Can I burn photos from an infected HD using a live cd without having the virus

Discussion in 'Software' started by mcduke, Feb 21, 2015.

  1. mcduke

    mcduke Corporal

    A friend at work has had real problems with a home computer and claims it has a viruses on it. I didn't know if this was do to bad luck or bad judgement, but he asked for my advice so I told him I'd ask this forum.
    He can't even get online with it and clams the shop he took it too can't clean it. I told him the best thing to do was to just wipe the drive and do a fresh install, but he wants some photos saved on it and asked if I could save them.
    Well, I'm not going to risk my computer with his hard drive and was wondering if you can use a live linux cd to burn files to an external dvd player/recorder, and therefore not risk infecting another hd. If it is possible then is it possible that the virus would also end up on the dvd along with the photos? Thanks.
     
    mcduke, Feb 21, 2015
    #1
  2. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    First thing I would suggest to him if he wants to save the stuff on his computer is to tell him to join here and follow all steps in our removal procedures: READ & RUN ME FIRST Malware Removal Guide (incl. spyware, virus, trojan, hijacker)

    If he can't get online, he will need to use another computer and download all the removal tools onto a flash drive and install them on the infected machine using the flash drive.

    No offense, but I wouldn't necessarily trust a shop as far as them saying it can't be cleaned. It may be the case, but it also may be so infected that they don't either know how to fully clean it or don't want to take the time and would rather reinstall the OS since it's quicker. I would bet lots of money on the fact that our malware experts are a ton better than most computer shop people out there at cleaning machines.

    It's worth a try.

    As far as the photos...yes, it is a high possibility that they are infected. I am not sure on the other part of your question so will leave that to someone who can answer it better.
     
    LauraR, Feb 21, 2015
    #2
  3. the mekanic

    the mekanic Major Mekanical Geek

    If you can boot a live CD, I'd burn a Kaspersky Rescue disk 10 and use it to scan the specific folders and then copy them to a flash drive.

    Only after preserving the data would I then attempt a malware removal. You may inadvertently trigger a cryptovirus if it is present on the machine. It may not be there, but you never know...
     
    the mekanic, Feb 21, 2015
    #3
  4. mcduke

    mcduke Corporal

    Okay, I'll inform him of that. What is a cryptovirus? I've not heard of it.
     
    mcduke, Feb 22, 2015
    #4
  5. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    A cryptovirus encrypts the files on the machine it has infected. Basically, the person has to pay a ransom for the key to unlock the files.
     
    LauraR, Feb 24, 2015
    #5

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