Hey, not really sure where to post this, but since it has to do with viruses, and viruses are also a security issue. . .

My cousin just got a new comp because his old one is all screwed up, and he needed a second more powerfull comp anyway. But I still need to backup his old files, and then do a wipe of the old drive. Now, I was wondering, since his old comp is incredibly slow due to, viruses, spyware, etc. can I just take the drive out and temporarily put it in the new one and go through the files from there? I wouldn't risk transfering any viruses to the new comp as long as I don't actually open anything, right? And before I even do that, I could even scan it with a new up-to-date scanner.

Thank you in advance.

Howdy D4z3d,
Does the new pc have a hard drive in it already? If so you can use the second as a slave and transfer only the files you need. But even if you dont open anything there is still a risk of getting viruses. The viruses out today dont always need to be executed.

Yes, it does have a HD in already, but I don't plan on transfering the files to it anyway. I just want to be able to go through the HD faster and back everything up to a CD faster. Then I am gonna do a complete DOD wipe on the old HD and reinstall everything. Then after I do that, and have up-to-date AV software and whatever else I need, that is when I will transfer the files back to the old drive, scanning them before hand of course.

then yes it should be no problem. When you go to replace the files just open the cd or dvd and do a virus scan right on the disc this way you know what not to put on the pc.

Awesome, thats what I thought; I just wanted a second opinion.

Thanks man. :-)