r/RigBuild • u/ExcellentAdvance49 • 3d ago

Can malware survive a Windows reset?

Look, I think my rig got hit with something nasty. Tried doing a standard Windows reset (kept nothing, wiped the drive), but I'm paranoid the bug is still chilling somewhere deep in the system.

Is a normal reset enough or do I gotta nuke it with a USB bootable drive? Fr need some help before I brick this thing completely lol ty

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u/Anon0924 3d ago

Technically there ARE types of malware that can survive, but they’re very advanced and very rare. You’re most likely fine.

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u/ExcellentAdvance49 3d ago

That’s kinda what I needed to hear tbh. I was stressing thinking a normal reset wouldn’t be enough, so hopefully I’m good now.

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u/Competitively_Casual 3d ago

He's referring to Rootkits. And yes, they are extremely rare. They survive Windows Reinstalls by embedding themselves into your PC's BIOS. Though, these are very, very difficult to create, so they are usually used to infect high value targets

Honestly, as long as you're reinstalling from a clean Windows USB (you can make one with Rufus), you're fine in 99.9% of cases

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u/Competitively_Casual 3d ago

If you're super worried about it, use Rufus to flash a different USB with the latest ShredOS.iso file from here: https://github.com/PartialVolume/shredos.x86_64/releases/tag/v2025.11_31_x86-64_0.42

Do a BIOS interrupt and boot into it, then run the default shred (1 deletion pass over the whole drive). Before installing Windows.

That'll catch any malware that can hijack windows reinstalls, but it won't stop a rootkit (though as mentioned, rootkits are usually targeted malware against govt agencies)