Scott Mueller's Upgrading and Repairing PCs Forum

Scott,

I understand that backing up a hard drive is very important, however what's the protocol for backing up a customer's hard drive if said customer knows it's infected? Plus, would installing software that I'm comfortable with using such as Malwarebytes and Superantispyware be appropriate or should I refrain from installing any extra software on their computer? What are your guidelines for the above situations?

The only way to proceed in that sort of situation is to boot from a known-good (non-infected) OS in order to scan, clean and then backup the data. This could be done by installing the drive in another system or booting the existing system from a different drive or bootable disc (such as the UBCD4Win). I prefer to use another system since I can have the OS and tools of my choice ready to process the questionable drive as well as to have multiple docks for easily attaching the bad and backup drives. Scott.

Additionally, I would not install or remove any software on a customer's PC without them knowing about it and approving. Removal of the malware has already been approved.