Topic: Airgapped device for Electrum installation - page 2. (Read 292 times)

You can not achieve an airgapped devices without formatting the said device, there is no guarantee that a device can be safe enough to be called airgapped devices if not formatted or reinstalling the windows.

It's true that not all malware can be removed by just formatting a device or by reinstalling a new windows but it's a better to do so as to reduce the chance of your device and assets safety. It's always said that there is no 100% safe place but at least some safety measures are better than others.
Note: There is no need to assume too much, Airgapping a devices means it cannot have an access to the internet and to achieve this the already internet activities must be clear by formatting and installing a new windows, so the word Airgapping cannot be complete without a complete formatting and/or erasing the already existing internet activities/connections.

I think we should be talking about safety in the concept of the topic instead of privacy. Most people prefer Linux for a better security or the said Tails OS because they are most safe than the others not that you can not achieve a level of safety with windows and MacOS but in the area of safety you most know that we have different levels of safety, one is higher than the other so Linux and Tails OS is higher than Windows and MacOS but they can still offer security based on how you use them.

Note; Windows are not wallets. You made a mistake there, it could be confusing for a newbie when reading the for for the first time. So correct. It's Operating System

If you didn’t format the device there would still be malware in that device because some malware would have already been in there before you switch to offline mode. The malware which is even common is the clipboard malware which will definitely sit there even after you go offline. You need to completely reformat the drive to delete everything on it and then reinstall a fresh new OS.

Your hard drive only stores what the OS tells it to store, so a proper reformatting is ok to me.


The reason for all this Linux is because it is not prone to viruses or malware than the Windows or MacOS. So probably going offline after reformatting will actually reduces the risk of both OS too to be infected. But the best still remains the Linux.

Also make sure to create a new wallet too, as the the former might also be already compromised without you knowing

If you really want to create an air gapped wallet, why take the risk of using a closed source wallet like windows with a lot of vulnerabilities and back doors. The problem with using closed source OS is the fact that you actually can't tell exactly what's going on at the back end. As for the formatting it's damn too necessary especially if that device has had an internet connection before. I my opinion, if you are making use of an old computer, it's better you even detach the networking hare wares making an internet connection impossible. Linux too isn't 100% safe if I can recall it was discovered sometime ago that there was a boot log vulnerability. However it's still far safer than windows and other closed source operating systems.

Although air gapped wallets are safe they are not 100% guarantee since keys can still be stolen manually , via criminal activities like burglary.

One of the safest wallet are wallets on airgapped devices. But what some people do worry about is that they should format the device that they want to use for it and reinstall the operating system.

Assuming you did not format the device but make it airgapped. Can malware still be able to affect the device? The reason I said this is not because I will not format the device but because I read that not all malware can be completely removed from the device after formatting and OS reinstallation.

Some people also said Windows and macOS are not good for privacy. But is it necessary to also use Linux or Tails for airgapped device? I think no matter the OS that you use, as long as it is not an online wallet, Windows and Appple can not know what you are doing.