Windows 10: Is my system safe from some potentially infected USB devices?

I'm using Windows 10 Home with McAfee Live Safe anti virus, on a new HP laptop. I recently had trouble with another machine and bought the laptop as a back up. I have some USB external drives with backed up data, and I plugged them into the laptop not thinking that there could be some sort of auto run on them. One looks OK and I can see there are files/folders on it, but the other does not come up as a volume, and the only option is eject in the Windows UI. It did start making a sound when plugged in, so it seems suspicious. Will my virus checker which was running, protect my laptop from these potential threats? Is there a way I could scan the suspicious drive, or could it be too late, and maybe just reset the laptop (again) to be safe?

:)

 

USB Devices Inconsistent Recognition in Laptop Upgraded to Windows 10

Hi Robert,

To correct your issue with connecting USB devices, we suggest you to perform the steps below on running a
System File Checker for this will fix .dll files which are associated with drivers:

• Right-click the Start button, then select Command Prompt (Admin).
• Enter sfc /scannow (note the space between "sfc" and "/").

It is also recommended for you to make sure that the USB devices are removed properly from the system by clicking on safely remove USB device option.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards.

 

clean possibly infected flash drives and CD-RWs

Your steps in post #1 should work for 99% of viruses that may be on a usb flash drive. However, there are a very few viruses that can infect the MBR of a drive. I would use Diskpart from a command prompt (Admin) to clean them. In the command prompt type DISKPART then, at the Diskpart prompt use the commands:

LIST DISKnote the disk number of the usb and use it in place of # in the command:SELECT DISK #
CLEAN
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY

After this you will have cleaned the partition table from the usb and created a partition using the whole of the the available space. You can then format this partition in File Explorer.


For a CD-RW, if you right-click on it in File Explorer there is an Erase option.

 

USB device not recognized spam

Hi Kyle,

You may receive this error if one of your USB connected devices is not properly recognized by the system. Let's try the troubleshooting steps provided by
Krishna Prasobh V on this
thread.

In addition, we suggest that you turn off the notifications from the USB by following these steps:

• Open Settings by typing "settings" in Cortana's search box.
• Click on Devices.
• Locate USB and toggle the switch to Off.

Keep us updated with the status of your concern and we'll be glad to assist you further.