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    Photo Recovery

    How to Remove Virus from SD card without Formatting?


    Table of Content

      Summary: This Tutorial explains how to remove virus from SD card without formatting. It discusses both manual and software approaches. It also tells how to detect a virus, how SD Cards are attacked by a virus, and what happens when an SD Card gets infected by a virus. Read on to learn more.

      Picture this. You connect the SD Card with your brother’s laptop to transfer some photos.  You performed the transfer process as well as removal process properly to ensure that there is no issue. On the contrary, when you connect it to your Desktop, it produces an error message indicating that the SD Card has become corrupt. To confirm, you tried to access the same, or remove virus from SD card on your mobile, but you still cannot open it. To capture the actual problem, you run the anti-virus software and find that it is infected by a virus. You thought of formatting the SD Card but realize that it will remove all the memories.

      Worrying what to do NEXT? Wondering how to recover photos from the infected SD Card?

      For all those who are looking forward to an alternative for fixing a virus-infected SD card without formatting, this Blog provides a comprehensive solution. Prior to looking into the recovery aspect, let us have a quick overview, what happens when the SD Card gets infected by a virus and how to detect the virus in the SD Card?

      How Are Memory Cards Attacked by a Virus?

      • When connected to a Virus Infected System
      • By transferring virus-infected files to the memory card
      • Exploring malicious websites while using the memory card

      What happens when SD Cards get infected by a virus?

      The following symptoms occur when a virus infects the SD card.

      • Files may turn into a hidden state.
      • Files may get auto-removed or erased without a warning.
      • Creates the probability of private information stolen.
      • SD Card may turn inaccessible.
      • Can infect the corresponding connected devices.
      • Slow and sluggish performance.
      • Missing of files from the SD Card.
      • When you are unable to read/write anything on your device.
      • Error generation—Cannot read from the device, while accessing the files.
      • When you fail to copy the data.
      • When you see messages indicating the memory card is corrupt or a memory card error while trying to delete unwanted files.
      • When you see the error code while accessing it
      • When you see a prompt message to format the device
      • When you cannot view the data of your device even after detection

      First Aid to Remove Virus from SD Card

      Handy Manual Fix —CMD

      An easy and free recovery solution to fix virus-infected memory cards.

      Steps are as follows:

      • Plug in virus-infected SD card to the system
      • Go to Start menu -> type cmd -> Enter
      • Right-click exe -> type "attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive letter:\*.*"
      attrib command

      Now, Windows will repair virus infected SD Card. On successful completion, check the state of the card.

      This method usually works in in minor cases, but in major case scenarios, it fails! You can also refer to the manual tricks mentioned in this post SD Card Recovery.

      The third-party recovery tool will, however, get back your valuable data but it may not remove the virus from the SD card.

      Here, the most steadfast solution would be to use a third-party recovery tool!

      Watch this video to learn how to fix a corrupt SD card.

      How to Recover Photos from Virus-Infected SD Card

      Under all scenarios like virus infection, when you are unable to manage SD Card using CMD, a third-party photo recovery software works wonders. The reason being, it is software-oriented and free from manual intervention thereby, have lesser risks associated with it.

      A recommended, tried, tested, and approved solution is Stellar Photo Recovery Software. This professional recovery solution is specially intended to regain lost photos as well as other multimedia files. This dedicated solution works efficiently in case of corruption, accidental deletion, virus problems, file/directory deletion, software malfunction, or formatting.

      • Launch Stellar Photo Recovery Software.
      Stellar Photo Recovery- Select
      •  Select the location from where you want to recover. Click Scan to start the scanning process
      • A dialog box of ‘Scanning Completed Successfully!’ displays the scan results – the number of files found and size of the data. In the left pane of the main window, all the recovered data is listed. You can preview them in the right pane.
      Stellar Photo recovery- Preview

      Note: If you do not see the required photos in the list, opt for the Deep Scan option at the bottom.

      • Click Recover. You can also choose to recover only the selective files – select files that you need, right click, and click Recover.
      Stellar Photo Recovery- Recover
      • In the dialog box, specify the location to save the image files. Click Save. All the files get saved at the specified location.

      The Recovery process is Complete!

      The Bottom line

      Losing your memorable or most cherished moments is not less than a nightmare. This situation can arise in anyone’s life and at any point of the time.  It can be due to hardware failure, software malfunction, virus attack, and more!

      Here, the major concern is how to remove the virus and recover data from it. You can certainly go for the manual approaches but they do not work in all scenarios thereby, choosing a software-aided solution becomes a more viable option.

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      About The Author

      Sumona Chatterjee linkdin

      Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.

      50 comments

      1. Hey! Thanks for helping me with my problem, I feel depressed in How to format SD card after Infected by a virus? I get useful Information because of your article it’s done. Thank you very much!

      2. My memory is refusing to even format. When i carryout the formatting instruction on my android phone it tells me to repeat the process all over again. Plus,the memory card is not even showing. Srnd reply to my mail account. Can I use my phone to format my memory card?

        1. Hello Joseyjomoh,

          Thank you for trusting Stellar Data Recovery.

          We recommend you to try the demo version of Stellar Photo Recovery software from the below mentioned link​ to check the possibility of recovery:

          Windows: Download Link

          Mac: Download Link

          Please write to our support team on support[@]stellarinfo[.]com for any further query.

        1. Hello Divyansh,

          Don’t panic, you can directly type in Windows search field, type cmd.exe and press enter, here two fields are display, one is administrator windows and second one is local, you can choose any one and your drive is listed there, then type the command -“attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive letter:\*.*” By this Windows will repair virus infected SD Card

          1. Dear madam,

            Iam already try above mentioned the cmd command but still no any recovery
            Memory card all folder showing different language and file size show only kb

            Please advise

          2. Hi Pavan, Please scan your memory card or system through antivirus software then use these command. If the issue still occurs use our software demo version and see the preview all repaired file.

        1. Hello Jocel,

          Sorry to hear about your memory card. Please find the solutions below

          Manual Solution:

          Plug in virus infected SD card to the system
          Go to Start menu -> type cmd -> Enter
          Right-click exe -> type “attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive letter:\*.*”

          Or if you want to recover the valuable data from the memory card, please use Stellar photo recovery software for complete data recovery. It was usually seen that third-party software only recover important data but not overcome virus in SD Card.

      3. Hello to You Sir/Madam.
        I was previously using this phone, with the same memory card init.
        But then, bought a new infinixNote3 and decided to transfer the memory card, to the new infinix.
        By a period of Eight (8months) my infinix swelled from inside. within month, it again can’t work any longer.
        Am now with my previous phone, but after inserting #MemoryCard, a warning on the screen appears. “MEMORY CARD DAMAGED. TRY #ReFORMATTING ” but I don’t want to loss anything in it.
        PLEASE #HELP Me recover my memory card.
        Thank you in Advance.

        1. Hello Ali,

          It seems your SD Card is corrupted. Please use below methods to fix the issue

          Manual Methods

          1) Connect SD Card to other devices
          2) Try “Chkdsk” command
          3) Assign a new drive letter to the connected card
          4) Try to Reinstall the driver

          Software Method

          You may use reliable Stellar Photo Recovery software to recover all your important data

          Good Luck

      4. Is there a chance that my sd card got virus if i can’t save files to sd card and i can’t also delete files that is save in sd card??

        1. Hello Jo,

          Please Check, ensure that your card is not write-protected. If the problem still persists that your card may have got corrupt.

          Please try to check with these methods for virus detection

          1) Try “chkdsk” command
          Type “chkdsk” followed by drive letter,colon and /f at the command prompt corresponding to the SD Card and then press enter.

          2) Assign a new drive letter
          Assign a new drive letter to the connected card through your OS setting if the card is unreadable by the system.

      5. having problem with SD card, cant read or use again saying need formatting but i need images from the sd card without formatting

        1. Hello Chentei,

          Never panic! It is possible to restore your inaccessible images.

          Please don’t format the drive as it reduces the chances of any image recovery.

          Please download the demo version of Stellar Photo Recovery Software (link below) and try to see the required images in the preview section.

          Link – Download Link

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