Can I Test Flash Drive?

S

~Sage

Hi y'all, I posted awhile back about a seriously compromised PC and
although you may not need them for my questions below, I am providing
the link to *said* posts:

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...d649a2?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=~Sage#3e09082b8bd649a2

Since then, my friend decided to buy a new PC (yeah!), and I decided
not to try and post logs from her bad one, her Windows XP was acting
very sick, but I managed to copy all the important files she needed to
a flash drive. I need to test the flash drive before letting her put
the old files on her new PC.

She brought me an old Compaq running Win ME, and I know it would have
come with Win98, it's also a compromised machine..(sigh)..so, we don't
*care* about this machine, can I format it, put Win98 on it, then
connect to my network, download & update Avast (which will run on 98)
and test/ clean up the files on the flash drive?

The flash drive was formatted for NTSF and of course has XP files on
it, so will this even work? What else can I run along with Avast that
would catch the malware in today's world in a Win98 environment?
Would I need to find all the 98 updates (if they're still out there)
or could I slide by without that? Your help will be most appreciated!

~Sage
 
B

Bill in Co.

~Sage said:
Hi y'all, I posted awhile back about a seriously compromised PC and
although you may not need them for my questions below, I am providing
the link to *said* posts:

http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windowsxp.general/ browse_thread/thread/75b9dbdca208430a/3e09082b8bd649a2?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=%7ESage#3e09082b8bd649a2

Since then, my friend decided to buy a new PC (yeah!), and I decided
not to try and post logs from her bad one, her Windows XP was acting
very sick, but I managed to copy all the important files she needed to
a flash drive. I need to test the flash drive before letting her put
the old files on her new PC.

She brought me an old Compaq running Win ME, and I know it would have
come with Win98, it's also a compromised machine..(sigh)..so, we don't
*care* about this machine, can I format it, put Win98 on it, then
connect to my network, download & update Avast (which will run on 98)
and test/ clean up the files on the flash drive?

The flash drive was formatted for NTSF and of course has XP files on
it, so will this even work? What else can I run along with Avast that
would catch the malware in today's world in a Win98 environment?
Would I need to find all the 98 updates (if they're still out there)
or could I slide by without that? Your help will be most appreciated!

~Sage

Anything else? :)
 
D

Daave

~Sage said:
Hi y'all, I posted awhile back about a seriously compromised PC and
although you may not need them for my questions below, I am providing
the link to *said* posts:

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...d649a2?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=~Sage#3e09082b8bd649a2

Since then, my friend decided to buy a new PC (yeah!), and I decided
not to try and post logs from her bad one, her Windows XP was acting
very sick, but I managed to copy all the important files she needed to
a flash drive. I need to test the flash drive before letting her put
the old files on her new PC.

She brought me an old Compaq running Win ME, and I know it would have
come with Win98, it's also a compromised machine..(sigh)..so, we don't
*care* about this machine, can I format it, put Win98 on it, then
connect to my network, download & update Avast (which will run on 98)
and test/ clean up the files on the flash drive?

The flash drive was formatted for NTSF and of course has XP files on
it, so will this even work? What else can I run along with Avast that
would catch the malware in today's world in a Win98 environment?
Would I need to find all the 98 updates (if they're still out there)
or could I slide by without that? Your help will be most appreciated!

What exactly do you mean by "test the flash drive"?

If I understand correctly, you have already transferred the data she
wishes to keep from her "sick" PC to a flash drive. But then again, you
also said that the flash drive "of course has XP files on it." So, I'm a
little puzzled. If all you needed to do was copy her important data,
operating system files would certainly not be needed!

So, what all *did* you copy to this flash drive?

Do you want to scan this flash drive for malware just to make sure
everything on it is clean? If so, I see no reason to use the old Compaq
for this! Simply make sure Autoplay is disabled on your PC and plug it
into one of its USB ports. Then scan to you heart's content.
 
S

~Sage

What exactly do you mean by "test the flash drive"?

If I understand correctly, you have already transferred the data she
wishes to keep from her "sick" PC to a flash drive. But then again, you
also said that the flash drive "of course has XP files on it." So, I'm a
little puzzled. If all you needed to do was copy her important data,
operating system files would certainly not be needed!

So, what all *did* you copy to this flash drive?

Do you want to scan this flash drive for malware just to make sure
everything on it is clean? If so, I see no reason to use the old Compaq
for this! Simply make sure Autoplay is disabled on your PC and plug it
into one of its USB ports. Then scan to you heart's content.- Hide quotedtext -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you for answering, and Yes, I want to scan the flash drive for
malware and I should have said her files were *created* wiith XP and
no I did not copy any system files, just her personal ones. How can I
be sure that something won't jump off the flash drive and infect my
pc? That's why I wanted to try the Compaq/98 method.

~Sage
 
D

Daave

~Sage said:
Thank you for answering, and Yes, I want to scan the flash drive for
malware and I should have said her files were *created* wiith XP and
no I did not copy any system files, just her personal ones. How can I
be sure that something won't jump off the flash drive and infect my
pc? That's why I wanted to try the Compaq/98 method.

You can ensure this by disabling Autoplay (and Autorun) for all drives.
Assuming you have XP Home, you can use Tweak UI to disable autoplay for
removable drives (as well as CD and DVD drives). To download:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx

If you have XP Pro, see:

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kb...mization/DisableCDautoplayinWindowsXPPro.html

You need to make sure Autorun is turned off, too:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5134633_disable-autorun-usb-flash-drives.html

http://antivirus.about.com/od/securitytips/ht/autorun.htm

Also, see:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5938
 
B

Bernd

-------- Original-Nachricht --------
Hi y'all, I posted awhile back about a seriously compromised PC and
although you may not need them for my questions below, I am providing
the link to *said* posts:

http://groups.google.com/group/micr...d649a2?hl=en&lnk=gst&q=~Sage#3e09082b8bd649a2

Since then, my friend decided to buy a new PC (yeah!), and I decided
not to try and post logs from her bad one, her Windows XP was acting
very sick, but I managed to copy all the important files she needed to
a flash drive. I need to test the flash drive before letting her put
the old files on her new PC.

She brought me an old Compaq running Win ME, and I know it would have
come with Win98, it's also a compromised machine..(sigh)..so, we don't
*care* about this machine, can I format it, put Win98 on it, then
connect to my network, download & update Avast (which will run on 98)
and test/ clean up the files on the flash drive?

The flash drive was formatted for NTSF and of course has XP files on
it, so will this even work? What else can I run along with Avast that
would catch the malware in today's world in a Win98 environment?
Would I need to find all the 98 updates (if they're still out there)
or could I slide by without that? Your help will be most appreciated!

~Sage

You said you have formatted your flash drive for NTFS.
A standard Win98 cannot access a NTFS drive.

Bernd
 
S

~Sage

You can ensure this by disabling Autoplay (and Autorun) for all drives.
Assuming you have XP Home, you can use Tweak UI to disable autoplay for
removable drives (as well as CD and DVD drives). To download:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/Downloads/powertoys/Xppowertoys.mspx

If you have XP Pro, see:

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/WindowsTips/WindowsXP/UserTips...

You need to make sure Autorun is turned off, too:

http://www.ehow.com/how_5134633_disable-autorun-usb-flash-drives.html

http://antivirus.about.com/od/securitytips/ht/autorun.htm

Also, see:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

http://isc.sans.org/diary.html?storyid=5938- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Thank you very much! I've always disabled autoplay, I've fallen
miserably behind and didn't realize the *disable* wasn't working
right, also haven't played with Power Toys in a long time and looking
forward to it...and getting my friend fixed up!

~Sage
 
D

Daave

~Sage said:
Thank you very much! I've always disabled autoplay, I've fallen
miserably behind and didn't realize the *disable* wasn't working
right, also haven't played with Power Toys in a long time and looking
forward to it...and getting my friend fixed up!

YW.

Amd don't forget to disable autoRUN, too!!!!!
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top