Windows 10: Can you get a virus from an exe file that was in a zipped folder?

Hi everybody. I downloaded a folder from google drive which had a couple of pdf files and an exe file I didn't notice. When I opened the zipped folder I noticed the exe and immediately deleted the file (while the folder was still zipped) but windows explorer crashed. I thought it was a one off and tried to delete the file again but explorer crashed again and I had to restart it using "run new task" in task manager. I deleted the whole folder which went without a hitch and also deleted the folder from my recycle bin. This got me super worried and I ran a full system scan using Avira anti virus which didn't find anything. I also checked all the background processes that are running in task manager and couldn't find anything. I then checked on Glasswire to see if it is showing any new network activity but nothing is showing up there either. So it seems like it's ok but I wanted to post here to see if my assumption was correct. Some advice would be really appreciated. Thank you.

:)

 

Folders with zip files

I have like 30 or more folders and everyone of them has only one single zip file.
How can I extract all zip files inside of all folders?

 

Can you get a virus from an exe file that was in a zipped folder?

If you tried to delete the exe inside the ziipped folder, that that should work in most circumstances. It certainly works if the zipped folder was made by Explorer. However, you have no idea what was used to make this zipped folder, and it may be that the zip archiver that made it has features that are incompatible with Explorer, at least as far as deleting files in it.

I'd extract just the pdfs you want, perhaps putting them in a zipped folder of your own, then delete the original zip.


Yes, a zipped exe can potentially contain a virus, but as you never ran it you should be safe. In fact, Defender will scan inside a zipped folder and should have alerted you if it found a virus.

 

Can you get a virus from an exe file that was in a zipped folder?

Google drive created the zip folder.

Will defender scans be active even when running a third party anti virus like avira?