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My wife's work computer got the "Security Threat" virus - or a name similar to that, this happened a few weeks ago. I went to the web and followed the directions to get rid of it and did relatively well, except that there is still an infection in the "root key" - or some similar name (please forgive my poor memory) which I can't seem to get rid of! Anyway, the computer is unbelievably slow and always shows 100% CPU usage, so she stopped using it. The computer is old, so we are thinking of getting a new one.

So here's the actual question ... if we move our data to a new Mini Mac and load up XP (she needs it for some critical programs) is there a danger of moving the virus with the data? Or, all we home free?

Thanks!

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4 Answers

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I think you've had some great answers here, but to answer the crux of your question, we'd need to know what kind of data you plan to move to the new instance of XP. Are these some kind of rare, proprietary file format? If so, it's very unlikely they are the hosts of the virus. If they are MS-Office files, less unlikely, but you could still clean them with a good anti-virus program.

You need a clean XP setup to start with - I'd download a bootable CD image (Kaspersky has one I've used) and only then can you consider moving files over to your new XP instance (whether that be as a VM or bootable partition on a Mac, or just a new XP setup).

If you're feeling adventurous, one advantage of the Mac as that you could mount the old harddrive (use a cheap USB/IDE cable from eBay) and copy/backup the files that way. Then you can blow away the OS on that drive and start all over with XP.

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You say that you want to reload XP on the Mac mini, I presume that you are talking about a dual booting Mac mini, with bootcamp. I'm not sure how much more secure that will be.

My opinion would be that Running XP on a Mac mini is not more secure than running it on a PC.

Take this comment from CNet 2006: "The Windows platform (along with Internet Explorer) is clearly the most targeted and exploited operating system on the planet--and it's now crashing the relatively virus-free Mac party. Even Apple takes its own jab at Windows security with this warning from its Web site: "Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC. That means it'll be subject to the same attacks that plague the Windows world. So be sure to keep it updated with the latest Microsoft Windows security fixes."

From 2008: http://news.softpedia.com/news/Apple-Admits-Virus-Threat-Recommends-Antivirus-Utilities-98982.shtml "A support document has recently appeared on Apple's website detailing information “about antivirus utilities available for the Mac OS.” Apple admits that Mac OS X has grown to become popular among regular computer users and hackers alike."

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"is there a danger of moving the virus with the data?" Without knowing what your computer is infected with and what type of data files you are wanting to transfer, the answer has to be that it is very likely that you will transfer the infection with the data. If you can give us some more information, then we may be able to give you a more precise answer. Also could the "root key" you are referring to be a "rootkit" infection? If so, those can be very difficult to remove and open up all sorts of vulnerabilities on your computer. – Josh Mar 14 at 2:02
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To repeat, XP is XP, no matter what hardware it's running on, so yes, the virus could move across with the data.

I'm going on the assumption that you will do a fresh install of XP. No matter what the hardware, after you do the fresh install, you will be free of the virus. However, it will come back if you move the SOURCE of the virus into the new installation of XP.

Look at it this way:

OLD SYSTEM

  • Operating System (XP): infected.
  • Data (your actual working files): maybe infected.

NEW SYSTEM

  • Operating System (XP): not infected
  • Data before bringing over your old files: not infected
  • Data after bringing over your old files: maybe infected

So you want to focus on that "maybe." You say you've done some disinfecting already, and if so (and if you did it thoroughly) then most likely your data is safe. The disinfecting probably deleted the cause of the infection. However, the infection itself is still in your root key, which is part of your operating system, not part of your data.

If you care for analogies, it's as if you got stuck with a splinter that caused an infection. You can pull out the splinter, but you still have the infection. If you could change bodies, you would be free of the infection as long as your new body doesn't come with an infected splinter in it. So find that splinter and get rid of it. Then get a new body (or in this case, a fresh install of XP).

The best thing to do is throw every anti-virus you can at the data you plan to move over to the new installation of XP. And don't move any actual operating system files across.

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Josh is correct. Just because you're running your XP on Apple hardware doesn't mean the operating system (XP) is any more or less secure. After all, it's the operating system that is attacked, not the hardware.

Whatever course of action you take, I encourage you to get and use good security software, and equally important, learn about and exercise good security measures (such as not blindly clicking on links in emails, being extra careful about what you download and install, etc.)

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Thanks for the comments about virus protection! However, the crux of my question is, will the virus move with the data to the new computer (and thus we'll still have it) or not (and thus we will live happily ever after)? Thanks! Tony – TonyP Mar 14 at 0:21

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