How to recover files in external hard drive after lnk virus infection

by **Adminkunlex** Sun Dec 08, 2019 6:13 pm

The lnk virus talking acts by installing itself in your
external drive, hiding your folders as system
protected files and then creating false folders with
the exact same icon and name which serve as
shortcuts to the virus itself. As you say you already
removed it, all you have to do is change your folders
back to a normal state. Here's how you do it
(assuming you're using Windows):
1)Open up Folder Options (you can find it in the
Control Panel or under the "Tool" menu on Windows
Explorer);
2)Click on the "View" tab;
3)You will see a list with a lot of checkboxes, go
ahead and check "Show hidden files and folders".
Also make sure you uncheck "Hide protected system
files";
4)Now go to your external drive and you will see
your folders back. Unfortunately, they cannot be
changed back into regular folders manually (at least
not in an easy way), so you will have a bit more
work to do here. You have to create new folders
somewhere else in your computer, (for example,
inside a "usb backup" folder in My Documents) with
the same names of the folders the virus affected.
Ignore any folder with weird names (e.g folders you
didn't have before catching the virus), as they may
still contain undetected malware. You can also ignore
the "RECYCLE" folder, as it is automatically created by
the system if needed;
5)Now you can copy the contents of each individual
folder into its duplicates, as the files itself will
probably be untouched by the virus;
6)After you've finished copying the files, backup the
files you still have in the drive's root folder (the one
you first open when browsing your external drive),
again ignoring any files with weird names, for the
same reasons above.
7)Now, as a last safety measure, format your drive,
to make sure you get rid of any possible virus.
8)Finally, copy your files back into the drive and you
are good to go!

http://www.earlyface.com.ng/other-miscellaneous-tutorials/how-to-recover-files-in-external-hard-drive-after-lnk-virus-infection/