Windows 10: Is virus scanning an external hard drive more effective than scanning your computer?

I know that scanning your computer when infected is next to useless for detecting malware. I have heard that connecting a clean computer to the infected computer to scan is more useful for detecting malware, does this concept also apply with external hard drives? Will I be able to detect a virus more easily if it's on an external hard drive as opposed to scanning within the computer?

:)

 

How do I scan external hard drive

Hello Kevin,



If you already have antivirus software installed, then scanning an external hard drive should be simple.

• Connect your external hard drive to your desktop, wait for your computer to recognize that your external hard drive has been connected.
• Open My Pc on your desktop, and select the external hard drive and scan it.

Hope it helps.

 

Windows defender custom scan does not scan external drives

I have Defender Windows 10. I tried using custom scan to select and scan external drives. The screen listing the drives comes up, but the "OK" button remains grayed out so unable to scan any of the drives listed. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Windows defender custom scan does not scan external drives

I tried the custom scan in Defender Windows 10. It brings up the list of drives but the "OK" button remains grayed out when I select any drive in the list, so still unable to scan external drives... Any suggestion would be appreciated.