Solved Rewriting disk files on every boot

[jbalton]

Hi,

My assistant uses a computer with windows 7 home 32 bit for printing documents from my clients. Clients bring documents on the usb sticks which often contain viruses and trojan horses. Some of those are detected by antivirus software, some not and later cause some serious problems that require full system reinstall. No data is required to be stored on that computer, it is used just as printing terminal.

To tackle problem this I would like:
wipe the disk, partition it into two partitions (c: and d: ), install windows and ms office to c: disk, set all the system settings, and then make a copy of all the files on the c: disc to the d: disc. Then on every boot:
a) delete files from c:
b) copy files from d: to c:
c) boot windows.

This way hopefully all viruses would just vanish after every reboot.

QUESTION:
how to make it so that on every computer boot all files from d: are copied across to the c: disc automatically?

Or perhaps you have a better idea how to tackle this problem.

Any ideas or comments are appreciated?

Thanks

John

 

[Ztruker]

Instead of doing that, take a look at SandBoxie

Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

So after you do a clean install, install SandBoxie and use it all the time. That way you can isolate the computer from this kind of stuff.

Another alternative is Acronis True Image Try and Decide. Does basically the same thing, but it's not free.

 

[zigzag3143]

I use Acronis but sometimes Try and decide causes BSOD's.

Your strategy will not work because some malware infects MBR (master boot record) which you system would not (could not) replace.

If you are being infected from USB sticks there is an inherent weakness in it. Perhaps an assistant double clicking on PDF files, perhaps turning UAC off, or something else. Usually the humans are the weak link.

 

[Sedril]

If it's just a printing terminal, consider using Linux or a Mac ... At least you would rule out the Window's viruses...

 

[rraod]

You can try a virtual machine. Get a copy of Windows 7 with MSOffice on VM, make a clone and keep the original as backup.

Always use the cloned copy and whenever you wish to discard this windows copy, just delete it and make another copy of the original and start using it.

This way you can have a clean windows copy everyday.

 

[jbalton]

Thanks for super quick answers!

I will try to use the sandboxie.

If not then will revert to virtualisation.

I also like the idea of using Linux or Mac, but those both options will introduce limitations to set up / software and will require retraining of the users.

Thanks again for your tips,

John