Q&A for How to Remove a Virus From a Flash Drive

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If I already have antivirus software, how do I remove a virus?

Luigi Oppido
Computer & Tech Specialist
Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over two years.

Luigi Oppido

Computer & Tech Specialist

Expert Answer

Plug the flashdrive into the computer. If you already have antivirus software, you should be able to right-click on the USB's icon when it loads and run the software. This should take care of removing the virus.

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How can I know the drive's letter?

Community Answer

It actually is just beside the drive's name; for example wikiHow (G:), then G: is the drive's letter.

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Question

How do I fix runDLL errors?

Community Answer

There are multiple causes for runDLL errors, such as the specific module couldn't be found. If the error is happening because some files weren't removed during uninstallation of the program, which would lead to a corrupted registry (i.e. some files are missing from the local folder), you can fix the issue by opening up the RegEdit, finding the specific module that's not found, and deleting it. You can also open up Task Scheduler, delete the entries in the Task Scheduler Library, and reboot. If some specific DLL file is missing, search the Internet for the required DLL file, and install it using the given instructions (i.e copy and paste the DLL files in C:/System32 in the folder as shown in the install instructions for the DLL file). You can find the instructions at the site you download the DLL from. You may have to reboot afterward. Otherwise, just search for the error online.

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Question

Is it safe to put the flash drive in my PC?

Community Answer

In order to remove the virus from your flash drive, you must plug it into the PC. Do not open any files that are infected with a shortcut virus.

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Question

If I did open the infected files, how do I remove the virus from my laptop?

Community Answer

Use an anti-virus software, or reboot into safe mode to manually remove the infected files.

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Question

Can formatting remove viruses from a USB?

Somone

Community Answer

Yes, but be careful, because Formatting will remove EVERYTHING off the flash drive.

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What should I do if I get an "access denied" message?

Community Answer

Open the start menu and type in "command prompt." Right click on the command prompt icon, then click "run as administrator." Then it should let you.

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Question

How do I get a shortcut virus out of an external hard drive?

Community Answer

You'll need to format it in order to use it. If you have important documents in your drive, you'll need to delete all .exe, .com, etc. files using CMD.

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Question

What can I do if files on my USB are missing? Is there any way to restore them?

Community Answer

Try using winrar to access hidden files. If this doesn't work, then they probably cannot be restored.

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Can music be infected with the shortcut virus as well?

Community Answer

Yes, it is very likely that the music files can be infected as well.

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Question

How do I reboot in safe mode?

Community Answer

Follow the steps in How to Start Windows in Safe Mode .

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Question

How I can remove viruses disguised as pictures?

Community Answer

Install a reputable antivirus program or app, run it and follow its prompts.

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Question

What should I do if I keep getting an "Access denied" message when I type "del *.lnk"?

Somone

Community Answer

Format the flash drive.

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Question

What do I do if the company needs a password for using CMD as administrator?

R2_d2000

Top Answerer

Contact the IT department and ask for the USB drive to be disinfected, they will take care of it for you.

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