Removing virus from USB

[bingo888]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and would like help on a small matter.

I am both a PC and Mac user. I recently got a virus on my PC and my USB stick, which was also attached, seem to have been infected with the same thing. I know this will not affect my Mac (Leopard) and i'm thinking about running it through Disk Utility and format it to FAT (with a 7-pass erase to be safe).

My question is will formatting with D.U. be sufficient? Will this completely remove the virus from the USB? I've been looking around but cannot find a definite answer. Some say formatting will only remove the link to the folders containing the virus, but the virus can linger in there somewhere. There are a variety of specialized Windows programs that can be used to erase viruses and I am, therefore, unsure if a free program like Disk Utility is good enough.

Anyone have any input to this? I want to ensure all traces of this virus is completely removed so my PC does not get reinfected.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Bingo

 

[GGJstudios]

My question is will formatting with D.U. be sufficient? Will this completely remove the virus from the USB?

Yes.

 

[-aggie-]

Formatting removes everything, so yes.

 

[chrono1081]

As others have stated, yes. I do this all the time at work to remove viruses on thumb drives if I can see the virus files.

 

[I AM THE MAN]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum and would like help on a small matter.

I am both a PC and Mac user. I recently got a virus on my PC and my USB stick, which was also attached, seem to have been infected with the same thing. I know this will not affect my Mac (Leopard) and i'm thinking about running it through Disk Utility and format it to FAT (with a 7-pass erase to be safe).

My question is will formatting with D.U. be sufficient? Will this completely remove the virus from the USB? I've been looking around but cannot find a definite answer. Some say formatting will only remove the link to the folders containing the virus, but the virus can linger in there somewhere. There are a variety of specialized Windows programs that can be used to erase viruses and I am, therefore, unsure if a free program like Disk Utility is good enough.

Anyone have any input to this? I want to ensure all traces of this virus is completely removed so my PC does not get reinfected.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Bingo

As all the repliers have said, yes it will remove the virus. Just save any of your IMPORTANT files onto the mac and keep them there...and erase everything on the USB by reformatting it.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

As all the repliers have said, yes it will remove the virus. Just save any of your IMPORTANT files onto the mac and keep them there...and erase everything on the USB by reformatting it.

Only issue with saving the files to the Mac would be if the files contain the virus or the virus has copied itself to the files. Things would be fine if they're only used on the Mac but sharing them back to your PC could cause issues.

 

[MarkMS]

Only issue with saving the files to the Mac would be if the files contain the virus or the virus has copied itself to the files. Things would be fine if they're only used on the Mac but sharing them back to your PC could cause issues.

This is why I advocate for antivirus apps for Mac. I use ClamXAV, it's free and uses the open source ClamAV engine that Apple uses for virus filtering on OS X Server. It's main use, on my machine, is to prevent the spread of Windows-based threats to my buddies on PCs. It's also great that it protects from known OS X threats too.

http://www.clamxav.com/

 

[zaboo9]

Does formatting erase MBR?

Formatting removes everything, so yes.

- I had a similar situation where I plugged an NTFS Windows imaging USB flash drive I use into a computer with malware, however I didn't hit F12 quick enough on startup to boot from the imaging USB and the Windows login screen appeared, which could have potentially infected the USB at that point.

Being safe I used my MAC and the Disk Utility 'Erase' function to format the USB to fat32.

My question is, did formatting it to fat32 TRULY erase EVERYTHING, specifically the Master Boot Record? I specifically want to know this in case there was a virus in the Master Boot Record of the USB.

 

[MacUser2525]

- I had a similar situation where I plugged an NTFS Windows imaging USB flash drive I use into a computer with malware, however I didn't hit F12 quick enough on startup to boot from the imaging USB and the Windows login screen appeared, which could have potentially infected the USB at that point.

Being safe I used my MAC and the Disk Utility 'Erase' function to format the USB to fat32.

My question is, did formatting it to fat32 TRULY erase EVERYTHING, specifically the Master Boot Record? I specifically want to know this in case there was a virus in the Master Boot Record of the USB.

If you want to be certain go to the partition tab of the disk when its selected. Then choose the option button select the GUID format and apply. Once that is done go back to the options select MBR FAT32 for formatting and you have a newly partitioned and formatted drive that has erased and overwritten the former MBR that was on it. BTW rather than the necro thread revival it is best to start your own new thread referencing the old thread with a link to it in the new if necessary.

 

[phrehdd]

If you want to be certain go to the partition tab of the disk when its selected. Then choose the option button select the GUID format and apply. Once that is done go back to the options select MBR FAT32 for formatting and you have a newly partitioned and formatted drive that has erased and overwritten the former MBR that was on it. BTW rather than the necro thread revival it is best to start your own new thread referencing the old thread with a link to it in the new if necessary.

This is pretty sound advice. Some people are unaware that a virus can also be in the master boot sector (record) and until that sector is dealt with, it can re-occur even if you erase files. By removing the master boot sector, and then creating a new one later, you can consider your thumb drive "safe." Kudos to you for pointing out the less obvious and with a practical solution.

 

[MacUser2525]

This is pretty sound advice. Some people are unaware that a virus can also be in the master boot sector (record) and until that sector is dealt with, it can re-occur even if you erase files. By removing the master boot sector, and then creating a new one later, you are can consider your thumb drive "safe." Kudos to you for pointing out the less obvious and with a practical solution.

Thanks I always try to give sound advice when posting.