If a virus infects a computer it can result to– removal of important information, errors that cannot be anticipated, and will slow down the speed of the operating system. These virus programs also have the tendency to spread from one system to another through USB storage devices like flash drives or other external hard drives.
Now you may be wondering whether your flash drive is infected by a virus. You need not worry. This article will make you understand how to secure your flash drive.
In order to free you hard disk from viruses, you need to take the following steps:
1. When you attach your USB drive to the system, the same windows shown below will be seen
2. You need not click OK, click Cancel.
3. Type ’çmd’ in the run box to open the Command Prompt.
4. Enter inside the drive, by typing the “drive letter:” and pressing enter.
5. Now give the command dir/w/a and press enter.
A list of all the files in the pen drive will be shown. You have to check for the presence of following files:
Ravmon.exe
svchost.exe
Autorun.inf
Heap41a
New Folder.exe
Or any exe file which might be unreliable.
7. The presence of any of these files shows that the system is infected.
8. Type “attrib -r -a -s -h *.*” and press enter in the Command Prompt.
9. By doing this, all the Read Only, Archive, System and Hidden file traits will be removed from all the files.
10. Finally, files can be deleted by typing the command “del filename” and pressing enter.
Precaution is always better than cure. Before your flash drive gets infected by a virus, take some preventive measure. The proceeding discussion deals with the same.
To avoid falling into such state of affairs pursue these steps:
By running a virus scan you can find out any viruses on the drive. If you find one, get rid of it immediately.
Back up important files. Always take data backup one by one because backing up all the data at once may move the viruses too.
Never save zip folders and executable files on the drive.
After reading this piece of information, you will be in a commanding position to secure your flash drive against any virus.
If still you face a problem or confusion, leave your comments below.
