Comments on: Removing Viruses from a PC That Won’t Boot

By: mike

mike — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 16:45:37 +0000

I sugest you look up easeus free backup 2 includes rescue CD.iso so that you can restore a computer from apreviously made backup.

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By: JohnnyBoyClub

JohnnyBoyClub — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 08:29:31 +0000

Sometimes the only way to get rid of the viruses is the oldstyle method , Full Format HDD.
As a anti-virus could remove some of the viruses and not all format is the safest method.
And also in order to keep and save at least some of your files you should use a backup software , a free backup software is http://www.dmailer.com/dmailer-backup.html , it has a lot of features and you will also be able to store the backup online on their servers.

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By: Virus Removal

Virus Removal — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:10:55 +0000

Hey, hopefully someone can make use of this

If you are having issues running virus scanners whilst your computer is turned on, try to start into ‘Safe Mode’.

If you’re using a version of Windows, you’ll be able to do this. (Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7)

Safe Mode:
Turn computer off
Turn computer on whilst tapping F8. When prompted select ‘safe mode with networking’
When prompted, click Yes & start into Windows as normal.

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By: Virus Removal

Virus Removal — Mon, 24 May 2010 12:30:17 +0000

If you are having issues running virus scanners whilst

your computer is turned on, try to start into ‘Safe Mode’.

If you’re using a version of Windows, you’ll be able to do

this. (Windows XP, Windows Vista & Windows 7)

Safe Mode:
Turn computer off
Turn computer on whilst tapping F8. When prompted select

‘safe mode with networking’
When prompted, click Yes & start into Windows as normal.

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By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:20:44 +0000

Be careful with SD card adapters – the write protection on them is more of a request to the operating system to mount the drive read-only. The write protect switch on those cards does not have any connection to the inside of the card, it’s just something that’s read by the card enclosure and some cheaper ones have been known to ignore it or read it incorrectly.

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By: Mike Baptiste

Mike Baptiste — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:10:34 +0000

We use a single slot SD Flash to USB adapter. Most SD cards still have a R/W switch, making it trivial to do. We have a bunch of these and a standard ‘tool’ image we burn to the flash card, then lock it read only

http://goo.gl/fTw2

Works great. The unit is a little wide so we’ve occasionally encountered a USB slot where it wouldn’t fit – but a short USB extension cable does the trick (or a KVM with built in sharable USB slots – even better)

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By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 12:45:42 +0000

You can also use a USB flash drive with a write protect switch. These have gotten rare in the past few years but there are still a few out there. I know of two maintained lists – mine at List of USB Flash Drives with Hardware Write Protection Switch and the c’t Magazin FAQ in German (but works well with Google’s translations).

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By: Solo Owl

Solo Owl — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:52:19 +0000

Brian, you might mention that a live CD could be the only way even if the machine boots.

Every week or two I see an infected machine with no antivirus. Presumably the malware removed or disabled the antivirus.

Even if the antivirus is still there, it may have been turned off by the malware, which then blocks access to dozens of security sites on the Internet.

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By: Solo Owl

Solo Owl — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:47:17 +0000

Several commenters suggested mounting the infected drive in a known clean computer. This is very rash.

Whether you mount it as a slave on an IDE ribbon, or in a SATA or eSATA port, or on a USB hard-drive adapter or enclosure, Windows will see it as a drive and mount all the partitions. Some viruses will copy themselves to any partition on the machine.

A couple of weeks ago, a client brought in an infected computer. I used a USB flash drive to install an antivirus (client’s computer didn’t have one). My flash drive got infected. My attempts to clean the drive by using a newly refurbished computer failed, and the computer got infected.

I succeeded in reformatting the flash drive on yet another refurbished computer worked, but that computer also got infected!

Morals:
* Never connect in infected drive or computer to anything you can’t easily replace or fix.
* Unplug infected computers from your LAN immediately. Disable WiFi (there may be a switch on a laptop — unscrew the antenna and remove the WiFi card on a desktop).
* If you need to download something or consult the Internet, use a healthy machine.
* Always use a finalized CD or DVD to transfer files to an infected computer.
* Always use a blank CD or DVD to copy files from an infected computer, but you can still inadvertently copy malware to it.

We have given up trying to disinfect our clients’ computers. Just replace the computer. It is much faster, and as mentioned above, it is the only safe method. (We wipe and refurbish the infected box.)

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By: Solo Owl

Solo Owl — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 11:24:17 +0000

I agree with the point about hard drive enclosures. Many are flimsy — apparently we’re not supposed to swap out the drive more than two or three times. Many overheat.

For $40 you can get a “universal” hard drive adapter without an enclosure box. Plug it all together when you need it; take it apart and store it when you don’t.

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