The instructions I provided were to scan your computer as well as the usb stick to make sure it was not infected as well.
From what you describe, it appears it was not. You still should download and run Flash_Disinfector.exe on the usb drive to protect it.
Keeping Autorun enabled on USB and other removable drives
has become a significant security risk due to the increasing number of malware variants that can infect them and transfer the infection to your computer. Read
USB-Based Malware Attacks and
Please disable Autorun asap!.
You can hold down the
Shift key when inserting the drive into your computer until Windows detects it to keep
autorun.inf from executing automatically. However, I recommend
disabling the Autorun feature on USB and removable drives as a method of prevention. This should keep the malicious file from automatically running upon insertion and infecting your system while allowing you to safely perform a scan.
The easiest way to disable Autorun on a specific drive is to download and use
Tweak UI PowerToy.
- After installation, launch Tweak UI, double-click on My Computer in the tree menu on the left, then click on AutoPlay > Drives. This will allow you to change the system settings for AutoPlay/autorun.
- Uncheck the drives you want to disable AutoPlay on and click on Apply.
- Next, click on the Types in the left tree. This allows you to control whether Autoplay is enabled for CD and DVD drives and removable drives. You may need to restart Tweak UI if it closes after step 2.
- Uncheck the box to disable Autoplay for a particular type of drive.
- Click Apply.
If needed, see
Disable Autorun/AutoPlay in XP with Tweak UI" for instructions with screenshots.
Note 1: When Autorun is disabled, double-clicking a drive which has autorun.inf in its root directory may still activate Autorun so be careful.
Note 2: Disabling autorun/autoplay does not prevent you from accessing your media sources. They are still available by opening My Computer and accessing the source drive (CD, DVD, usb/flash drive or external hard drive). Pictures on a camera can still be accessed through My Pictures and selecting "Get Pictures" from a scanner or camera. Media can also be accessed via the program you normally use it with such as music CDs accessed via Media Player, blank CDs via burning software, image handling software provided with the camera, etc. I strongly recommend you leave the autorun feature disabled and get into the habit of accessing your media devices manually.Always scan USB Flash Drives after they have been used in other computer systems, even your own. An easy way to do this is to download "
ClamWin Portable Antivirus", put it on your USB Flash Drive, update its definition files and perform a scan.