I recently plugged my USB drive into my laptop, and I've noticed that all of my files now have a bunch of (1)(1)(1)(1)(1) added to their names. When I open these files, some have strange symbols, while others seem normal. I ran an antivirus scan, which flagged malware called x-gen[tr], but after that, the USB showed up clean with a Windows scan. I found a .lnk file, which I removed via the command prompt, but there's a "System Volume Information" folder that keeps reappearing, and the extra characters in the file names are still there. I'm really stuck and would appreciate any assistance!
1 Answer
It sounds like you've got a malware issue on your hands. The repeated additions of those (1)s and the weird symbols indicate that your USB might be corrupted or infected. The simplest way to fix this is to format the USB drive, which will wipe it clean of any corrupted files. I recommend running a solid antivirus like Malwarebytes before you do that, just to be safe. If you have important files on there, and if they seem to be working fine aside from the name changes, make sure to back them up elsewhere first. But seriously, how much do you value those files? Because keeping them might not be worth the risk of malware spreading.
I can’t delete the files because I really need them for university. They open fine; it's just the names that changed.