Trying to backup files from a dead PC...need help

[Deluded]

As title says, I have a PC that's so heavily laden with viruses that it's a chore to do anything useful.

I want to backup essential informations to an external HDD before DBANing it -- but due to my lack of foresight, I didn't pack up my tools prior to coming here, so I'm out of my depth here.

Can any of you guys recommend me a (preferably linux distro) live CD that I can use to transfer files from the dead PC to the external hdd? Will DSL (damn small linux) suffice for this?

I'm also a bit of Linux noob, so how do I ensure that it respects the file format (NTFS) so I can put back the data into a clean pc?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Quartz-1]

You've obviously got another PC available, so why not get a USB caddy, remove the HDD that's got the data on it and put it in the caddy, then copy it from there?

 

[Deluded]

I'm not willing to run the risk of having the viruses spread... it's that badly infected.

 

[Quix]

http://www.ubuntu.com/

If you have problems with NTFS support, read this FAQ. It might make your life easier if the external HD was formatted in FAT32 (which Windows can also read).

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/MountingWindowsPartitions

 

[Deluded]

Well, after exercising my google-fu, I stumbled upon puppy linux. It's small (100ish mb in size), is liveCD, and can interact with window file systems.

So, I'm going to be using that one instead. Just posting my solution here in case anyone is trying to do the same thing that I am.

Thanks all!

 

[captmeach7]

If youre new to Linux try a distro like ubuntu or Mint and just copy the files over. If they are infected though you may want to run something like a Kaspersky rescue boot disk to try and clean it up. No point in going through the trouble to copy them if they are still infected after.