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

P. S. :
Can anyone suggest a safer way to clean flash drives and CD-RWs? Or, to be safe should I trash them all?

Thanks

wvbirdman said:

Can anyone suggest a safer way to clean flash drives and CD-RWs? Or, to be safe should I trash them all?

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 DISK

note 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.

wvbirdman said:

I have changed over from an old, very slow, possibly infected computer...

If you still have the old computer and it still boots, why not check it for viruses to be sure? If it runs Windows 7, 8 or 10 you could scan it with Windows Defender Offline. The process is slightly different in 10 from 7/8, but it is documented here:

https://support.microsoft.com/help/1...-protect-my-pc

YOUR FIRST POST: I will follow your instructions to clean my old flash drives, thanks.
YOUR SECOND POST: The old computer, as well as every computer my family has ever had, has had regular and extensive security and maintenance done on them following recommendations from this site, Bleeping Computer, and Microsoft. In all cases the computer gradually slows down both in browsing and Windows, becoming essentially useless in about 3-4 years, even though either AVG or Windows Defender report no malware present. I do not understand why this happens. Everything I Google about "slow computer" just refers me to items that are already part of my routine security and maintenance. The only solution I can think of is to change to a new computer, using extreme caution that no malware is transferred. I presume that re-installing Windows would fix a slow computer, and I may tackle that on the old computer before handing it down to my daughter. First however, I will try your above suggestion on it, as it does still boot.
LATER: On the old computer I just ran a Win Def Full regular scan. It ran for 4 hours then stopped, with 25 hours yet to go. Then I ran a Win Def offline scan. It took about 15 minutes and restarted without showing any results. After restart, Win Def Security Center, Virus and Threat Protection, Threat History shows no results for either of these scans and shows last scan as 1 year ago.
Any suggestions you have about how to restore the old computer to a useful speed would be much appreciated.
Thanks.

wvbirdman said:

...every computer my family has ever had, has had regular and extensive security and maintenance done on them following recommendations from this site, Bleeping Computer, and Microsoft. In all cases the computer gradually slows down both in browsing and Windows, becoming essentially useless in about 3-4 years, even though either AVG or Windows Defender report no malware present. I do not understand why this happens....

It's a puzzle, especially as every computer I have had has performed consistently for as long as I have used them. My current longest serving machine is System One in 'My Computers' below this post. That has been in constant use since 2014, starting off with its OEM Windows 7, taking the free upgrade to Windows 10 in 2015, then upgrading to each new version of Win10 as it was released up to and including 1809. And I do mean upgrade, not a clean install. There is still some software on there that was installed long before Windows 10 arrived.

At the risk of telling you things you already know, my routine maintenance consists of using Disk Clean up to clean up system files, particularly the 'update backup files', followed by a Defrag.

Perhaps where our behaviour differs is in installing third party software? I seldom install new software, having a core set of apps that I use regularly. Updates, yes - but I do not often install new software as a trial then uninstall if not satisfied. Doing that too often can lead to 'leftovers' in services that may degrade performance over time. Not all 3rd-party apps are good at thoroughly uninstalling themselves.

Equally, collecting too many 3rd-party apps over the years can lead to too many (potentially conflicting) services being installed. How big is the Start-up list in your Task Manager?

If that is the root of your slowdown, then a clean install should restore 'original' performance. Equally, a Reset should have the same effect.

Clean Install Windows 10 | Tutorials

Reset Windows 10 | Tutorials

ROUTINE MAINTENANCE: I do Disk Cleanup, Defrag, and a lot more. Please see attachment "4 bree maint". (I have attached several file types in case some don't open for you). Can you advise which of the items on the list I should or should not do?


INSTALLING NEW SOFTWARE: I install, and after trial remove, a program only a few times a year. For about the last year, I only uninstall with Revo Uninstaller; formerly I used Programs and Features.


STARTUPS:
See attachment "4 bree startups". Dashlane and Spybot have been removed by Revo Uninstaller, I don't know why they still appear here.

I will definitely follow your instructions to restore or clean install windows on this machine, but any further advice you can give me to help prevent this same gradual slowdown on my other computers would be much appreciated. There are 4 computers in my family, and they last about 4 years, so about once a year for the last 10 years I have been trashing an old computer and buying a new one.

Thanks for your help.