Files on external drive have changed to shortcuts, cannot access them.

Same problem, except mine is ruidaax.exe and I'm on a HP netbook running XP. None of my scans caught anything and it's driving me nuts.

For those of us who can't do as James suggested and right click on the process in Task Manager (Step 3), any other way to find out where it is so I can delete it?

hi sorry i got the same problem too but i dont understand step 2. cause all my files are in shortcut format and after i deleted them, where do i copu data from to copy into the new folders? do you mind going step by step in more details?

would appreciate your help alot!!!

you could emal me at *** Email address is removed for privacy *** thanks!

cloudbuster101, Kaiguy

Cloudbuster101

To answer the question of why there was no antivirus detection first: it's simple really every day there are thousand of viruses made.... you can make them on any computer with the right skill and lets be almost..... almost every house has at least one computer and kids start playing around with programs and creating new fun pranks as soon as they can. If you know the parameters of the newest Anti virus program you can crat a program that the anti virus does not see as a threat, then the company has to first identify the threat and write new programming to recognize the newest malicious software and then stop it.... and if possible find a fix for the damage it has already done.

Currently there are two forums running on this or a similar problem.... well both are similar. to keep more uptodate on this problem try checking the

All my folders have turned into shortcuts and I cannot access files within

This forum has more posts as of right now so you may find something there to help you.

this is what I have so far if you can not open the source program.

if you are still having a problem and you cant find the file using the description above, your best bet is to search manually. This will be more time consuming but it may save your data in the long run. just add another step between step 3 and step 4, call it 3A if you will.

3A. if you are unable to access the file destination folder you will have to manually search for and delete the virus. Once you have completed step 2, follow the instructions for step three-- except you will not be able to open the destination folder, so you will have to write down the name of the suspected file causing problem to your computer. When you have the information needed you will do the following.

go to "my computer" (computer shortcut, Computer etc...)---c:\ drive (may be renamed depending on what your preferences are, as well as what OS you are running)---- at this point you will have to go through every folder individually and search for the program causing you problems.... I recommend you start with the USERs folder if you are running Vista. this will be more time consuming but it should fix your problem. If you have multiple hard drives or partitions you may have to search them as well.

after this is completed continue following the other steps above and reset your setting to what they originally were.... you don't want to end up deleting important programs later on.

Remember: before you delete anything.... CHECK the file name online... you do not want to delete anything you may need later.... Google works great for this, but make sure you read more then just on paragraph when possible.... there are viruses that have the same name or similar ones as legitimate operating system programs.

Good luck with your problem, and hopefully this works for you. Any questions let me know

euphony4

did you follow step one completely? this should show you your file folders which were hidden before. Now I dont know how to unhide those folders, but you can cut/copy the data from the hidden folders and move them to a new folder. Let me know what your specific questions are and I will try to help as much as I can. Also you can look at the other forum which i named in another post and you may find something there to help you.

Good luck