Windows 10: clean possibly infected flash drives and CD-RWs

I have changed over from an old, very slow, possibly infected computer to a new computer which I want to keep completely free of malware. I have 8 flash drives and 30 CD-RWs which have been in the old computer and may be infected. If I disable autoplay on the new computer, insert one of these flash drive or CD-RWs, and immediately re-format it; can I be sure I have not transferred any malware to the new computer? Is it safe to go on to use these in the new computer?

Thanks

:)

 

CD-RW

In theory at least, a CD-RW disc as you describe it should be readable on an computer that has an optical drive capable of reading writing CD-RW discs, which is most optical drives these days. I say "in theory" because formatting/writing on CD-RWs is
a very dodgy thing in general. You're much better off in using a USB flash drive.

 

CD to flash drive

Hi Pam,

There are several ways to copy your pictures from the CD to the Flash drive. One of which is by using the shortcut keys to copy and paste it.

We suggest following the steps below:

• Insert the CD and flash drive to your PC.
  
• Use Cortana and type File Explorer then click it.
• Choose This PC.
• Open the CD drive.
• If all the pictures are in a specific folder, press Ctrl + A
  on your keyboard to automatically choose all the pictures then, press Ctrl + C to copy it.
• Afterwards, Open the Flash drive, choose the location where you want to copy the pictures then press
  Ctrl + V to paste it.

Let us know if you need anything else.

 

Is an external CD-DVD/RW drive a complete replacement?


Is an external CD-DVD/RW drive a complete replacement for an internal drive?

I would like to replace my non-functioning internal CD-DVD/RW drive with an external drive, such as the Dell drive listed in the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Dell-DW316-Ex...M6040WGXPZNYW1


I'm particularly interested in burning and using bootable CD's needed for some app's, where CD's seem to work much better than flash drives.

An excellent example is my current attempt to create a Macrum Reflect Emergency Boot Disk, where a standard flash drive with a FAT 32 format is not suitable without special formatting first. My first formatting attempt resulted in a flash drive that was not recognized except in disk management.

Jim