Question Virtual Machine - HDD Containment

[maikkan]

Hello,

So I have a laptop that has been infected with some virus.

I need to save some files on that laptop and then format it entirely, but the laptop is working very slow, it will take several hours to do it, so I'm trying to avoid this as much as I can.

I was thinking if there is a possibility to "contain" the HDD. I want to remove the HDD from the laptop, plug it into my PC, but to only work on a virtual machine so I can start the cleaning process without interfering with my PC (I have windows 10 on my pc - up-to-date).

So is there a possibility to make the HDD laptop "workable" only on the virtual machine? If so, please help me.

If not, please provide me some workarounds (taking into account that I want to avoid spending the whole day working on the laptop, as it is very slow).

Thank you!

 

[null_dev]

No need for VM, plug the HDD to your system, and make sure you boot with your (not laptop) HDD.

One you logged in to your system, ask an antivirus to scan your laptop hard disk. But you have to note that OS on HDD might be faulty! but as far as you like to run a new OS on it, it's okay.

After virus check, grab your files for good.

Also if you see laptop is still slow(how much ram?, spec?) after HDD format, you may consider HDD is kind of too old to run fast maybe, not sure. This happened to my dad's laptop recently.

Wishing you luck.

 

[Encryption+]

My answer is essentially the same as null dev above so I won't repeat. Here's the link to Malewarebytes which my go to antivirus.
Best of luck.

 

[TerryLaze]

You can get bootable cd/usb images from a lot of anti virus companies that you can boot up on the laptop and check for infections, that way you don't have to take the risk of connecting an infected hard disk to your main PC.