Comp has virus, can I save files on disk and save them onto another comp w/o infecting it?

Question

My dell desktop got a virus... if i can access word documents i have saved on it and save them on a floppy.. will the floppy carry the virus to another computer? I have very important wedding documents on the dell that I need (wedding is in 11 days!) and i'd love to be able to save them onto a disk and move them onto another computer. If not I guess I could try and print them out. I don't know how to get rid of the virus, my comp is running very slow and won't let me do much, tons of error windows popping up, Ill probably have to get it reformatted. Any help or info would be greatly appreciated!!! =)

Answer 1

Depends on what kind of malware you have, some copy themselves in each drive attached on the computer, others need you to copy a specific file or files and then drop then on another comp, anyway be sure to virus scan the floppy when putting it on another computer.

Answer 2

As long as the files that you are needing are not infected, you should be able to move them without an issue.  But it is hard to tell exactly which files are ok and which are infected.  Easiest thing to do is save them to a disc, and put the disc in a second computer.  run a virus scan on the disc before you save any files to the second computer.

Answer 3

As the others have said, yes - you can transfer the infection(s) to another computer when you copy the files and put them on the new computer.

If you want to try to clean up your computer yourself, you can try the following things.

If you suspect you have an infection, there are several things you must do.  Unfortunately, if you find one infection, it is highly likely you have another one. A virus, trojan or worm are all different types of infections/malware and there are some great FREE programs that can help you.

First, clean up (delete) your cookies, temp files and temporary internet files. I prefer to use Ccleaner (available at www.filehippo.com) to do this, rather than the built-in DISK CLEANUP. If you want to use Disk Cleanup, you can find it if you:

- Double-Click on My Computer to open it up

- RIGHT-click on your C: drive

- Choose PROPERTIES and then click on the DISK CLEANUP button

- When done, reboot your computer.

Delete these files daily or run Ccleaner every day right before you shut your computer down.

2 - You should also have a good anti-virus program to help protect your computer. AVG FREE is an excellent anti-virus program, which can be downloaded from  www.download.com.  You might also choose Avast or Avira, both also free programs from www.download.com.

3 -Since NONE of the anti-spyware/anti-adware programs are 100% accurate in finding and removing spyware, you need at least two programs which you will run one after the other, not at the same time.

There are three excellent free ones:

--Spybot, Search and Destroy

--Ad-Aware

--Spyware Blaster

All are available FREE from www.download.com

You will need to download, install, update (and IMMUNIZE in Spybot) and run them, one at a time. Be careful with the NAME of these programs - there are "look-alikes" with very similar names, that are in fact spyware themselves! Reboot after you install each one!

After this current infection is cleared up, be sure to run both of the above programs at least once a week if you are on the internet frequently and/or like to download music or files.

NOTE: Some infections prevent your from downloading the above programs. You may have to use a clean computer to download the programs and copy them to a thumb drive or CD. Then transfer the install files to the infected computer and run.

--Occasionally you will not be able to run these programs without being in SAFE MODE.  To get there, reboot your computer and tap the F8 key, repeatedly until a menu comes up.  You want to choose SAFE MODE WITH NETWORKING.

4 -You should also have a good firewall to help protect your computer. Zone Alarm makes a totally free version (watch you don't download the 30-day free trial of the paid version). You can download this from the manufacturer at www.zonelabs.com <>http://www.zonelabs.com>

HTH : )

Good luck!

Answer 4

Try this first,follow the directions exactly.

http://forum.securitycadets.com/index.ph...

If that doesn't work,yes,you could possibly transfer the virus to another computer.You should print them,if possible.