How To Delete Common Malware (Recycler) Using CMD

 Recycler is a malware or virus that creates shortcuts in a folder called "RECYCLER". It changes the attributes of the folder or a file into a hidden attribute and continue to resurface itself when deleted. External storage devices are prone to be infected easily with this kind of virus. Below is a step by step approach on how to handle this very situation.


Requirements: Infected external storage device such as usb flash drives or pc hard disk with recycler.

Step 1
Insert the affected external storage device i.e the external storage device that is infected with the recycler malware into a pc that has windows platform.

Step 2
Type "cmd.exe" in the search bar. Right click on the cmd.exe and click run as an administrator.

Step 3
Check the drive letter of the external storage device.

Step 4
Type the following command in the command line interface: 
atrrib -r -s -h /s /d F:\*.* 
and press enter.
Note that F is the drive letter of the external storage device that I used and it varies, yours might be different.

Step 5 
Wait for a while for the command to work on the malware on your external storage device and when it is done, exit the windows Command Line Interface (cmd).

Step 6
Navigate to your external storage device in "My computer" and check all your folders and files that was lost. If the command successfully worked on your storage device, all your missing files and folder will be restored back to your storage device together with their shortcuts created earlier by the malware.

Step 7
Lastly, all you need to do is highlight all the shortcuts in the external storage device and delete them permanently by pressing shift+delete.