A couple of months ago, I got hit with an infostealer and possibly other malware after falling for a 'test my game' scam on Discord. I ended up reinstalling Windows via a USB and deleted all the partitions. However, I didn't use the Diskpart clean command, and I've read that malware can sometimes linger in the boot sector even after a reinstall since it doesn't get wiped. So far, none of my accounts have been compromised since that incident. I'm curious about how common boot sector-targeting malware is in non-targeted attacks, and if simply deleting all the partitions during the USB reinstall is enough for my situation.
2 Answers
I totally get your concern about malware in the boot sector. Deleting partitions doesn't necessarily wipe that stuff out. It's great that you haven't had any account issues since, but if you're feeling uneasy, it might be worth looking into that deep format or getting a new drive to ensure everything is clean.
If you're concerned about getting re-infected, the safest route would be to buy a new drive and do a fresh Windows install on that. If that's too pricey, you could use a program that performs a deep format on your current drive. Just keep in mind, depending on how big your drive is, that method could take a long time—sometimes hours or even days!
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