Clients virus ridden pc

I shouldn't say client but I feel it gets the point across better.

He should be a client but because I know his situation I'm doing the work free. He said he doesn't "need" anything backed up but if I could it'd be cool. Obviously I want to at least give it a good attempt at getting data off.

Problem. The machine is so FUBAR'd it freezes almost as soon as it starts up and shows a million errors/infection warnings. I see Limewire on the desktop which = I'm not willing to plug the drive into a personal rig to rip data off because I don't know what kind of STD's this whore has.

The obvious choice would be to use a PI disk of any sort... Ubuntu's nice. Problem is, how do I back up data when I need the live disk to stay in the only cd drive?

I'm not plugging my externals into the computer because I don't want to compromise my own disks and I don't have thumb drives big enough to make transfers worth it.

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Originally Posted by BuzzKillington

The obvious choice would be to use a PI disk of any sort... Ubuntu's nice. Problem is, how do I back up data when I need the live disk to stay in the only cd drive?

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USB thumbdrive?

I'd plug the HDD into a good computer and just not boot off of the ad one or open any files that are in it.

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Originally Posted by xmastree

USB thumbdrive?

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Originally Posted by BuzzKillington

I don't have thumb drives big enough to make transfers worth it.

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Originally Posted by nevermind1534

I'd plug the HDD into a good computer and just not boot off of the ad one or open any files that are in it.

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Aren't there viruses out there that can leech onto other drives even without running the files they're injected in?

I know viruses by their self are "safe" until you execute them but can't they be set up to run with other programs at startup, regardless if you boot from that drive?

WHat about a site that offers free storage like carbonite? or maybe sign up with one of those free hosting company's and just ftp the files to the server and then dl them when the computer is clean?

why not just hook up a second disc drive? Use one to boot Ubuntu from, and the other to burn the data to disc.

Do you have a spare CD burner or another CD drive if the drive he has is a burner and hook up the extra as the primary CD to run a live CD then burn to CDRW?

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Originally Posted by Oneslowz28

WHat about a site that offers free storage like carbonite? or maybe sign up with one of those free hosting company's and just ftp the files to the server and then dl them when the computer is clean?

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Good idea there. If you want a free host.. check out 000webhost.com Free hosting domain.. the whole thing. I use them.

I don't. I sold/gave away 99% of my parts bin. I had a spare external I forgot about and used it. it's half way through its second swipe. I'm going to walmart tonight for a can of air to blow the case out. It being a dell I doubt there's much room for wire management. Last dell I opened most of the cables barely reached.

EDIT: Almost forgot, online hosting would have been out of the question because of the 6600 music files.

Just use an Ubuntu Live CD when you transfer the files if you're worried about viruses spreading.

I don't think I've ever encountered a computer virus capable of replicating itself by just being on an infected drive plugged into a computer without being executed. Pretty much every modern operating system prevents things from running off drives without your permission.

People's imaginations seem to get carried away when they think of how a computer virus works :p

I would of booted from a linux live os. partition the disk to a suitable size, call the new partition backup. copy all wanted files to it and wipe the computer clean :)

another way I got taught from a computer shop I worked in. cut all the wanted files and paste into a folder called backup on the c:. Boot the good old windows xp install and select to install a new operating system with file structure intact.

after install. pop all normal defence software onto the pc and tell the client the computer is wiped clean. any files he wants take them from that folder. if not delete it

i suggest hiren's boot CD, i use it quite often when having to fix family or friends pcs.
uses kapersky as the av, id prefer avast, but it works in a pinch.

http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

Boot into safe mode with networking, then run an online scanner like Eset or Windows Live One Care Safety Scanner.

Then install/run Malware Bytes, Combofix, Smitfraud Fix, and finally spybot and SFC (sfc /scannow). (these can all be installed/run in Safemode.)

Once that's all clear, reboot to regular mode, and install/run Adaware, and any other scanners/removers you want.

Finally, start uninstalling unecessary apps from the add/remove. At this point, you might not even need to get his data out of it, since the machine should be clean.

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Originally Posted by ownaginatious

I don't think I've ever encountered a computer virus capable of replicating itself by just being on an infected drive plugged into a computer without being executed.

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I haven't, either.

And, for autorun, it would ask what you want to do before running whatever is setup for hat.

Couldn't you SFTP the files you want to save across the LAN to another computer? That is locked down and running *nix. As this negates the problem of the virus infecting any attached drives. You just have to hope you don't backup any file that have a virus in them when you restore them to the freshly imaged computer.

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Originally Posted by nevermind1534

I haven't, either.

And, for autorun, it would ask what you want to do before running whatever is setup for hat.

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Usually not the virus, but the malware associated with it. I turn it on, then mscconfig and disable everything in startup. Reboot. Install Malwarebytes and SD Fix. I usually use Avira, as Avast is utter garbage

I don't see the problem booting from a live cd, the virus's are all windows based, and as such can't run under nix,

There for backup all data to a drive using a nix cd, unplug it, install windows, boot from the nix again, there are soem free AV for linux, scan the drive, clear any/all virus's and then copy them back.

I've done that with clients PC's always, i've never found a virus on my drive, and i scanned it the other day too.

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Originally Posted by TheGreatSatan

I usually use Avira, as Avast is utter garbage

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Avira has lower detection rates than Avast last time I looked.

CB

bit defender is rated as the number 1, and they offer a free version to, uses the same engine, same virus database, same updates.

Just not as pritty