Disk partitions

Question

My Dell laptop is showing me several 'Recovery' partitions in the Disk Management program. I am currently struggling with viruses on my laptop and I am wondering if malware is sitting in one of these partitions. They are listed as 'Recovery', but as you can see in the picture, they are 100% free. Is it safe to delete them, and what is the procedure to do this?

Thanks.

Answer 1

I do not see any indication of malware on your PC and if the scans come back clear, then there is no malware on your PC and the symptoms you describe about the mouse and Facebook are reported by many people and probably caused by bugs in Windows.

Answer 2

Hi Dave, thank you so much for helping me. I am using computers and wifi routers since decades, but I am not, by any means, an advanced user. I still have to google and ask for help. I have Autoplay disabled and I don't use outside USB drives. Whenever I plug in my external drives, I always scan them first with antivirus. I don't download anything from unknown sources on the Internet. Since the last few years I was using Microsoft Defender, but after this malware attack I purchased Bitdefender Total Security.

It all started when I noticed, a few months ago, the mouse pointer moving and clicking a button in a program on its own. After that I reinstalled Windows several times, and that is why you see so many 'Recovery' partitions. Then once I left the PC locked and switched on overnight, only to wake up to my iTunes playlists messed up and destroyed. Again I reinstalled Windows, but I still suspect that the virus has not been eradicated. I ran several scans with Microsoft Defender and Bitdefender, including the one with Microsoft Defender in which it restarts the PC, nut no malware was detected.

I have Windows 11 Pro with all the latest drivers installed for this OS from the Dell support website. I have set the UAC to maximum, with a manual setting in which it has to ask me for my password or Windows Hello whenever I want to install a program or even change any Windows settings. I am now paranoid.

Thanks. Please help me.

Answer 3

Hi, I am Dave, I will help you with this.

The 12.37GB Recovery partition is the PC manufacturers factory recovery partition, the other recovery partitions are created when you re-install Windows, have you re-installed Windows many times and not deleted all the partitions on the drive?

It is unlikely malware is sitting in one of those partitions, if you have malware on your PC, what steps have you taken to remove it from your PC, and what are the symptoms you have experienced from the malware?