I accidentally fell for a fake Cloudflare verification site and ran some malicious code through the Win+R command. I've disconnected everything and enabled 2FA on my Gmail accounts, but I'm now planning to perform a clean install of Windows. My main concern is: is it safe to connect to the internet to download the Windows installation media from this infected PC?
3 Answers
Try not to panic! Just focus on gathering the right info. Disconnect from the internet and consider your options for getting that clean install done safely. Whatever you do, don't try to mess with potentially harmful commands again unless you know exactly what they do.
It's best to disconnect your infected computer from the internet entirely. If possible, use a different, clean PC to prepare a USB drive for the Windows installation. Avoid plugging the USB into your infected machine until you need to use it for the reinstall. It's unlikely for a virus to transfer to the USB, but it's not out of the question. Have you looked into what the command you ran actually did? Running tools like Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool or Malwarebytes could also help.
I think you should definitely create your install USB on a clean machine if you can, and don’t connect your infected PC to the internet while doing this. It's just too risky. Would you know if the command you executed did anything besides creating issues? Maybe running some antivirus scans could help as well.

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