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latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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 Posted - 2017/04/09 : 04:32:22
Some of you might know that I had my home burglarized back in August and the biggest loss from that was my laptop. There are some video clips from raves I went to that I'll never get back.
Thankfully my external hard drives were untouched, so all of my music and pictures are safe. I have yet to replace that laptop so I haven't had a chance to sort out what exactly I've lost.
Since I have some spare time I thought I might use an old desktop I have to finally sort out all those pics, videos, music files, etc. The thing is I bought the laptop like 6yrs ago to replace that desktop because it has a pain in the ass virus or whatever. I remember it prevented me from accessing certain folders and programs that could lead to me finding out what it is and try to get rid of it.
My question is, would it even be safe to use that desktop just to sort my external HDs without moving anything onto the internal HD? I do remember I managed to move files from that desktop and onto an external with no sign of any virus/malware/trojan on the external, but I had Kaspersky on the laptop to scan all the files to make sure it had nothing extra. Any help would be appreciated!
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DjZelous
Advanced Member
United States
553 posts
Joined: Oct, 2012
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 05:33:41
I'm not an expert but i do know my shit. You always have a small chance of something creeping onto your external but its not 100 % safe. to be 100% safe, do a new install of windows on that old desktop
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latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 05:57:33
quote:
Originally posted by DjZelous:
I'm not an expert but i do know my shit. You always have a small chance of something creeping onto your external but its not 100 % safe. to be 100% safe, do a new install of windows on that old desktop
Wanted to do the new install when this happened but the re-install disc it came with already started flaking and the drives couldn't read shit.
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Ikstra
Junior Member
United Kingdom
85 posts
Joined: Jul, 2014
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 08:21:44
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
My question is, would it even be safe to use that desktop just to sort my external HDs without moving anything onto the internal HD? I do remember I managed to move files from that desktop and onto an external with no sign of any virus/malware/trojan on the external, but I had Kaspersky on the laptop to scan all the files to make sure it had nothing extra. Any help would be appreciated!
You're not safe at all. Reinstalling Windows, booting off a live CD/USB, or waiting and buying a new laptop/PC are your best options.
Once a virus has access to your PC, it can do anything that it likes. You can't easily determine what it'll do, but there's the possibility that it'll infect or irrevocably corrupt some or all files on the HDD.
Antivirus software is a lost cause. It's easy to write/repack a known virus to be undetectable, and it takes significantly more effort to detect, and safely reverse its effects and remove it (if it's even possible to reverse).
As a counterpoint: Due to the age of the virus, it's an almost certainty that it's been encountered in the wild and therefore will be detected by all decent virus scanners.
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DjZelous
Advanced Member
United States
553 posts
Joined: Oct, 2012
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 08:51:46
I could you to a link to a copy of windows 10 that is free on the windows website if you'd like
__________________________________
Soon to be Audio Engineer :)
Listen To my station!: http://tunein.com/radio/The-Rave-EDM-Radio-s278768/
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latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 16:41:11
quote:
Originally posted by DjZelous:
I could you to a link to a copy of windows 10 that is free on the windows website if you'd like
I would need windows XP reboot.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,165 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 16:48:16
quote:
Originally posted by DjZelous:
I could you to a link to a copy of windows 10 that is free on the windows website if you'd like
Windows 10 stopped being free april last year. And it was only for Windows 7/8. The one you're on about is probably the Student/Disabled person version that requires some kind of identification I believe.
Anyways, if you can still install a more up to date anti-virus system (I presume AVG or Kaspersky should still have some available free options that's good) and antimalwarebytes, you might be able to get rid of the virus. I think some of them can be run in "portable" mode that doesnt require you to install or make any kinds of register on the computer. That might stop the virus from trying to "stop it" from starting.
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/five-portable-antivirus-and-antimalware-tools-to-carry-with-you-at-all-times/
http://portableapps.com/apps/security/clamwin_portable
www.sophos.com/en-us/products/free-tools/sophos-anti-rootkit.aspx
http://portableapps.com/apps/security/spybot_portable
Note: Other than Spybot, I haven't tried any of the other programs
Personally, I've not really had any experience with viruses. I used to have one that festered on my Unreal Tournament back in late 90's but I managed to get rid of it (propbably because i used a crappy no-cd crack, so it was probably just a false positive).
__________________________________
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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Edited by - Samination on 2017/04/09 16:56:24 |
Ikstra
Junior Member
United Kingdom
85 posts
Joined: Jul, 2014
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 17:01:59
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
quote:
Originally posted by DjZelous:
I could you to a link to a copy of windows 10 that is free on the windows website if you'd like
Windows 10 stopped being free april last year. And it was only for Windows 7/8. The one you're on about is probably the Student/Disabled person version that requires some kind of identification I believe.
If you have a licence, you can download Win10 legally: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10 . I believe that you can still get a free Win10 key from Dreamspark if you are/know a student.
quote:
Originally posted by DjZelous:
I would need windows XP reboot.
You're asking for 16 year old software, there are no more security updates for XP, and multiple active vulnerabilities exist. You shouldn't be connecting it to the internet and definitely shouldn't be logging into any account with sensitive data using it.
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Edited by - Ikstra on 2017/04/09 17:11:51 |
Elipton
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
1,268 posts
Joined: Apr, 2013
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 17:11:30
Sorry to hear you were robbed, Steve
I've had a lot of external HD's have folders go corrupt and irreparably damaged. I don't know if they're down to a virus or not, but they aren't perfect. I'd suggest to you that online cloud storage should be a solution for the files you absolutely can't afford to lose. I have an old archive on 4shared, and beyond my belief, it's still there safely.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,165 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 18:08:08
harddrives doesnt last forever. I have a 2 year old 1TB disc that's about to fail (a few broken sectors, but still running), so it doesnt need to be viruses, in your case elipton.
__________________________________
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Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
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latininxtc
Advanced Member
United States
7,307 posts
Joined: Feb, 2006
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Posted - 2017/04/09 : 20:06:39
quote:
Originally posted by Ikstra:
quote:
Originally posted by Samination:
quote:
Originally posted by DjZelous:
I could you to a link to a copy of windows 10 that is free on the windows website if you'd like
Windows 10 stopped being free april last year. And it was only for Windows 7/8. The one you're on about is probably the Student/Disabled person version that requires some kind of identification I believe.
If you have a licence, you can download Win10 legally: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10 . I believe that you can still get a free Win10 key from Dreamspark if you are/know a student.
quote:
Originally posted by DjZelous:
I would need windows XP reboot.
You're asking for 16 year old software, there are no more security updates for XP, and multiple active vulnerabilities exist. You shouldn't be connecting it to the internet and definitely shouldn't be logging into any account with sensitive data using it.
Well I'm obviously not connecting this desktop to the internet. I haven't even turned it on in 6+yrs.
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silver
Admin
Japan
12,564 posts
Joined: Feb, 2001
894 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2017/04/10 : 01:16:03
It depends on the malware and its attack vectors, but it is HIGHLY LIKELY to infect ANYTHING you plugin that is writeable. So any USB memory, external HD's even burning a CD might copy the malware.
You really need to create a boot CD from kaspersky (on a non infected computer) and boot from that. That way any root kits or really hardware malware wont be loaded and the HD of the lappy can be scanned by kaspersky from the CD.
I wouldn't risk it, the malware might have auto updaters built in so that when you plugin it in, it downloads a newer version of the malware that is even worse than you remember.
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whispering
Moderator
Finland
8,453 posts
Joined: Nov, 2002
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Posted - 2017/04/18 : 08:34:21
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
Wanted to do the new install when this happened but the re-install disc it came with already started flaking and the drives couldn't read shit.
If theres a sticker on the bottom of the laptop with the XP serial number, you can you use any install disc. There should be loads of XP install DVD's around.
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Samination
Advanced Member
Sweden
13,165 posts
Joined: Jul, 2004
195 hardcore releases
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Posted - 2017/04/18 : 12:31:52
quote:
Originally posted by whispering:
quote:
Originally posted by latininxtc:
Wanted to do the new install when this happened but the re-install disc it came with already started flaking and the drives couldn't read shit.
If theres a sticker on the bottom of the laptop with the XP serial number, you can you use any install disc. There should be loads of XP install DVD's around.
When it comes to OEM keys, that's not for sure. Since before Windows 7, I've always had problems with OEM keys, even in cases where I tried to use it on another computer (still the right version of Windows) :P
__________________________________
---------------------------------------------
Samination, Swedish Hardcore DJ
Happy, UK Hardcore, Freeform, Makina and Gabber
http://samination.se/
---------------------------------------------
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lewiscanon
New Member
United Kingdom
71 posts
Joined: Mar, 2015
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Posted - 2017/04/21 : 23:05:44
Idk if any aff ye use Virustotal.com But I use it now & again before I install any unknown free apps I come across. I will see if I can find a essential link But without knowing whit the virus is called They cannot be a solution in sorting it.
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