Flash drive... phenomenon...

[SckizoBoy]

For some reason, whenever I copy files to my flash drive and then eject and subsequently try to open said files, they turn up as .lnk shortcuts, even though the disc space is taken up by the full file content.

There doesn't seem to be any way of unhiding the files either, and for the life of me, I can't seem to locate them, though they are obviously there... (executing their path seems to open them, but they can't be relocated for one idiotic reason or another...).

Uh... help for a technophobe?

 

[SnowyGamester]

It's probably a virus. If you google 'shortcut virus' you should find a number of suggestions for fixing your problem. I haven't run into the issue myself though so I can't be sure which ones will actually work.

 

[AWAR]

My brother's flash drive was acting similarly, I can't actually remember if formatting fixed it or not, but you should definitely try a virus scan on your PC.

 

[A Satanic Panda]

My brother's flash drive was acting similarly, I can't actually remember if formatting fixed it or not, but you should definitely try a virus scan on your PC.

Yes, if it's what i think it is, formatting will fix it. This is why you safely eject your flash drives. To prevent that from happening.

 

[DoPo]

Hmm, weird - it's the first time I've heard of this issue. This [http://www.hackersthirst.com/2011/05/recover-usb-deleted-virus.html] seems like a good guide for the situation, though I've obviously not tried it, so I'm not sure if it works or not.

Best of luck.