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Is it Safe to open a Harddrive that was killed by a virus?

Started by Aukake , Dec 20 2012 10:04 AM

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#1
Aukake

Posted 20 December 2012 - 10:04 AM

Member

Member
124 posts

My old computer got some nasty virus that change the registry and everything. Couldn't boot the computer up ever again. Ran many boot virus scan disk, but don't know if it really did the job cause the computer never booted up again. There was a lot of pictures and stuff i want from that hard drive. If i put the HDD in a Dock and hook it up to my computer to get some files off it. Do i risk bringing the virus to my computer. Like will it spread once i hook it up? Or i can i do a virus scan on it before i open it?

#2
admin

Posted 20 December 2012 - 05:36 PM

Founder Geek

Community Leader
24,639 posts

Two options. Boot using a Linux LiveCD like Puppy Linux. A Windows infection can't infect a Linux system. Here's a guide on recovering data using Puppy. You can use Linux Puppy to safely copy data from the old drive to the new one.

Or, remove any other drives from the system and replace the infected drive. Post a new topic in our computer won't boot because of malware forum to receive help cleaning the drive.