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    Accessing old IDE hard drive

    Hello I have an old computer which got infected with malware..... and will only boot in safe mode with command prompt. I am not able to access a usb stick because it says does not have a recognized file system, I cannot use floppy dive because i have no computer to read floppies, and the disc drive just sits there blinking.

    So I tried plugging the hard drive in to my good realitively new pc IDE port (unplugging my disc drive) with my good two hard drives plugged into the SATA ports. I booted it up and it tried booting from the infected hard drive even with the drive set to slave.

    My main question is can i plug my hard drive into my pc while it is running or will that kill something?

    Thanks for any help

    canadaboy25
    canadaboy25

    -Sometimes the light at the end of a tunnel is an on-coming train

    #2
    Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

    Originally posted by canadaboy25 View Post
    My main question is can i plug my hard drive into my pc while it is running or will that kill something?
    If it's an IDE drive, strong probability it will kill something
    better to keep quiet and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

      IDE drives are generally not plug and play devices. So even if nothing gets killed when hot-plugging it in. It probably won't get recognised.

      Edit: I think I remember years and years ago you could get IDE rack's, so you could pull hard drives in and out of a PC from the front with a handle. Can't remember if these were hot-pluggable or not. Perhaps IDE can be hot-plugged if ACPI is enabled in the BIOS? I would not try it regardless.
      Last edited by shadow; 10-19-2013, 07:40 PM.

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        #4
        Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

        When I have to read an IDE drive on a newer computer I put the drive in a case with a USB 2 adapter and then you can just plug it in. Never had any problems that way.

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

          OP needs to get into BIOS settings, to change priority so SATA drive with boot source is first to boot, when IDE drive is connected
          better to keep quiet and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

            Originally posted by Uniballer View Post
            When I have to read an IDE drive on a newer computer I put the drive in a case with a USB 2 adapter and then you can just plug it in. Never had any problems that way.
            Good point. Particularly how nearly every PC omits the IDE port now.

            Originally posted by pfrcom
            OP needs to get into BIOS settings, to change priority so SATA drive with boot source is first to boot, when IDE drive is connected
            Yep.
            Last edited by shadow; 10-19-2013, 08:14 PM.

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              #7
              Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

              Thanks for all of the insight guys! You stopped me from totalling my hard drive.

              I set the BIOS to Main RAID at first boot then plugged in my IDE drive in and the computer booted itself normally. I coppied the antimalware files onto the hard drive sucessfully.

              I booted my infected computer with the hard drive in safe mode with command prompt and executed the anti malware installer a nice GUI popped up and installed the program.

              At the moment I am scanning the drive for viruses and it has found 6 threats.

              Are viruses usually in .dll files because thats where it found them?

              Thanks a lot

              canadaboy25
              canadaboy25

              -Sometimes the light at the end of a tunnel is an on-coming train

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                Originally posted by canadaboy25 View Post
                Thanks for all of the insight guys! You stopped me from totalling my hard drive.

                I set the BIOS to Main RAID at first boot then plugged in my IDE drive in and the computer booted itself normally. I coppied the antimalware files onto the hard drive sucessfully.

                I booted my infected computer with the hard drive in safe mode with command prompt and executed the anti malware installer a nice GUI popped up and installed the program.

                At the moment I am scanning the drive for viruses and it has found 6 threats.

                Are viruses usually in .dll files because thats where it found them?

                Thanks a lot

                canadaboy25
                From my very limited windows knowledge yes .dll is a common file to infect
                Things I've fixed: anything from semis to crappy Chinese $2 radios, and now an IoT Dildo....

                "Dude, this is Wyoming, i hopped on and sent 'er. No fucking around." -- Me

                Excuse me while i do something dangerous


                You must have a sad, sad boring life if you hate on people harmlessly enjoying life with an animal costume.

                Sometimes you need to break shit to fix it.... Thats why my lawnmower doesn't have a deadman switch or engine brake anymore

                Follow the white rabbit.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                  Infections can be in any file mainly .scr .exe .dll .mp3 any file that can be executed and that is almost eveything
                  My pc
                  CPU : AMD PHENOM II x4 @ 3.5Ghz
                  MB : ASUS M4A89TD PRO USB3
                  RAM : Kingston ValueRAM 16gb DDR3
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                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                    Originally posted by joshnz View Post
                    Infections can be in any file mainly .scr .exe .dll .mp3 any file that can be executed and that is almost eveything
                    Wow thanks for the quick reply.

                    The quick scan finished with 7 threats which I removed and the problem still remains.

                    I am going to perform a full scan and see if that helps.

                    If you have any anti virus programs to reccomend please do.

                    canadaboy25
                    canadaboy25

                    -Sometimes the light at the end of a tunnel is an on-coming train

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                      Originally posted by canadaboy25 View Post
                      Wow thanks for the quick reply.

                      The quick scan finished with 7 threats which I removed and the problem still remains.

                      I am going to perform a full scan and see if that helps.

                      If you have any anti virus programs to reccomend please do.

                      canadaboy25
                      There are all sorts of anti-malware programs you can try. However what I tend to do in these sorts of situations is to do a backup of any required data, get all the license information off the PC if needed (windows, office etc.) and completely reinstall Windows.

                      In my opinion, it is generally quicker, easier and you will probably get better results by wiping everything and starting clean rather than trying to clean really persistent viruses/malware. It can be done, however it will take some experimentation and lots of time doing multiple scans with different programs.
                      Last edited by shadow; 10-19-2013, 11:17 PM.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                        Originally posted by shadow View Post
                        There are all sorts of anti-malware programs you can try. However what I tend to do in these sorts of situations is to do a backup of any required data, get all the license information off the PC if needed (windows, office etc.) and completely reinstall Windows.

                        In my opinion, it is generally quicker, easier and you will probably get better results by wiping everything and starting clean rather than trying to clean really persistent viruses/malware. It can be done, however it will take some experimentation and lots of time doing multiple scans with different programs.
                        I would like to try to remove the virus and see if i get anymore problems.

                        canadaboy25
                        canadaboy25

                        -Sometimes the light at the end of a tunnel is an on-coming train

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                          Originally posted by canadaboy25 View Post
                          If you have any anti virus programs to reccomend please do.
                          I use Avast free anti-virus - I think they offer a stand-alone rescue system, but last time I looked, charge for it

                          Recently fixed infected PCs using Avira rescue system, which boots into a customised Linux Ubuntu to scan the infected disk, thereby removing control from anything lurking under Windows - recommended

                          Google "Avira rescue system", download the ISO, burn it to a CD, then boot from it - it's intuitive after that - also slow to load, recommend you follow their instructions to put the ISO on a boot'able USB
                          better to keep quiet and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                            OP, why would you want to boot that drive as a master?? put the drive in your computer as slave, boot from your own hard drive, then scan the drive from your own computer with updated antivirus program, as the viruses do sometimes infect system files that are in use while the installation on particular drive is booted.

                            I hope you can follow my unclear ideas.

                            Else clean install is always an option.

                            Remember when you boot the dead computers installation, you can also use sfc /scannow in command prompt.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                              Originally posted by shadow View Post
                              IDE drives are generally not plug and play devices. So even if nothing gets killed when hot-plugging it in. It probably won't get recognised.

                              Edit: I think I remember years and years ago you could get IDE rack's, so you could pull hard drives in and out of a PC from the front with a handle. Can't remember if these were hot-pluggable or not. Perhaps IDE can be hot-plugged if ACPI is enabled in the BIOS? I would not try it regardless.

                              I've tried hot plugging an IDE drive with one of those racks last year...bad idea. The MOSFET on the rack's electronics got reaaaaally hot and it smelled like burnt components inside. Everything still worked after that though.

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                                Thanks for all of the info guys. I scanned with malwarebytes anti malware quick scan and found 7 threats which i deleted. I ran a full scan and found 1 threat which I deleted. The problem was still there. I downloaded kaspersky virus removal tool and it found 1 threat. I removed that and the computer fiannaly booted.

                                I now know that I can connect IDE drives to my good computer.

                                I don't know why anyone would spend their time writing viruses like these

                                Well doesnt matter my problem is gone

                                canadaboy25
                                canadaboy25

                                -Sometimes the light at the end of a tunnel is an on-coming train

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                                  Sounds like a bad USB stick. Sorry.
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                                  "¡Me encanta "Me Encanta o Enlistarlo con Hilary Farr!" -Mí mismo

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                                  "Today's lesson in pissivity comes in the form of a ziplock baggie full of GPU extension brackets & hardware that for the last ~3 years have been on my bench, always in my way, getting moved around constantly....and yesterday I found myself in need of them....and the bastards are now nowhere to be found! Motherfracker!!" -Topcat

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                                    #18
                                    Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                                    Originally posted by RJARRRPCGP View Post
                                    Sounds like a bad USB stick. Sorry.
                                    Hmm?

                                    My stick works fine with any other computer.

                                    The PC says that about any volume but i got it working now.

                                    canadaboy25
                                    canadaboy25

                                    -Sometimes the light at the end of a tunnel is an on-coming train

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                                      Originally posted by canadaboy25 View Post
                                      Hmm?

                                      My stick works fine with any other computer.

                                      The PC says that about any volume but i got it working now.

                                      canadaboy25
                                      Looks like a bad USB port.
                                      ASRock B550 PG Velocita

                                      Ryzen 9 "Vermeer" 5900X

                                      16 GB AData XPG Spectrix D41

                                      Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 6750 XT

                                      eVGA Supernova G3 750W

                                      Western Digital Black SN850 1TB NVMe SSD

                                      Alienware AW3423DWF OLED




                                      "¡Me encanta "Me Encanta o Enlistarlo con Hilary Farr!" -Mí mismo

                                      "There's nothing more unattractive than a chick smoking a cigarette" -Topcat

                                      "Today's lesson in pissivity comes in the form of a ziplock baggie full of GPU extension brackets & hardware that for the last ~3 years have been on my bench, always in my way, getting moved around constantly....and yesterday I found myself in need of them....and the bastards are now nowhere to be found! Motherfracker!!" -Topcat

                                      "did I see a chair fly? I think I did! Time for popcorn!" -ratdude747

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Re: Accessing old IDE hard drive

                                        Originally posted by RJARRRPCGP View Post
                                        Looks like a bad USB port.
                                        The message came up when i was in safe mode command prompt trying to change the working directory.

                                        The usb works fine in the same port when booted normally so there are no problems.

                                        canadaboy25
                                        canadaboy25

                                        -Sometimes the light at the end of a tunnel is an on-coming train

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