> Works until the malware scans the disk for keydata remnants from 'deleted' files

http://srm.sourceforge.net/

I don't use Windows but there's probably something similar for it.

Even 'srm' and similar tools might not work as expected on a solid-state drive with its own firmware and wear-leveling.

It's possible to protect your bitcoin keys from an arbitrarily-later malware incursion... but very hard, in ways even most power-users don't consider.

I like bitcoin. The current sharp edges and tragic mishaps are useful, for now, for learning about a new medium of exchange, which operates on a logic different from almost anything that we could easily analogize to.

If bitcoin or a successor takes off, I suspect carrying large balances will require specially hardened devices – secure VMs inside handhelds, perhaps?

And, a general desire for some recourse against instant irreversible fraudulent transfers might make the 'finalization' of certain transactions dependent on a remote secondary key approving (or failing to cancel) a payment, within a timeframe sufficient to deliver second-channel notification/confirmation.