Okay, that's pretty much the conclusion I was coming to as well, thanks.
So, we're done here, but I will let you know how that goes.
At the beginning of my post, I mentioned I had at least 1 infected PC, if not 2. You've seen the backup files for "Vicki Laptop". Given how much effort it was to clean this, and given that I don't care so much about most of the executables on that Laptop, I'd like to backup some files off it and then wipe it rather than network it and try downloading items. Besides, once networked it's pretty much a brick. (seems tolerable in safe mode w/o networking)
My plan is to
Use a dedicated memory stick
Only transfer user files eg Photos, Vids, Doc, etc., and not just a wholesale "my docs" copy. Abosolutely no executables.
Scan the memory stick upon insertion to this PC
Paste, repeat. Best I've got is a 32 GB stick, and I've got about 90 GB of files... mostly pictures.
Thoughts on that process? Or should I copy some of your recommended executables over to that machine and run them first? Or what?
Thanks again for your help here.