Will reinstalling windows remove spyware

I use Refresh to lock the positions of the shortcut Icons on the desktop when I have them positioned the way I want them. It is frustrating to have them all move to the left of the screen after an update. Question: Has anyone heard about a diminishing level of malware infections as a result of the pandemic? The bright side. Hello, Leo! But I hope it works when I custom reset my windows 10 ent. Thank you for your additional details.

Have a nice day! Hi Leo! I am not sure I fully understand the part about deleting and creating new partitions and formatting. Would it be possible to explain the steps further? I have 2 drives. They are not partitioned. I suppose there must be a system reserved one. Thank you! When you install Windows from its own bootable media DVD or USB , it includes options to reformat the hard disk and also includes a rudimentary partition manager. Removing all the partitions is indeed one way to accomplish that.

First, perform a system image backup of your infected system in case there are any recoverable files. What is the best way to do a clean install if you have more than one drive?

I guess my question is how to get two empty drives at the same time and not mess your Windows installation. Malware generally installs itself on the system drive, so erasing that is the goal.

The malware scan of that secondary drive would hopefully catch and remove them. Alternately you could reformat the secondary drive at that time as well. In all those cases you should be able to format the two disks. Thanks for the quick reply! Format works on one drive at a time. Note that if you boot using the Windows setup disk and head to command prompt there, the drive letters will be different. Thank you for all the information and for the heads up. I looked up how to find the drive letters.

And one last question, doing it this way is just as good as the way you suggested in the Start with an empty drive section? The no chance of hidden partition being left behind? This Format only reformats the visible partitions and leaves the others alone. Most information I find about using Fdisk are for Linux systems. Also, after formatting the two drives that way, is it safe to shut down the computer to disconnect one drive before the windows installation?

Thank you. My approach would be to use FDisk to remove all partitions. So basically, I could delete the partitions and format both drives using the custom method? That sounds a lot simpler than using Fdisk. I assume after I formatted both drives, I can stop the process and shut down the pc to unplug a drive.

Then turn it back on and continue where I left off. Or can you choose? If you do decide to reset Windows I recommend that you back up any user-created files photos, Office documents, etc. Regardless of which full-time antivirus tool you decide to use, I strongly recommend that you also install and run frequent scans with the free version of Malwarebytes. And finally, I also recommend that you read this post which explains how to hopefully avoid encountering a virus in the first place. Bonus tip: This post explains why you should always use just one antivirus program at a time for the best protection.

For brevity sake, I will refer to the malware, viruses and remote access backdoors simply as "malware" for the remainder of the article because each one is mal icious soft ware by definition hence, the portmanteau "malware".

The reasoning here is that most malware these days embed themselves deep within the operating system, resulting in a reinfection. Oftentimes antivirus or antimalware will report the infection and attempt to clean it, and either find nothing wrong meaning it couldn't find it at all , or clean it successfully for the time being ; when you reboot the machine, the antivirus or antimalware reports that you're infected again or you continue to receive fake virus warnings, for example.

Malware authors and the scammers that use malware make infections like this incredibly difficult to clean up, because as long as you're infected and the machine is under their control, they have a higher chance of getting paid - whether it's cryptojacking your machine , stealing your identity, or scamming you with fake virus warnings.

When it comes to the question of whether or not resetting Windows will remove malware, there are three types of malware that are difficult to remove. In this case, a rootkit will embed itself into the operating system before the operating system loads into memory.

Oftentimes the only way to remove the rootkit is to format the hard drive completely by removing all partitions, then reinstall Windows. Rootkits make their way into your system through malicious software which is inadvertently downloaded, or by hackers who make their way onto your system and plant the malware - similar to how most ransomware attacks happen. Most rootkits require extreme sophistication to pull off, therefore many malware authors opt for a much simpler method using a simpler-to-deploy "malware reinfection mechansim".

In this case, reinfections are difficult to trace, though with some diligent detective work by a specialized tech like myself , it can be undone. Some malware even embeds itself into the Windows Reset files , meaning that if you reset Windows, your computer becomes infected again. In the latter case, this would be considered a rootkit. Some malware comes directly through the Internet, bypassing your firewall and antivirus if the machine isn't properly patched using Windows Update security updates, patches , or if the firewall is offline.

And, there is a third type of malware: one which isn't technically considered malware, but legitimate software that is used nefariously.

As an example, scammers may gain access to your machine using fake tech support , then install multiple remote access backdoors to the machine once connected. These remote access programs are technically not malicious by nature as the serve a legitimate need, however, scammers use them in nefarious ways. In this case, antivirus and antimalware won't pick up the remote access backdoors as threats. On every system I've worked on due to a tech support scam these remote access backdoor programs are well hidden in the operating system - they don't register as a Windows Service, nor are they listed in the Programs and Features, installed programs via Control Panel.

These programs are also locked down with special access permissions, resulting in "access denied" if you attempt to delete the files manually - and that's if you can find it.

Malware authors and scammers that use malware will do anything and everything they can to get your money. In every fake tech support case I've examined, there have been at least 3 to 5 remote access backdoors on each system. Resetting Windows 10 may not be enough should you decide to go this route I don't recommended it ; your options are to either format the drive completely, or hire a professional like myself contact link here to manually go through the system and examine it in order to remove any threats.

If you wipe the drive by formatting it, you will have to reinstall all your programs and user data assuming you made a backup first. This could take hours or days to complete. On the other hand, hiring a professional like myself to manage it for you will take much less time and you can keep your user data and programs.

For the record, I've helped over 50 people with fake tech support scams and know exactly where to look to remove the threats. Simply contact me , briefly describing the issue and I will get back to you as soon as possible.