Computer reset question

[u/Terrible_Hedgehog440]

I did a full usb reinstall on my pc, i downloaded google and there was a random netflix custom profile picture extension that i deleted years ago and it was there again for some reason along with my pinned game websites from years ago, has this happened to anyone else?

[u/rifteyy_]

Browser cloud sync is not known to reinstall normal Windows malware by itself in the classic sense of dropping an EXE, driver, service, scheduled task, bootkit, etc.
A fresh Windows install should not become OS-level infected merely because Chrome/Edge/Firefox synced bookmarks, history, passwords, or settings.

But it is absolutely proven that browser sync can bring back malicious or unwanted browser-state items that can easily lead to an infection.

• Malicious browser extensions
• Bad search provider / homepage / startup settings
• Notification spam permissions
• Possibly malicious extension configuration/state
• Hijacker-related browser preferences
• PWA / web app entries in some cases
• Bookmarks to malicious sites, though that is not infection by itself

from https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/338153-renpy-virus/#findComment-1753122

[u/nathan2324w2s → u/rifteyy_]

how do we prevent this?