WinThRs Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 Hello Nsane :), My question is not on par with the level of Q&A goes on here but still I have to ask. . Please consider the situation here: If I have viruses and malware in my computer (Windows with multiple partitions) and I format Windows C drive only (i.e., format Windows installation partition only) and reinstall Windows later. Is there any chance that virus/malware could still reside and affect files on other partitions even after formatting C drive, and When I reinstall Windows, virus (which were there in previous Windows OS) could still be there and become active. I have doubt over this: Does viruses or malware affect only Operating System (OS) and once the OS is uninstalled, virus/malware too are gone for good, Or even after an OS is uninstalled, they could live on hard disk other partitions also? After reading this post, you could get an idea how confused I am. So please help me to remove my confusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam3971 Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 Hi WinThRs, That depends on the type of virus infection and usually have to be manually executed. AKA, you open an infected file on a new install of Windows and boom. Reinfected. There are some scenarios though where a virus will infect the boot sector of the drive and if the virus remains, it will execute itself the first time windows boots(Probably even before the install is completed). The chance of you having a boot sector virus is slim but not impossible. If you download an infected file but do not run it, the virus will not do it's damage. Usually viruses hook into the OS somehow so it is constantly running. Once windows is gone and reinstalled, those hooks are also gone but the original infected file may remain. I hope this clears up your questions bud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Error0101 Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 I formated my Windows drive before and viruses were still there. Use strong antivirus or second on demand scanner to clean them all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strikerfox Posted October 25, 2016 Share Posted October 25, 2016 when you boot from a windows cd or usb delete Always your partition(s) there can be a virus on your boot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted October 25, 2016 Administrator Share Posted October 25, 2016 Also, quick format probably will not wipe anything, just hide it. Not sure if that could cause any security problems though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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