The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    My external HD may have a virus: How can I scan it safely?

    Discussion in 'Security and Anti-Virus Software' started by purplegreendave, Jun 24, 2008.

  1. purplegreendave

    purplegreendave Has a notebook.

    Reputations:
    98
    Messages:
    881
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Don't want to transfer the virus over to the pc I scan it on obviously, so how can I go about this!?
     
    purplegreendave, Jun 24, 2008
    #1
  2. bmwrob

    bmwrob Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    4,591
    Messages:
    2,128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Curious, because I've never had your problem, and didn't really know how to handle the situation, I Googled for an answer. This is what I found. Though it probably isn't what you'd hoped to see, I hope this helps.
     
    bmwrob, Jun 24, 2008
    #2
  3. purplegreendave

    purplegreendave Has a notebook.

    Reputations:
    98
    Messages:
    881
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yeah, I didnt find much better, its a sort of chicken/egg thing:
    *I dont want to corrupt my pc with a virus
    *To check if I have one, my Pc needs to access the drive!
     
    purplegreendave, Jun 24, 2008
    #3
  4. Baserk

    Baserk Notebook user

    Reputations:
    2,503
    Messages:
    1,794
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    There are ways to scan your external drive for viri/malware without accessing your PC drive.
    Avira has the Avira AntiVir rescue CD. They update the virus signature files regularly so with this Linux based program, you can boot from CD and scan your hard drive.
    The program is a bit crude as far as the (non-existent) GUI, translations into English aren't perfect but it does scan thorougly.
    Download the program here.
    Insert a blank CD-R(W) in your DVD/CD player, double-click the program exe and it will be burned automatically.
    Change the BIOS boot order to your DVD/CD drive and boot from CD.

    A (lesser) alternative is PC Tools AOSS to remove spyware/malware, for this you need;
    * PC Tools Alternative Operating System Scanner ISO.
    * Most recent "refdb.dat" file for AOSS
    * An USB stick
    * 2 free USB ports (assuming your external HD is attached through USB)

    Download PC Tools AOSS from here and burn it on an empty CD-R(W).
    Download the latest signature/"refdb.dat" file for AOSS here.
    Read the details on how to use the "refdb.dat" file here.
    Change your BIOS to make your DVD/CD the first boot device.
    Put the CD in your computer and shut it down.
    Attach the external hardrive and then turn your computer on.
    The AOSS will start to run and you will be asked to insert the USB-stick with latest "refdb.dat" file, you can choose the drive you want to scan.
    Again, this is not a guaranteed way to clean your external HD of malware (for instance recent Vundo trojan muck) but if you've got the time it's maybe worth trying.

    I prefer the Avira option because of the better virus scanning where PC Tools is more aimed at spyware.
    Cheers.
     
    Baserk, Jun 24, 2008
    #4
  5. purplegreendave

    purplegreendave Has a notebook.

    Reputations:
    98
    Messages:
    881
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    ^ Had I seen that I'd have done it. I just hooked it up to an old pc that has no important files on it and ran avg, now avast is running too
     
    purplegreendave, Jun 25, 2008
    #5