Solved recovering data from docked HDD

[meamjw]

About two weeks ago my Win 7 Home Premium got some fatal disease which I could not cure. Ran multiple security scans with different software. None found any malware, but everything I tried made it a little worse.
Bought a new computer and now want to transfer some of the data from my old corrupted drive to the new computer. Plan to remove old drive and put it in docking station. Now for the big question. Is there any chance the old corrupted Windows will try to start from that docked drive and corrupt my new computer?
I'm guessing not since it won't be the active drive, but I want advice from someone who knows for certain it won't cause any trouble. There is nothing on that drive that's worth taking a chance of corrupting a new computer that's not even a week old.

 

[Bongo]

Now for the big question. Is there any chance the old corrupted Windows will try to start from that docked drive

It will be OK, but I would scan the drive or the files with a AV(Malwarebytes Anti Malware, MSE) before transferring the data.

Jerry

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I agree with Bongo except for using MSE. If you are using a different AV than MSE, use that to scan the drive. MSE has been consistently scoring low in AV (anti-virus) reviews. When I tried MSE a while back , I had problems with it, including a couple of infections that slipped through. I prefer the free version of Avast but there are other good ones out there.

Malwarebytes Anti Malware, aka MBAM, is a free scanner that can be used to scan your entire computer as well as an external drive. I strongly recommend it to use for weekly scans as well as whenever you suspect something may not be totally kosher. You can download it from here.

Another excellent scanner that can be used with your AV and MBAM is SuperAntiSpyware (SAS). It looks for spyware and adware which may slip by AVs and MBAM.

Running your old HDD from a dock attached to your new computer will not allow the copy of Windows on it to run unless you set it up to do so. Since malware on an OS sometimes disables antimalware programs, scanning the HDD from a different computer as you would be doing is far more likely to catch any nasties that may be hiding in your data.

When I built my present desktop computer, I simply installed the HDD from my old computer in the new one, scanned it for nasties, then copied the data from the old HDD to a new one in the computer, taking the opportunity to reorganize it as I went. Once I was satisfied I had all my data transferred, I then wiped the old HDD and kept it in the computer for future expansion since it was still in good condition. You can do the same by using a dock.

 

[meamjw]

Great advice Lady Fitz! I now feel confident I can do the retrieval I want without risk of more problems.