Hi,

I have had a computer in my basement with a lot of old photos on it that I want to retrieve. The problem is I am concerned about plugging it into my new computer because it had a virus on it (that is why I ultimately bought a new computer).

Three questions:

1) Can I safely remove the photos with out infectin my new computer?
2) Is there an external USB type device that I can use? - I now am using a laptop.
3) As you can imagine, I now have a lot of photos on my laptop too, which makes me want to back them up as well. I am tired of tons of C.D.'s, what is the best geewizz dvice for storing my photos safely until the time of the Planet of the Apes?

Thank you in advance!!

Don

Your first issue, the old photos to the new computer. If you have a good virus protection on the new computer, it should catch anything you try to download as long as the virus detections are up to date. That said, nothing is fool proof. If you use the CD method, you can have your virus protection scan the disc before you transfer anything from it.

Second issue, get an external hard drive. I picked up one for my laptop by SeaGate, 250 Gig for under $100. I back up my laptop to it every 30 days or so and it works great!

I can't imagine how many CD's I would need if I were doing it that way!!

Thank you! Is there a device I can plug the hard drive into safely? I only kept the CPU.

You can take the hard drive out of the old cpu and put it in an external case like this 3.5" USB 2.0 External Enclosure that you connect to the new computer via USB. Drive shows up as a drive letter in My Computer.

Depending on the operating system used on the old computer, how it was setup, and where the files are located, you may also have file access permission issues to adjust before using the old drive on the new computer.

That said, I personally would deal with the virus on the old computer first before moving any files to the new one even with up-to-date AV on the new one.

That is completely what I was looking for! I cannot believe it is only $20!!

Thank you so much! :)
:) :) :) :)

Note: I just randomly picked that particular model to illustrate the concept. You get what you pay for. If you get one from Newegg, look at the customer ratings. I have two Sabrents I haven't had any issues with... yet.