Expert: Keith Davis - 1/11/2011

Question
i am using 2x1tb hard disks on my pc. on with win XP & another with win 7.
the win XP hard disk is badly infected with viruses, so i am using clean new win7 hd. now i am so much worried about infection of viruses from the old hd. so plz tell me how to prevent this infection. i want to access the data of old hd from new one, but don't want those viruses back on the new hd.

p.s. plz don't tell me to format the old hd coz ive so much important data stored on it, also ive tried to complete scan with Sunbelt Vipre av but it wasn't so helpful. do tell me such a way that, the viruses can't access my new hd when i connect it.

Answer
If you haven't you need to try AVG. It is free and you can get it here: http://www.filehippo.com/download_avg_antivirus/
I won't tell you to reformat. Is the virus ridden drive accessible? Almost anything you use to clean it thoroughly will need to be installed on it. You could try a program like Combofix. It is an executable and does not have to be installed. You can get it free at http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix
If the only way you have to access the HD is through the other you will just have to chance it. Make sure you have AVG installed and updated on the Win7 drive (ideally with the bad drive unplugged). It is really a good program.