact, using command lines does not scan or remove viruses directly from your computer or external storage device. CMD helps you achieve your virus removal goal by displaying hidden viruses on a partition or disk.
You can then delete the suspicious files. Since viruses are always hidden, you should expose them and then delete the virus files. So how can you see potentially hidden virus files using CMD? All you need is the attrib command.
The attrib command is a command line command used to view, set, or remove attributes for files or folders in the selected location. And then you will know where to find it and delete it.
How to remove a virus using CMD
Now follow the steps below to remove the virus from your computer or storage device using CMD.
1. Type cmd in the search field, right-click "Command Prompt" and select "Run as administrator".
2. Type F: and press Enter.
3. Type attrib -s -h -r /s /d *.* and press Enter.
4. Type dir and press "Enter".
5. your information, the virus name may contain words like "autorun" and with ".inf" as file extension. So, if you find suspicious files, type "del autorun.inf" to remove the virus.
A – Represents the "Archived" attribute that prepares a file for archiving.
R – Represents the "Read Only" attribute of a file or directory.
S: The "System" attribute transforms the selected files or folders from user files to system files.
H - "hidden" attribute.
Syntax of "attribute":
ATTRIBUTE [+ attribute | – attribute] [pathname] [/S [/D]]
'+ / –': To enable or disable the specified attribute.
'attribute': As explained above.
"pathname": The path where the destination file or folder is located.
'/S' - Search the entire path, including subdirectories.
'/D': includes all active directories.
Here is the correct syntactic order for the attrib command:
ATTRIBUTE [+R | -R] [+A | -A] [+S | -S] [+H | -H] [+i | -I] [drive:][path][filename] [/S [/D] [/L]]
If you get the "Access Denied" message:
• Make sure you have started the command prompt as an administrator
• Make sure the file/folder is not in use
• Check the checking account permission and make sure you have full control over the file/folder (right click on the file/folder/partition and go to "Security")
• Use the CHKDSK command to check for file system errors (start the command prompt and type chkdsk /f [drive letter] :)
3 more ways to remove viruses
Besides using CMD, there are other methods to remove a virus from your computer or storage device, such as using antivirus software, Windows Defender, and formatting the storage device.
Method 1. Run Antivirus
Almost all computers are equipped with antivirus software. If you find that your computer is infected with a virus, it may be worth using antivirus software.
Method 2. Run Windows Defender Antivirus
If you do not have third-party antivirus software, it is recommended to use the built-in program.
Step 2. Click on Virus & Threat Protection.
Method 3. Format the infected device
Formatting is the process of deleting existing files on the selected partition or drive. It will probably remove the virus as well. Since formatting a partition or drive will cause data loss, make sure there are no important files stored on the device.
To finish
Cleaning viruses using CMD is a workaround. However, it works in some cases. If the attrib command fails, try the other three tips provided to get rid of the malicious file.
Moreover, virus attacks are always associated with data loss. In this case, you should use hard drive recovery software, EaseUS data recovery software, to recover lost files as soon as possible.