If i download something to my flashdrive, is there any chance i could harm my computer?

Question

I am downloading to my flash drive.

If it downloads straight to it, is there any chance of getting a virus or spyware/ adware on my computer?

Answer 1

As long as you have the flash drive as the target destination of the download, then no, it shouldn't spawn any problems (that is, unless it is a very intelligent work of coding). However, if you use a file off of a flash drive that you think may be infected, that can infect your computer, since the data is being processed by the computer itself, and not the drive. It's still best to scan the file with anti-malware software before using it.

Answer 2

Once you attach a device to your computer, assuming you have Window as your OS it is assigned a drive letter.. just like your main harddrive inside the computer (usually C:\ in Windows or as just another directory in Linux below the / root usually something like /mnt/hda1/ ) ... at that point anything you run from any of your drives is being accessed by your Operating System and can therefore affect all (depending of course on what the infected file's payload is meant to do).

If you have anti-virus protection running and it is properly configured it should stop you from downloading an infected file the moment it is detected.

If you are downloading an infected file that has been compressed (ie, virus.zip virus.rar virus.tgz etc... ) then you will be able to download it without your anti-virus going off and without it infecting your computer. As long as you do not open the compressed file then your computer will be safe.

Good luck.

Answer 3

Obviously, if you know what you doing, then you won't get viruses on it. But if you do intend to download much and you see suspicious website, then I recommend you don't download these suspicious websites if you see them. But to be safe, make sure you scan it for viruses and for ad-ware or spy-ware.
If you don't have a anti-virus, either download AVG as a free anti-virus and download updates for protection and a program called Spy-bot Search and Destroy should do it too, just search it on Google and then find a download link to it.

But worm's such as Generic.ALY which could be infected on your system could spread this virus onto downloaded files which are .exe. Make sure you're computer or a public computer is scanned and safe from viruses from you're system before downloading things. Worms intend to spread onto files and infect them, so be prepared. It may sound like a waste of time but it is worth it, and always put a public computer as bugged as it can contain viruses or bugs which can harm your files.

Hope this will help you.

Answer 4

Legal: iTunes Peer to Peer (could be illegal): Limewire. It is spyware and pop-up free, and should not harm your computer. It does run as a background process, so use the icon in the lower right corner to close it. Judging by your question you are a newb, and it is easy to use. DC++: Great if you are somewhat intelligent. You need to share a lot of files in order to get in many channels, and can be difficult to setup behind certain firewalls and routers.

Answer 5

I really don't think that downloading to your flashdrive would harm your computer at all - downloading anything to ANYTHING doesn't seem too harmful. But you might be getting some antivirus suggestion windows on your computer, though.

Answer 6

No difference.

You plug it in and the system will always autoscan and try to read the contents. So you still need a good anti-virus and anti-malware programs running.

Answer 7

If you ever run the program then it can infect whatever computer the flash drive is plugged into at that time.

Answer 8

Yes, since the computer's memory is accessed for some time

Answer 9

What you should do is immediately right click it and scan with anti-virus and anti-spyware once it is saved.

Answer 10

Hi. Yes. I would use the usual precautions.