If you are considering
reformatting and a clean install or doing a factory restore with a
Recovery Disk/Recovery Partition due to malware infection, you can back up all your important documents, personal data files, photos, music, videos to a CD or DVD drive, not a flash drive or external hard drive as they may become compromised in the process. The
safest practice is not to backup any executable files (*.exe), screensavers (*.scr), dynamic link library (*.dll), .ini, .bat, .com, .cmd, .msi, .pif, or script files (.php, .asp, .htm, .html, .xml) files because they may be infected by malware. Avoid backing up compressed files (.zip, .cab, .rar) that have executables inside them as some types of malware can penetrate compressed files and infect the .exe files within them. Other types of malware may even disguise itself by
hiding a file extension or by adding double file extensions and/or space(s) in the file's name to hide the real extension as shown
here (
click Figure 1 to enlarge) so be sure you look closely at the full file name. If you cannot see the file extension, you may need to
reconfigure Windows to show file name extensions. Then make sure you scan the backed up data with your anti-virus
prior to to copying it back to your hard drive.
If your CD/DVD drive is unusable or there isn't one installed, another word of caution if you are considering backing up to an external usb hard drive as your only alternative.
External drives are more susceptible to infection and can become compromised in the process of backing up data. I'm not saying you should not try using such devices but I want to make you aware of all your options and associated risks so you can make an informed decision if its worth that risk. Again, do not back up any files with the following file extensions: .exe, .scr, .bat, .com, .cmd, .msi, .pif, .ini, .htm, .html, .hta, .php, .asp, .xml, .zip, .rar, .cab as they may be infected.
Have you taken any steps to remove the malware? If not, do you want to try?