virus

[paul nicholls]

in laymans terms please, im after a simple yes or no if poss.
my old lap top got infected with some virus or other,
stupid i know but i hadn't backed up all of my pictures onto disc,
i needed a new lap top anyway so down loaded all pictures onto an external
hd before i got rid of the old one.
my question is, if i plug in the external hd into the new computer will it take care of any virus' that may be lurking in there. if not what are my options for retrieving my pictures.
cheers,, paul.

 

[Toad]

On your new computer make sure you have decent up to date AV.

Connect your external HD and scan it before you do anything else.

That should take care of things.............

You should be OK.

 

[Fanum]

Yep, what he said

You'd be extremely unlucky to have got anything that would make it through that process, although in theory, it is possible.

have a look at the threads here on AV software.....there are several very good (and free for home use) versions out there that are updated everyday with new definitions, are dead simple to use (d/load from sensible place, install, run, answer a few easy questions, remember to refuse the inevitable offer to instal 'chrome' or any other crap, then forget)

Avast!, AVG and, er.....i forget, but there are several more

 

[paul nicholls]

cheers guys,
my new security is macafee, the wife's company IT guy put it on for me,
said its the best,
will give it a go.
cheers paul.

 

[casperfelix]

Assuming your pictures are .jpg or .gif format (?), they shouldn't be infected. Most common virus are trojans that infect/replace your operating systems files.
However, as I keep saying, ditch Windows and use Linux. It's free, far more stable than Windows, and the bad guys don't bother to try and hack it (very much/if at all). Ubuntu is my Linux 'distro' of choice.

 

[STUBBS]

yes