Can Malware hide on an external drive (the backup drive) or must it be in the system files somewhere? If It can hide on an external drive then even well imaged PCs are vulnerable are they not since the malware may be on the backup drive.
If the malware is included within the backup image files, it is dormant and cannot execute. However if that image is restored, then the malware would be active again. Malware can be installed on any drive although most are installed on the boot drive for obvious reasons. You should periodically scan all drives for malware including any backup drives.
Hence I only image a disk when it's in its golden state: right after fresh install and immediate full update. It's the state as clean as you can get. Whenever I feel something fishy is going on with my system months later, I simply restore the good image and all is good again.
Malware can be stored in backup image if backup is created while system is infected. Malware can be also stored on backup drive, but if system is clean it doesn't present a danger by itself. Malware won't execute by itself (you have disabled auto run didn't you?) and if there is no trigger in system or system image (autorun in registry, startup folders or task scheduler) it won't run just by itself. You will have to run it to get infected...
Thanks for the replies,,,,,,I had heard that you could get infected by plugging in a compromised USB stick so thought the backup drive might also be a weak point (yes I have disabled auto run and also have Appguard on my PC).
