Repair Corrupted Memory Cards and Flash Drives

Repairing corrupted flash drives and Memory cards

Happy new year to everyone. Today we will take you through how to repair your corrupted flash drives and memory cards.


The problem:
You might have plugged your flash drive or phone into a friend's computer only for you to try using it and find that all of your files have turned to shortcuts (.lnk). If you have a strong antivirus, these shortcuts will immediately be detected as viruses and will be effectively deleted.

The problem though lies in the fact that the antivirus deletes the shortcuts but doesn't restore your files. You might not be able to access the files from some phones (blackberry). Your android phone however will be able to access the files fully since it uses the unix method of file management and hence does not recognize windows attributes.



The facts:
From some research, I found out that this issue is caused by a virus called BDS.Mirc.Backdoor. It hides your document files by setting the hidden and system attributes to the file and then creates shortcuts to them.
First of all, there is no need to panic. Your files are all intact and there is no need to format the drive. Your files are currently hidden and marked as system files. By default windows does not allow you view system files because they are sensitive to the operating system and tampering with them can cause your system to crash. But your files are not system files. They have been made system files by the virus.

The solution:
First of all you can view the files to confirm that they still exist.
Show hidden files and show system files.
1. Open Control Panel

2. Search for folder options in the search bar and click it when it loads the results

3. Select the view tab.
4. Click "Show hidden files, folders and drives"
5. Untick "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)". This will bring up a dialog box asking you to confirm. Confirm and click apply then ok.

This should bring up the hidden files alongside the shortcuts created by the virus. (Note that this might not work all the time. There is another virus that stops the folder options settings from applying. If your files do not come up alongside the shortcuts just continue with the remaining steps)

Now, you can heave a sigh of relief as you have confirmed that your files are intact. Organize the files by type in order to get all the shortcuts together and delete those of them created by the virus leaving just your files albeit in a hidden state.

The final solution lies in removing the hidden and system properties from the files. This would usually be done using the properties dialog but the option is usually unavailable.


You will have to do this using command prompt.

Removing system and hidden properties using command prompt:
1. Type cmd into the start menu and press enter

2. Note the drive letter of the flash drive/ memory card. this is the letter beside the name of the drive in my computer.

3. Type this letter into the command prompt window and press enter.

4. Enter the following command:
attrib -H -S  /S /D *

The attrib command is used to set the properties or attributes of a file. the -H -S beside it are options passed to the command.-H means remove hidden while -S as you guessed means remove System. /D simply tells the command to not only apply to files but to apply to folders while /S tells the command to apply to sub-folders as well. "*" matches all files and folders.

5. Press enter and wait to get the prompt back.

After doing this check back to your windows explorer to see your files unhidden and ready for your use.

Never lose your files ever again!!
Cheers.