Is it possable to have a virus from one HDD to another.

Some malware can be very tricky. Think government. However, if you were to format your HDD, it is very very unlikely that any virus can escape. I would recommend after all is said and done, that you run a full antivirus scan just to make sure you are good to go. I would do it, personally, unless said virus was such that it took over my computer and gave me no control. If it is just a 'little guy', go for it.

When you open a file that contains a virus, you catch it. The thing to do is to give the HDD a thorough malware scan before you open any files from it.

Or, if the data on that HDD is not relevant any more, do a Clean All from Command Prompt. That will take a little while but it overwrites everything with zeros.

It is a small risk.

Make sure your computer is completely updated, programs are updated, and antivirus is updated.

If you have an old computer laying around to use to reformat it, then go for it. If not, you could attempt to disable autoplay for all drives: AutoPlay - Enable or Disable (and then later re-enable it after all is done)

Then plug in the HDD, custom scan that location for viruses and reformat.

Forgot to mention, do a full reformat, not a quick one. It will take longer
*Edit* opps, didn't see 'whs' post

dukethedj said:

If the files still happen to transfer, would Microsoft Security Essentials and MalwareBytes clean them?

yes, but you would do a full scan.

dukethedj said:

This is the newest pc in the house. the rest uses ide connections, not sata.

Then the new computer it is