Using a potentially infected USB stick !


rezpower

rezpower

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I have in my possession a USB stick that has been used by a friend on a PC full of malware and viruses.
I want to know if it is possible to use this stick on my laptop without any risk .
Of course I'm not going to execute anything from the stick or copy anything to my PC (I just want to format it)
The only protection I have on my laptop is windows defender!
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

WindowsIntel i7-12800HX32 GB DDR5 4800 MHz dual-channelNVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti
OS
Windows
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo Legion 7i
CPU
Intel i7-12800HX
Memory
32 GB DDR5 4800 MHz dual-channel
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti
Sound Card
Steinberg UR44
Hard Drives
1 TB SSD (M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4
2 TB SSD Samsung 980 PRO NNMe
Browser
Firefox
Antivirus
Windows Defender + Malwarebytes
Turn autoplay off. Stick the USB disk in, and format it.
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 11 Pro 25H2
OS
Windows 11 Pro 25H2
Computer type
PC/Desktop
as echo2446 says, first make sure autoplay is turned off.

www.elevenforum.com

Turn On or Off AutoPlay in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to turn on or off AutoPlay for all media and devices in your account in Windows 11. AutoPlay lets you choose an action for different kinds of media when you plug in a device or insert media. You can set AutoPlay to open different kinds of content, such as photos...
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Once plugged in, you can right-click on the usb drive in File Explorer, select Properties > Show more options, then 'Scan with Microsoft Defender...'. If you don't want anything that's on it, only want to use it yourself, then just format it.

1683034178203.png
 

My Computers My Computers

System One System Two Other systems

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 HomeAMD Athlon Silver 3050U8GBRadeon Graphics
    OS
    Windows 11 Home
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire 3 A315-23-R9VY
    CPU
    AMD Athlon Silver 3050U
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphics
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop screen
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768 native resolution, up to 2560x1440 with Radeon Virtual Super Resolution
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung EVO 870 SSD (from April 2026: 250GB EVO 850)
    Internet Speed
    150 Mbps
    Browser
    Edge, Firefox
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    fully 'Windows 11 ready' laptop. Windows 10 C: partition migrated from my old unsupported 'main machine' then upgraded to 11. A test migration ran Insider builds for 2 months. When 11 was released on 5th October 2021 it was re-imaged back to 10 and was offered the upgrade in Windows Update on 20th October. Windows Update offered the 22H2 Feature Update on 20th September 2022. It got the 23H2 Feature Update on 4th November 2023 through Windows Update, 24H2 on 3rd October 2024 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 24H2, and 25H2 on 30th September 2025 through Windows Update by setting the Target Release Version for 25H2.

    UPDATE - 11 April 2026: due to mechanical deterioration this PC has been retired from active duty. The OS with all software and files has been migrated to my System Seven in 'Other systems' to carry on as my general purpose 'main machine'.

  • At a glance

    Windows 11 ProIntel® Core™ i5-520M8GB(integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Latitude E4310
    CPU
    Intel® Core™ i5-520M
    Motherboard
    0T6M8G
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics card(s)
    (integrated graphics) Intel HD Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1366x768
    Hard Drives
    500GB Crucial MX500 SSD
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    unsupported machine: Legacy bios, MBR, TPM 1.2, upgraded from W10 to W11 using W10/W11 hybrid install media workaround.

    In-place upgrade to 22H2 using ISO and a workaround.
    Feature Update to 23H2 by manually installing the Enablement Package.
    In-place upgrade to 24H2 using hybrid 23H2/24H2 install media.
    Upgraded to 25H2 by Enablement Package.

    Also running Insider Dev, and Canary builds and Windows 10 as native boot .vhdx.
  • My SYSTEM THREE is a Dell Latitude 5410, i7-10610U, 32GB RAM, 512GB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro.

    My SYSTEM FOUR is a 2-in-1 convertible Lenovo Yoga 11e 20DA, Celeron N2930, 8GB RAM, 256GB ssd. Unsupported device: currently running Win10 Pro, plus Win11 Pro RTM and Insider Dev, Beta, and RP 24H2 as native boot vhdx.

    My SYSTEM FIVE is a Dell Latitude 3190 2-in-1, Pentium Silver N5030, 8GB RAM, 1TB NVMe ssd, supported device running Windows 11 Pro, plus Insider Beta, Dev, and Canary builds (and a few others) as a native boot .vhdx.

    My SYSTEM SIX is a Dell Latitude 5550, Core Ultra 7 165H, 64GB RAM, 1TB NVMe SSD, supported device, Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Hyper-V host machine. Updated to 25H2 on 30th September 2025.

    My SYSTEM SEVEN is a Lenovo Thinkpad T580, Intel Core i7-8650U, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD + 2nd 512GB NVMe SSD, a supported device for Windows 11. This is my current general purpose 'main machine'. The installed Windows 11 Home from my System One has been migrated to this machine.
Frankly, I would donate the USB stick to your friend, same friend, not a different friend :eek1:
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 10 Pro
OS
Windows 10 Pro
Thanks guys, I will do as advised. For an extra layer of security I will download and install Malwarebytes with its
one month trial. If with all this something unexpected happens, I will let you all know. 🫣
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

WindowsIntel i7-12800HX32 GB DDR5 4800 MHz dual-channelNVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti
OS
Windows
Computer type
Laptop
Manufacturer/Model
Lenovo Legion 7i
CPU
Intel i7-12800HX
Memory
32 GB DDR5 4800 MHz dual-channel
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Ti
Sound Card
Steinberg UR44
Hard Drives
1 TB SSD (M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4
2 TB SSD Samsung 980 PRO NNMe
Browser
Firefox
Antivirus
Windows Defender + Malwarebytes
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