Will Virus Spread If Hard Disk Is Hot Swapped?

@rahul-sr-we6yi8 • Oct 7, 2024

Oct 7, 2024

954

suppose i have two harddisk both contain separate os...now currently im woking with one os by connecting one of the harddisk, it contains virus . I shutdown that and without switching power off(that is current is there in motherboard) i removed my first harddisk and connected the other(where this is a virus free harddisk) will the virus affect this harddisk.
my doubt is in the first harddisk while we are shutdowning if there was any virus in main memory will it tranfer to other if i remove the first harddisk and connect the other harddisk by shuttingdown the first one but not switching the power supply completly off?

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Kaustubh Katdare

@thebigk • Jul 23, 2012

I'm not entirely sure about this - but hot swapping of hard disks will depend on the mother board. Your problem can be replicated by attaching one external USB HDD containing virus and then replacing it another, clean HDD.

Whether the virus will affect the system would be determined by the way it has been written. I'm not sure whether there can be a generic answer to this.
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vinod1993

@vinod1993-r3yTlk • Jul 23, 2012

If both the hard drives are portable and provided u have a default hard disk in the computer..! then it 'll spread..! as the hard disk behaves similar to a USB device....!
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vinod1993

@vinod1993-r3yTlk • Jul 23, 2012

both different OS?? so no default Hard drive in computer eh?? I dnt think it'll affect ur computer..! because i think ROM's are not easily attacked..! i dont think so..! just my idea..!
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Rahul SR

@rahul-sr-we6yi8 • Jul 24, 2012

thank u for reply...
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[Prototype]

@prototype-G9Gn5k • Jul 25, 2012

Not at all. The virus is only active in the OS of the infected HDD. The virus will not affect if you're not using the OS of infected HDD. The virus may affect if you're using the OS from infected HDD & connected healthy HDD into the system, but chances are low unless you got something like Zeus or similar which thinks that much. Most virus won't touch any partitions expect the one in which OS is installed.

Do remember that virus is nothing but a program and it cannot start itself. There must be certain mechanism and records to start it (generally in registry start-up). This registry is native only to the infected drive's OS hence if your infected drive is connected as slave, the virus will not be invoked.
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Rahul SR

@rahul-sr-we6yi8 • Jul 26, 2012

yup itz a program so whn ever it is active that means it is in the main memory ...so while not switching off the power and changing the harddisk there is a posibility to affect the other because itz in main memory .....if itz compltly powrd off then v can tell it virus wont affect because itz volatile....so wil it?
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