external ide solution for virus scanning and backup

[eslacker]

Hello All.

I have a computer services company, and on an almost daily basis, I
have the need to scan someone's drive for viruses, then archive it to
DVD(s). Having to power-down my PC, connect the client drive, juggle
jumpers to keep the drive as a slave (depending on whether I have just
had another drive connected or not), reboot, etc. has become a real
pain in the butt. So, I'm hoping to come up with a solution whereby I
can connect one or two drives externally (using the secondary IDE
channel) where I can scan for viruses, then burn to DVD all without
having to disrupt the configuration of my PC each and every time. Even
better would be to have something with a switchable power supply so I
wouldn't even have to power-down or reboot. Would the ability to power
up separately require a separate controller? Would FireWire or USB 2.0
be a possibility (and still maintain ATA 100 speed? Someone told me
there was a 20 Mbps limit on IDE across USB 2.0, is this true? Another
caveat is that most clients have IDE drives, so SCSI or other solutions
won't work.

Any suggestions?

TIA...

Ciao,

-Jei.

 

[Neill Massello]

Any suggestions?

For FireWire and USB:
<http://www.wiebetech.com/products.php#drivedockproducts>.

 

[Mike Redrobe]

Hello All.
I have a computer services company, and on an almost daily basis, I
have the need to scan someone's drive for viruses, then archive it to
DVD(s).

Even better would be to have something with a switchable power supply
so I wouldn't even have to power-down or reboot. Would the ability
to power up separately require a separate controller?

Hotswapping IDE is not a good idea.

Would FireWire
or USB 2.0 be a possibility (and still maintain ATA 100 speed?
Someone told me there was a 20 Mbps limit on IDE across USB 2.0, is
this true?

No such limit, USB 2.0 is plenty (60Mbytes/sec) for a single drive.

Buy an external usb2.0 enclosure for 3.5" drives, and use a full length
IDE ribbon, and molex power extender... then you don't even need to
take the customers HDD out of their machine.

What I actually do is have a bootable dos floppy with network drivers
and spare network card. Stick PCI card in, boot with floppy and
I`m done (the copy is done to a network share in the autoexec.bat)..

But thats just for archiving/backup...doesn't do a remote virus scan
like you want, just boot from a CD (bartPE) for that.

 

[Rod Speed]

I have a computer services company, and on an almost daily basis,
I have the need to scan someone's drive for viruses, then archive it to
DVD(s). Having to power-down my PC, connect the client drive, juggle
jumpers to keep the drive as a slave (depending on whether I have just
had another drive connected or not), reboot, etc. has become a real
pain in the butt.
True.

So, I'm hoping to come up with a solution whereby
I can connect one or two drives externally (using the
secondary IDE channel) where I can scan for viruses,

The other alternative is to boot a CD thats got knoppix or bart
PE on it for the virus scan. Those are a full OS running from CD.

then burn to DVD all without having to disrupt
the configuration of my PC each and every time.

You can do that with Acronis True Image running from
CD too. Write the image file to your PC over the lan
and burn it to DVD from there, after its been imaged
or plug in a DVD burner on USB2 into the client's PC
and still create the image using TI booted from CD.

Even better would be to have something with
a switchable power supply so I wouldn't even
have to power-down or reboot. Would the ability
to power up separately require a separate controller?

There are a few hot swap removable drive bay systems
around, but I'd rather leave the drive in the client's system.
And you dont need a separate controller.

Would FireWire or USB 2.0 be a possibility
Yes.

(and still maintain ATA 100 speed?

Not quite, but it wouldnt be that much slowe.r

Someone told me there was a 20 Mbps
limit on IDE across USB 2.0, is this true?

No, its more complicated than that.

Another caveat is that most clients have IDE
drives, so SCSI or other solutions won't work.

Yes, another good reason for not taking the drive out of their system.

Any suggestions?

Just network their system to yours, after you have scanned for viruses,
and image it that way. Then you dont have to remove the drive at all.
And if the client system doesnt have a lan port, just plug a NIC in.

 

[eslacker]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone! I knew I was overlooking
something more simple than my method!

 

[eslacker]

Hey again. I appreciate the feedback on my earlier post. I've now got
a bootable disk (client's pc wouldn't boot to bart cd or knoppix cd)
and I can see my workstation (XP Pro) from this machine, but I'm
wanting to share the client's drive so as to scan it from my
workstation. I can map a network drive *to* my XP workstation, but I
want to do the reverse.

Any thoughts?

 

[Rod Speed]

I've now got a bootable disk (client's pc wouldn't boot to bart cd or knoppix
cd)

Is it a rather older PC and you cant specify a boot from any CD ?

and I can see my workstation (XP Pro) from this machine,
but I'm wanting to share the client's drive so as to scan it
from my workstation. I can map a network drive *to* my
XP workstation, but I want to do the reverse.

Any thoughts?

Not too clear what the physical config is now, is the client's
drive still in the client PC and you have them networked or
have you moved the client's drive to your workstation ?

If you have done the last, you should be able
to just boot one of the CDs in your workstation.

 

[eslacker]

Thanks for the response. Sorry, I should have been more specific.

I would like to be able to access the client PC from my workstation so
that I can scan it for viruses, burn it to DVD, etc. remotely (i.e.
without physically pulling the drive, installing it in my workstation,
etc.).

I'm booting the client's machine using a floppy boot disk with
networking support because the client's machine wouldn't even run Bart
or Knoppix. So, I've gotten it to see the network, get an IP address,
etc., but I am having trouble initiating a share *from* the client PC.
i.e. I don't know how to do it from a command line. Is there some
syntax of NET USE or something that I've missed? I can't browse to the
client PC from my workstation, presumably because it isn't using
NETBUI, although I have been able to name the machine and have it join
the correct workgroup. I can also resolve the IP of the client machine
from my workstation, and I can ping the IP address.

So, that's what I'm up against. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Ciao,

-Jei.

 

[Rod Speed]

Thanks for the response. Sorry, I should have been more specific.

I would like to be able to access the client PC from
my workstation so that I can scan it for viruses,

That could be a problem. I just recently discovered that AVG Free
wont do that when I tried to scan a DVD I had just created from an
ISO on the test machine. I didnt actually have AVG installed on that
machine, and tried to scan the DVD from the main machine, which
doesnt currently have a DVD drive on it.

burn it to DVD, etc. remotely

I cant think of any imaging app that will do that either.

ghost32 might, forget.

(i.e. without physically pulling the drive, installing it in my workstation,
etc.).
Sure.

I'm booting the client's machine using a floppy boot
disk with networking support because the client's
machine wouldn't even run Bart or Knoppix.

Why not ? What happened when you tried ?

There are a few quite elderly PCs around where you cant even
specify a CD boot, but they arent very common at all now. And
there is a boot loader that will allow even those to boot a CD.

So, I've gotten it to see the network, get an IP address, etc.,
but I am having trouble initiating a share *from* the client PC.
i.e. I don't know how to do it from a command line.

Bart's boot floppy does it.

Is there some syntax of NET USE or something that I've missed?

Very likely, but for the reasons above, it likely doesnt matter
because you likely wont be able to virus scan it even if you get it setup.

If you want to try ghost32, just use bart's universal boot floppy
and then run ghost32 from another floppy. That should be able
to image the client's drive over the lan to your hard drive, and
you can then manually copy the files to DVDs, just tell ghost32
to make DVD sized image file segments. I doubt ghost32 will
be able to burn directly onto a DVD burner on your workstation.

I can't browse to the client PC from my workstation, presumably
because it isn't using NETBUI, although I have been able to name the
machine and have it join the correct workgroup. I can also resolve the
IP of the client machine from my workstation, and I can ping the IP address.

All that is easiest fixed by just using Bart's universal network boot floppy.

 

[eslacker]

Thanks, Rod.

Actually, I can map a drive from my working machine to the client's
machine, but I'm wanting to do the opposite.

Essentially, I'm wanting to create a mapped drive *on* my workstation,
i.e. drive J: that refers to the client's hdd, and scan it like I would
a network drive using whatever software, and/or burn it to DVD (Nero
caches the files locally, then burns them to DVD).

 

[Rod Speed]

Actually, I can map a drive from my working machine to
the client's machine, but I'm wanting to do the opposite.

Yeah, I realised that.

You should be able to work out the details of the basics like
what the machine name is etc by using bart's network boot
floppy and watch the data it provides as it sets that stuff up.

Essentially, I'm wanting to create a mapped drive *on* my workstation,
i.e. drive J: that refers to the client's hdd, and scan it like I would
a network drive using whatever software, and/or burn it to DVD
(Nero caches the files locally, then burns them to DVD).

None of the imaging apps will image a network drive
that I can think of. Havent tried Nero for that tho.

I'd check that it can do that by mapping a drive to another
Win PC before working out how to do it at the dos level.

I still think its better to do it the other way, use the boot
loader to allow you to boot a CD on the client's machine
if its so old you cant tell it to boot a CD in the bios.

 

[eslacker]

Okay, bear with me here, there's a method to my, er, method...

So, I've got Bart's Network Boot Disc (or any other for that matter),
i.e. floppy boot disc, I can set machine name, workgroup name, etc.
That's not the problem. Where I need the detail is *HOW* do I create a
network share from the client's PC? I am wanting to find out if I'm
just missing syntax, i.e. a command to invoke a share, or if it's more
of a Windows Networking and/or NetBUI issue. I don't necessarily need
to "browse" to the client PC across the network, but I need to have the
drive shared so that I can at least do a NET USE link from my lab
workstation to the client hdd.

 

[Rod Speed]

Okay, bear with me here, there's a method to my, er, method...

So, I've got Bart's Network Boot Disc (or any other for that matter),
i.e. floppy boot disc, I can set machine name, workgroup name, etc.
That's not the problem. Where I need the detail is *HOW* do I create a
network share from the client's PC? I am wanting to find out if I'm
just missing syntax, i.e. a command to invoke a share, or if it's more
of a Windows Networking and/or NetBUI issue.

Thats what I meant, presumably the reason you cant map the
client drive from your Win machine is because you arent using
the correct details like the workgroup name and machine name.

I don't necessarily need to "browse" to the client PC across the
network, but I need to have the drive shared so that I can at least
do a NET USE link from my lab workstation to the client hdd.

Yes, but again, even when you get that done, you'll still likely
have a problem imaging the client drive from the workstation,
just because most imaging apps wont image a mapped drive.
They will usually only write the image file on a mapped drive.

Why not cut to the chase and boot the CDs on the client
machine using the boot loader if the client machine is so
old that it cant be set to boot from a CD in the bios ?

 

[Peter]

Okay, bear with me here, there's a method to my, er, method...

So, I've got Bart's Network Boot Disc (or any other for that matter),
i.e. floppy boot disc, I can set machine name, workgroup name, etc.
That's not the problem. Where I need the detail is *HOW* do I create a
network share from the client's PC? I am wanting to find out if I'm
just missing syntax, i.e. a command to invoke a share, or if it's more
of a Windows Networking and/or NetBUI issue. I don't necessarily need
to "browse" to the client PC across the network, but I need to have the
drive shared so that I can at least do a NET USE link from my lab
workstation to the client hdd.

If you got that far (able to map a remote share on a lab
workstation as a local drive letter), I would advise to use
disk imaging application right there.
For example:
NET USE K: \\LAB_WKS\IMAGES
if you have GHOST.EXE there, you could just
K:
GHOST -<all needed switches>
and save your disk/partition image as
K:\CLIENT_X.GHO
Then use GhostExplorer on your lab workstation to extract
all/needed files and burn them to DVD(s) if you like.
I recommend to have up-to-date AV software there.

That procedure will allow you to process all needed files,
regardless of the file system present on your client disk
(FAT16, FAT32, NTFS).

Your original concept would not work since DOS SHARE.EXE
does not support FAT32 nor NTFS, even if you make that client
drive visible from the network.

 

[Zvi Netiv]

If you got that far (able to map a remote share on a lab
workstation as a local drive letter), I would advise to use
disk imaging application right there.
For example:
NET USE K: \\LAB_WKS\IMAGES
if you have GHOST.EXE there, you could just
K:
GHOST -<all needed switches>
and save your disk/partition image as
K:\CLIENT_X.GHO
Then use GhostExplorer on your lab workstation to extract
all/needed files and burn them to DVD(s) if you like.
I recommend to have up-to-date AV software there.

That procedure will allow you to process all needed files,
regardless of the file system present on your client disk
(FAT16, FAT32, NTFS).

Your original concept would not work since DOS SHARE.EXE
does not support FAT32 nor NTFS,

.... nor long filenames. The ability to share doesn't depend on the file system
but on the operating system that runs on the share's local machine.

Besides, the whole concept of virus scanning from remote is flawed, and
worthless. But this is a totally different subject.

Regards, Zvi