With USB devices, there's a small risk of uploading malware before the operating system loads from the C: drive but you should be safe enough if no USB devices are plugged in when you start your PC. You could also turn off your PC's ability to boot from USB, unless you use a USB stick for recovery purposes.With USB devices, there's a small risk of uploading malware before the operating system loads from the C: driveC: driveA hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage and one or more rigid rapidly rotating platters coated with magnetic material.https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Hard_disk_driveHard disk drive - Wikipedia but you should be safe enough if no USB devices are plugged in when you start your PC. You could also turn off your PC's ability to boot from USB, unless you use a USB stick for recovery purposes.18 Apr 2019
How do I know if my USB has a virus?
Right-click on the USB icon, then left-click Scan for viruses from the drop-down menu. When the Shell Scanner starts, ensure include subdirectory is ticked, and click the green start button (circled below). This will scan your USB drive for any viruses and produce a report like this, which you can then close.
Can you protect a USB stick?
As mentioned above, you can't safely password protect your entire USB stick without using encryption. However, if you need a quick way to only protect a few selected files, you can simply save those with a USB password. Many programs, including Word and Excel, allow you to save files with an encryption.1 Jun 2021