folders showing as shortcuts. files contained within are inaccessible

Anonymous
2010-07-10T17:00:20+00:00

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

Hi there. I wonder if someone can help me with a problem.

An my computer every folder has now turned into a shortcut and I cannot access the files that are located within. Once I click the folder I jts get a message saying 'The item 266986688.vbs that this shortcut refers to has been changed or moved...' and then it asks if I want to delete. On right-clicking the drives I can see that the files are still there and they also show up being scanned with Kaspersky Antivirus, but I cannot access them in any other way. I have scanned it with several virus programs and it didnt find much, even tried the scan in safe mode. I also have an external hard drive connected and that is also affected in this way.

I really dont know what happened, I didnt download anything today and didnt alter any settings, it was just fine one min and then went all strange. Can anyone offer any ideas at all?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
2010-07-21T06:27:20+00:00

·        I had the a variation of this problem, which was caused by the program CIEUHU.EXE. it sucked.... basically what it did was change all folders on my flashdrive to shortcuts, but the drive still showed that it had data. The fix for this is was relatively easy for me and I hope it works for you.

  1. Go to control Panel, Folder Options -- select VIEW--- select Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (recommended) now click APPLY
  2. go to your folders and it should show you all your folders hidden including the virus----- delete the virus and all the shortcut folders that have no data in them. create new folders and copy the data from YOUR hidden folders into them. once that is done delete the old hidden folders.
  3. enter task manager--- find the program that is still running which will have the same name as the one you just deleted off the hard drive---- right click it and select open file location---- this should show you the virus location---- delete it!
  4. return back to control panel, Folder options select view----- select DO NOT show hidden files and folders and recheck Hide protected operating system files (recommended)
  5. Restart computer---- open task manager and ensure that the program is no longer running

This worked for me and I hope it works for you. As I said mine affected external media. Good Luck

Was this answer helpful?

20+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

88 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2011-06-18T10:41:11+00:00

    thx you i help a lot but i need to comment only one note.

    after i show all hidden folders and delete the shortcut also move the no hidden folders to new folder it work but the antivirus wasn't exist because already deleted by antivirus scan. so you will not find it or even you don't need to close from task manager also restart the computer.

    i use nod32 with eset security

    thx

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2011-06-22T23:34:08+00:00

    Right click on shortcuts and edit target.

    example

    %windir%\system32\cmd.exe /c "start %cd%RECYCLER\autorun.exe -us&&%windir%\explorer.exe J:\Dramas"

    solution

    explorer.exe J:\Dramas

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-23T07:26:15+00:00

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

    Hi there. I wonder if someone can help me with a problem.

     

    An my computer every folder has now turned into a shortcut and I cannot access the files that are located within. Once I click the folder I jts get a message saying 'The item 266986688.vbs that this shortcut refers to has been changed or moved...' and then it asks if I want to delete. On right-clicking the drives I can see that the files are still there and they also show up being scanned with Kaspersky Antivirus, but I cannot access them in any other way. I have scanned it with several virus programs and it didnt find much, even tried the scan in safe mode. I also have an external hard drive connected and that is also affected in this way.

     

    I really dont know what happened, I didnt download anything today and didnt alter any settings, it was just fine one min and then went all strange. Can anyone offer any ideas at all?

    Step 1:

    Create .bat file like "KillAutorun.bat" paste below code to bat file.

    attrib -r autorun.inf

    del autorun.inf

    md autorun.inf

    attrib +r +h autorun.inf

    Dissable_auto_run.reg

    Step 2:

    Creating .reg File "Dissable_auto_run.reg" to stop windows Auto run.

    REGEDIT4

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

    "NoDriveAutoRun"=dword:000000ff

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\Run]

    "Policies"=hex(2):43,3a,5c,57,49,4e,44,4f,57,53,5c,73,79,73,74,65,6d,33,32,5c,\

    77,69,6e,64,6f,77,73,33,32,5f,72,61,69,6e,73,74,65,72,5c,6d,79,73,6c,69,64,\

    65,73,2e,65,78,65,00

    Step 3:

    Palce both files (Dissable_auto_run.reg and KillAutorun.bat) in USB root.

    Execute(doubble Click) KillAutorun.bat

    Step 4:

    Assume USB drive id is "I:"

    Open I:\RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-3352491937-682996330-1013\

    in this folder will have some exe file Eg: myslides.exe

    Create one batch file same as Step 1.

    Eg: Create .bat file like "KillAutorun.bat" paste below code to bat file.

    attrib -r myslides.exe

    del myslides.exe

    md myslides.exe

    attrib +r +h myslides.exe

    Run this bat file from "I:\RECYCLER\S-1-5-21-1482476501-3352491937-682996330-1013"

    Note: S-1-5-21-1482476501-3352491937-682996330-1013 this folder name will differ from one system to another system.

    Ajesh George

    Sr.System Engineer

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2011-07-06T18:29:08+00:00

    Many tricks are given and I think it just waste our time. Finally I've given a permanent and trusted solution on this topic. Just see the following article..............

    http://sybozztech.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-to-solve-folders-showing-as.html

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments