Connecting a infected external drive?

weyland yutani · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:15

I have an usb external drive which has previously been connected to a computer with malware on it. I need to retrieve some files from it but am concerned about connecting it to my new machine. Can I safely connect this drive and run a virus scan on it witout risk of infecting my pc?

Thanks.

kiel367 · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:18

yes you should be fine

weyland yutani · 10 Oct 2011 at 17:23

Not very reassuring lol Thanks tho.

neil_g · 10 Oct 2011 at 21:02

Do it all the time at work. Generally only in Hollywood does plugging in an infected drive infect a whole system.

weyland yutani · 10 Oct 2011 at 22:05

I watch too much tv and films lol Yeah surely it's only if opening a bad file that a virus can spread right?

theheyes · 11 Oct 2011 at 16:38

Used to be a problem with XP if you weren't careful, probably not as much these days. I just boot a live CD anyway.

bledd · 11 Oct 2011 at 16:51

Make sure you've got AV installed first and hold left shift key when plugging it in, should stop any auto run virus from running

KIA · 11 Oct 2011 at 16:53

Autoplay is still on by default in XP. At least Windows 7 prompts the user. Play it safe by examining the drive using an Ubuntu Live CD.