I recently reinstalled Windows after getting what seemed to be a Trojan infection. I used Malwarebytes to clean it up, but I've noticed some unusual activity, like a Powershell window flashing every few minutes and a notification about a blocked connection due to an IP address being compromised. Strangely, I received a malware notification on my phone's Google app after this reinstall, which has me concerned since I don't even have Malwarebytes on my PC anymore. I also linked OneDrive between my computer and phone, so I'm worried there might still be a virus lingering somehow. Is it possible for malware to remain after a fresh install?
3 Answers
If you completely wiped your drive before reinstalling Windows, you should be mostly safe from any lingering malware. The only real risk is if there's a rare BIOS rootkit, but that's extremely unlikely. Also, malware can't spread just because a file is on OneDrive; you need to execute it first to get infected. If you think there's still a problem, you could just delete any suspicious files from OneDrive.
Just curious—did you do a clean install or a factory reset? That can make a difference. If you see anything strange, I'd suggest running Windows Defender and scanning with other tools like Hitman Pro and Malwarebytes again, but this time with rootkit scanning enabled.
Did someone really tell you your system had a 'Trojan multiverse portal'? Sounds a bit out there! But seriously, make sure to stay on top of your security. Always run up-to-date antivirus scans, and don’t forget about software updates—they're crucial for security!
Yeah, it definitely sounded sketchy to me! I've been running scans regularly, so I hope I’m good, but it’s just concerning how something like this can happen.