Could Malware Have Survived After I Reset My PC?

Security software can occasionally miss new or heavily disguised malware, but repeated clean scans plus a properly performed reset make an ongoing infection unlikely. If you only downloaded the file and never opened it, the risk is lower. Since you’re worried about account access, change your important passwords from a trusted device and enable multifactor authentication.

For the strongest cleanup, reinstall Windows from official installation media made on a different, trusted computer and delete the existing system partitions during setup. A factory reset may be sufficient in many cases, but a clean USB installation gives you more confidence that the old system was completely removed. Afterward, install updates and download programs only from trustworthy sources.

No scanner can promise perfect detection, but the fact that multiple reputable scanners found nothing is reassuring. Also check your email and other important accounts for unfamiliar logins, revoke unknown sessions, and contact the service if you see suspicious activity. If there are no signs of compromise after a clean reinstall and password reset, continuing to scan repeatedly is unlikely to provide more useful information.

If the file was actually executed, change the passwords for every account you used on that computer and use each service’s option to sign out everywhere. Malware can sometimes steal active session tokens, which may let someone access an account without knowing the password. Signing out all sessions invalidates those tokens.