I have an interesting AV question. I've personally used Avast, AVG, and Spybot in the past and they've served me pretty well.
I've had a unique problem posed to me: I've been asked to remove files (.mp3's and old word documents and projects) from a severely infected HDD onto a new one that has only a clean install of windows on it, and has yet to ever be brought onto the internet. Of course I want to install a few AV programs on that clean disk first, but I'm not sure which for this situation. Obviously, given that I'm transferring upwards of 20 gigs of files and there's no DVD burner on this machine, I would like to just use a crossover cable and transfer the files straight from the dirty machine onto the clean HDD hooked up to a secondary machine.
What is the safest way to do this to ensure that no malware seeps over in the file transfer? I'm not sure that this is something I need to worry about at all really, but I know it can and does happen, such as when worms or viruses propagate over a business network.
To sum it up: How should I transfer tens of thousands of files (~20-30 gigs) from a dirty HDD to a clean one while making 100% sure there is absolutely no risk, or the most minimal risk possible, of infecting the clean disk?
And no, I don't know what kind of malware is on the dirty machine, the person in question for whom I'm doing this doesn't really know. It sounds like some stubborn adware/malware that prevents the usage of AV software like Spybot and Adaware, because they say while those programs have been installed, as soon as evidence of the malware became clear (popups when no browser is open, redirected google searches, etc.), he was unable to run those programs or visit their sites anymore. We'll just assume whatever the malware is, it's stubborn and icky and doesn't shave its legs and we don't wanna try to remove it, just go the easy route and use the shiny new HDD for files and wipe the old one when we're done.
Thanks!
I've had a unique problem posed to me: I've been asked to remove files (.mp3's and old word documents and projects) from a severely infected HDD onto a new one that has only a clean install of windows on it, and has yet to ever be brought onto the internet. Of course I want to install a few AV programs on that clean disk first, but I'm not sure which for this situation. Obviously, given that I'm transferring upwards of 20 gigs of files and there's no DVD burner on this machine, I would like to just use a crossover cable and transfer the files straight from the dirty machine onto the clean HDD hooked up to a secondary machine.
What is the safest way to do this to ensure that no malware seeps over in the file transfer? I'm not sure that this is something I need to worry about at all really, but I know it can and does happen, such as when worms or viruses propagate over a business network.
To sum it up: How should I transfer tens of thousands of files (~20-30 gigs) from a dirty HDD to a clean one while making 100% sure there is absolutely no risk, or the most minimal risk possible, of infecting the clean disk?
And no, I don't know what kind of malware is on the dirty machine, the person in question for whom I'm doing this doesn't really know. It sounds like some stubborn adware/malware that prevents the usage of AV software like Spybot and Adaware, because they say while those programs have been installed, as soon as evidence of the malware became clear (popups when no browser is open, redirected google searches, etc.), he was unable to run those programs or visit their sites anymore. We'll just assume whatever the malware is, it's stubborn and icky and doesn't shave its legs and we don't wanna try to remove it, just go the easy route and use the shiny new HDD for files and wipe the old one when we're done.
Thanks!
