Windows 7: USB Flash full of viruses! What do I do?

Hello,

So my friends laptop is infested with viruses so I'm gonna do a clean Windows 7 install to freshen it up.

But he had some important stuff on it which he transferred to a USB flash drive. I know that USB is gonna be infested with viruses now. So how do I delete the viruses on the USB drive without them transferring to the clean Windows 7 copy?

Thanks.

Hi,

you have few possibilities:

1. Use virtual machine for that, ie. install free VirtualBox (Sun) VirtualBox
2. Use special Shadow mode (software like Returnil or Shadow Defender) - with restart all changes are gone.
3. Use DefenseWall with USB drive run as Untrusted box checked in Options of this program. It will isolate your USB drives from rest of your system.
4. Do image backup and move it on another partition/drive, then put in infected USB drive and clean it by AV/AS/AM etc... after that your OS will be probably infected so do restore from image backup which have you done earlier, before putting in infected USB drive.
5. Use software Panda USB Vaccine: Panda USB Vaccine - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

.
Lots of good suggestions. Regarding Panda USB Vaccine (@ the OP) make sure it's installed first, vaccinate the computer and set it to auto-vaccinate USB flashdrives.

Hi, The Blessed One. You could have your friend use USBNoRisk. It was created and maintained by a well known member of the security community. The instructions follow:

-- Download USBNoRisk to your Desktop and run it by double-clicking the program's icon.
-- Wait a couple of seconds for initial scan to be done.
-- Connect all of the USB storage devices to the PC, one at a time, and keep each one connected at least for 10 seconds

Explanation: USB storage devices are all the USB devices that get their own partition letter at connecting to the PC, e.g. flash drives (thumb/pen drives, USB sticks), external HDDs, MP3/MP4 players, digital cameras, memory cards (SD cards, Sony Memory Stick, MultiMedia Cards etc.), some mobile phones, some GPS navigation devices etc.

+1 On Panda UsbVaccine. It's a good tool.

Corrine, What is it doing in these 10 seconds. It could not be a fulll scan - or?

It will scan for and block any autorun's.

Thanks Corrine, that's good to know. I will suggest it to the equipment director in our computer club because we get most of the infections from people bringing in sticks or SD cards.

What about USB Disk Security? Is it any good?

Now that's overpriced security software. Panda USB Vaccine is much better and its free...