Virus in SSD/HDD setup

[KreateAkkount]

First, I'm sorry if this doesn't go here, but couldn't find a more suitable category.

My setup has both an SSD and HDD, recently I did something REALLY stupid (which I prefer not disclosing) but I got the PC infected with some virus that can't be removed with anti-virus software. I decided to re-install the OS (Windows 10).

So, here's the catch: should I format both the SSD (with OS and installed programs) and the HDD (Steam Library and personal files), or will formatting the SSD be enough to clear the virus, and that way the HDD can keep the files. Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

You can reinstall Windows and it should remove the virus - however, some viruses have actually been known to still be present on a HDD after an OS reinstall.

I strongly recommend 360 Total Security by Qihoo - get it from www.360totalsecurity.com and use that to scan both drives afterwards.

 

[aldan]

while it would really help if you could give more details,so be it.if you format both the ssd and the hdd you should have no troubles.when you reinstall windows it will give you the option to format the system drive.im assuming that would be the ssd.

 

[KreateAkkount]

You can reinstall Windows and it should remove the virus - however, some viruses have actually been known to still be present on a HDD after an OS reinstall.

I strongly recommend 360 Total Security by Qihoo - get it from www.360totalsecurity.com and use that to scan both drives afterwards.

So, how high is the chance that the HDD is not infected?

 

[aldan]

You can reinstall Windows and it should remove the virus - however, some viruses have actually been known to still be present on a HDD after an OS reinstall.

I strongly recommend 360 Total Security by Qihoo - get it from www.360totalsecurity.com and use that to scan both drives afterwards.

So, how high is the chance that the HDD is not infected?

all depends on the circumstances.what virus and what symptoms?

 

[KreateAkkount]

You can reinstall Windows and it should remove the virus - however, some viruses have actually been known to still be present on a HDD after an OS reinstall.

I strongly recommend 360 Total Security by Qihoo - get it from www.360totalsecurity.com and use that to scan both drives afterwards.

So, how high is the chance that the HDD is not infected?

all depends on the circumstances.what virus and what symptoms?

Basically it was a cracker (for a program that I needed to use 1 time) that a friend gave me and said it was ok, I didn't scan it (stupid of my part), after using it i became worried and did a scan and it came clean. There are no symptoms showing, but when I put the cracker through virustotal (website used to check for virus and it's owned by Google) for a scan it showed it that the .exe had trojans. Since they don't show anywhere I decided it was better to reinstall OS, but i want to know if it's safe to keep my HDD files.

 

[aldan]

You can reinstall Windows and it should remove the virus - however, some viruses have actually been known to still be present on a HDD after an OS reinstall.

I strongly recommend 360 Total Security by Qihoo - get it from www.360totalsecurity.com and use that to scan both drives afterwards.

So, how high is the chance that the HDD is not infected?

all depends on the circumstances.what virus and what symptoms?

Basically it was a cracker (for a program that I needed to use 1 time) that a friend gave me and said it was ok, I didn't scan it (stupid of my part), after using it i became worried and did a scan and it came clean. There are no symptoms showing, but when I put the cracker through virustotal (website used to check for virus and it's owned by Google) for a scan it showed it that the .exe had trojans. Since they don't show anywhere I decided it was better to reinstall OS, but i want to know if it's safe to keep my HDD files.

if you installed the crack to your hdd chances are its infected.that having been said you could try to remove the infections from the hdd.once you are up and running download and run the following programs.adwcleaner from bleeping computer.perform a scan and remove anything it comes up with.you may lose the odd program thru this (it tells me youtube downloader is suspect),but just reinstall if this is the case.then download and run junkware removal tool,also from bleeping computer.it will automatically get rid of any infections it finds.finally run a scan with malwarebytes and get rid of anything it finds.if in doubt,post the logs of these three programs so we can see what they did.

 

[shmu26]

usually, crackers install some form of adware or the like,
and since your OS is on the SSD, that is where the adware will be, too.
reinstall windows, and then do a scan of the HDD with a good AV or two, and you are okay.
I recommend scanning with zemana and/or hitmanpro, after you do the standard AV scan.

 

[dasbpt]

Sadly if your pc gets malware, absolutely everything is compromised. You can never be sure without atleast shredding both ssd and hdd with disk erase tools. Also you cant just download ssd erase tools or dban on your computer anymore, because your pc could infect the usb/dvd. Find a clean computer and use that to make bootable media. Also i recommend also downloading BIOS flash to rewrite current bios in case you have a bios virus.

 

[shmu26]

You can reinstall Windows and it should remove the virus - however, some viruses have actually been known to still be present on a HDD after an OS reinstall.

I strongly recommend 360 Total Security by Qihoo - get it from www.360totalsecurity.com and use that to scan both drives afterwards.

So, how high is the chance that the HDD is not infected?

all depends on the circumstances.what virus and what symptoms?

Basically it was a cracker (for a program that I needed to use 1 time) that a friend gave me and said it was ok, I didn't scan it (stupid of my part), after using it i became worried and did a scan and it came clean. There are no symptoms showing, but when I put the cracker through virustotal (website used to check for virus and it's owned by Google) for a scan it showed it that the .exe had trojans. Since they don't show anywhere I decided it was better to reinstall OS, but i want to know if it's safe to keep my HDD files.

a cracker will always get some bad reports from VT, because it is a PUP/RiskWare by definition. It is very normal for a cracker to be categorized as a trojan by some AVs.
If it was my machine, I would scan with zemana and hitmanpro and malwarebytes, and if it came out clean, I would not worry anymore about it.
Of course, the perfectionists will have a heart attack just reading my post.
each to his own...