Recover Deleted Files after Using an Antivirus

This is a common issue observed across many Windows users, who had lost their data after an antivirus scanned their PC. But don’t worry! You can easily recover your data lost after an antivirus scan.

Why are Files Deleted after an Antivirus Scan?

The Internet is at the core in this era of technology; however, using it can be highly risky as you are constantly exposed to files that may contain virus or malware. Fortunately, today’s modern antivirus are capable of safeguarding your system against these Internet threats.

An antivirus is devised to detect faulty programs and wrong codes that harm a computer. While the software is scanning the system for such programs, it may accidentally confuse important data as malicious and may remove it. This is the reason why your files are deleted after the scan.

Recover Files Deleted by an Antivirus using Command Prompt

You can try to recover your lost data using the Command Prompt. Follow the step-by-step instructions to successfully recover data deleted by an antivirus software scan.

1. Open Command Prompt by pressing Windows logo + R and type cmd
2. Type chkdsk E: /f and hit Enter (replace E with the drive letter where you lost data)
3. In case prompted for confirmation, type Y and hit Enter
4. At the command prompt, type E: and hit Enter (replace E with the same drive letter)
5. Type attrib –h –r –s /s /d *.* and hit Enter

Wait for the command prompt to execute the command. Check the drive for a new folder. The folder contains all the recovered data.

Recover Data using a Data Recovery Software

Stellar Data Recovery- Standard is a highly effective software to retrieve lost or accidentally deleted data. The software is capable of recovering data from corrupt, virus-infected, and encrypted hard drives. The highly intuitive interface of the software allows people with minimal computer skills to use the application seamlessly.

Follow the below steps to successfully retrieve files lost after using an antivirus software scan:

1. Download and Install Stellar Data Recovery- Standard on a different computer. Remove the hard drive from the affected PC or laptop and connect it to the computer with the software installed using a SATA to USB converter cable or enclosure.

2. Launch the data recovery software.
3. Choose which file types you want to recover. Otherwise, check the ‘All Data’ checkbox to recover all file types and then click ‘Next’.

4. Select the hard drive listed under ‘Connected Drives’. Turn on ‘Deep Scan’ toggle switch that appears on the bottom-left.

5. Click on the ‘Scan’ button to begin the scanning process. Deep Scan can take a while depending on the size of the hard disk and amount of deleted data found during the scan process. It digs deeper and tries to recover every trace of data.
6. When the scan is finished, in the left Tree View pane, you’ll see all your recovered folders and files. Click on the ‘File Type’ tab. Select the folder containing specific file types.

7. Click the checkboxes of the files and folders you want to recover and then click the ‘Recover’ button.

8. Click the ‘Browse’ button to select the location where you want to save the recovered data. Make sure not to select the same drive. Finally, click the ‘Start Saving’ button.

Conclusion

At some point in time, you might have encountered data loss after scanning your drive with antivirus software. In this blog, we have provided two methods by which you can recover your lost data. The first method is by using the Command Prompt and the second, by using Stellar Data Recovery- Standard for Windows. This is a highly useful software for people who use their computer on a regular basis. The software helps you recover your photos, videos, audios, documents, emails, and more from all data loss scenarios.