This is, presumably, the equivalent of a normal delete. The default is to “just” remove your files. If you chose to “Reset this PC”, one of the options you you select is how to remove your files. By definition, this is the software that runs on every boot up and manages access to certain hardware. Some malware infects the firmware on your machine, such as your BIOS or UEFI. The fresh copy of Windows could then come with malware.įirmware. Malware could install itself, or a copy of itself, into one of the reserved partitions, including the recovery partition from which Widows will be reinstalled. This means that when “Reset this PC” deletes the existing files on a hard disk (or moves them aside into Windows.old) the rootkit could survive to re-infect the resulting clean installation of Windows. A rootkit is a form of malware that takes additional steps to hide its existence from the operating system. I’ll say there are three places malware could, in theory, survive the default “Remove everything” option in Windows 10’s “Reset this PC”. Regardless, it’s much more common to unwittingly re-install the malware as part of the steps taken or software downloaded as you rebuild the reset PC. “Reset this PC” also has different levels of “reset” that may preserve files including malware. There are certain types of malware that can persist across a “Reset this PC” operation, including some types of rootkits, malware that installs into recovery or other partitions, or malware that installs into your computer’s firmware.

Personal files not removed after reset