[SOLVED] Can a virus on 1 HDD jump on another HDD/SDD if it is dual booted?

[randomperson1523]

I want to buy a new SSD/HDD/both and install Windows 10 on them, while still keeping a Windows 7 Ultimate HDD for when I feel like I want to use Windows 7. So, is it possible for a virus on an HDD jump to another disk that isn't running on the same OS and the OS itself doesn't use/recognize/detect it?


Sorry if that is terribly formatted/it's very hard to read. English is not my first language.

 

[Newtonius]

Yes and no. If the virus is dependent on a windows 7 service file starting up upon login then it will not jump onto the other drive when windows 10 is boot up. Also windows 7 core viruses will not have the proper coding to infect windows 10 as it is constantly updated with regular security updates, unlike win 7.

However if it is a file virus on a random web download or we cache, it could still affect windows 10 but not as well since it would have binded to windows 7 core file systems.

Just don't do anything you shouldn't be doing and you'll be fine, windows 10 is constantly supported so you should be fine for the most part.

 

[popatim]

Unless the drie is powered off, yes it can. Not all viruses can or will do that but the ability to is there, in much the same way that Disk management shows you it's there. It's there, the system knows it's there, just no drive letter has been assigned to it. It can easily be referenced & accessed by its Volume ID though.

 

[USAFRet]

A virus can interact with any drive and its contents in the system.
No matter what OS, or no OS on the 'other drive'.

 

[Encryption+]

If both drives are connected to the same computer, and are powered on at the same time, or if any files are transferred between drives, there is theoretically the potential for a virus on one drive to affect the other. As others have mentioned above that doesn't guarantee that it will, but yes it is possible.

 

[USAFRet]

For instance, a ransomware virus will absolutely stroll through every connected drive, looking for file types it knows, to encrypt them.