[Corgi]

Hello

Recently my business computer was infected with a series of terrible viruses, part of which was the "Smitfraud" bug that I managed to clean off myself. Since I want to guarantee the security for myself and my customers, I have made the decision to purchase a new harddrive for the infected computer, re-install windows on it and start anew.

My question is this: If I take the old hard drive and use it as usb storage to transfer back my important files, is it possible for the viruses to somehow find their ways back and re-infect my new hard drive? I have tried by experimenting with USB sticks - none of the ones I used came out with any suspicious files in them - but I'm worried what will happen with the whole "computer" attached to a fresh one.

If anyone can give me some advice to help me get some peace of mind, I would appreciate it very much.

Regards,

Corgi

[ferrija1]

I'm believe it is less common (but not impossible) to transfer viruses this way, but of course it varies from virus to virus. You should also know that you may not see a virus through Windows explorer because of a technology implemented by some hackers known as rootkits, which hides the virus file(s).

[Corgi]

The virus makes my internet very slow, causes new viruses to be downloaded on startup, redirects google searches, and blocks access to anti-spyware internet websites.

[lunarlander]

All you have to do is format your old hard drive, then everything including the virus will be gone.

[ferrija1]

...And if you don't want to lose all your data, you need to post an HJT log in the Malware Removal forum to let an expert help you.

[Corgi]

This morning I purchased a new harddrive and I'm reinstalling everything from new. The old infected harddrive I have put in a public library computer and as far as I'm aware it did not infect this computer. The gentleman at the store also told me it is unlikely for the virus to travel like this on its own accord provided I do not copy over the original file within which it was contained. Makes sense.

To be on the safe side I am transferring the files like this:

Old hard drive -> New clean storage USB -> new hard drive

I dunno what is an HJT log but I can assure you everything so far is going well.

I am also limiting my transfers to known safe file types like .avi and .jpeg, I plan to format the old hard drive indefinitely but first I have to save all of the pictures and files that are otherwise irreplaceable.

Thanks