Need info on HD docking station

[Tony Bentit]

Searched site for info on HD docking station. No threads answered my questions.

Even though I received some wonderful help from some of you recently, I couldn't get rid of a virus on an older computer. I've decided to buy an HD docking station and hopefully transfer some of my needed and wanted files to another HD. This HD is brand new with nothing on it. Will I be able to transfer files to it if it doesn't have an operating system?

I'm definitely not going to do a mass transfer, I'll pick and chose .jpgs, videos and documents. No .exe programs what-so-ever.

Will this way be safe to keep the pesky virus on the old PC? Once I have everything I want off the old PC, I'll give it a complete restore with the original Windows.

I'd appreciate any help.

Thank you
Tony

 

[americancritic]

Hello Tony

Do you remember the name of the virus and where it was...

What is or was the name of the Anti-virus on the computer that has the virus.

Do you have malwarebytes if not I would download it on the old system and run a full scan as it can pick up and delete virus's that others miss, here is the link and chose the free version..
Malwarebytes : Free anti-malware, anti-virus and spyware removal download
Try and get rid of the virus this way and then transfer the items you want...

 

[Tony Bentit]

Thanks for the reply, Americancritic.

Malwarebytes will not work on the old PC. I tried for hours and hours before and that ain't happen'n.

How about this? Can I transfer files from the bad PC on a thumb drive, plug the thumb drive into the good PC and scan thumb drive with malwarebytes before actually putting the files onto the good PC?

This will takes days to do but I don't care as long as it's going to be safe.

Thanks again,
Tony

 

[americancritic]

Hello and yes you can do that, just make sure to scan for bugs before downloading to your new computer...

Let me know the results..

Thanks

Tom

 

[Tony Bentit]

Thanks Tom.

I'm going on vacation and when I get back, I''l hopefully, have some money to get a docking station. I'll let you know how it works out.

Thanks again,
Tony

 

[Tony Bentit]

Well, I got the docking station before I went on vacation but I'm having a heck of a time getting it going.

I called the company and they told me that I needed to format the brand new HD (1.5 TB) before it will work. They talked me through how to format it and that's what it's doing right now.

After an hour or so, I called them back to get a rough idea about how long this should take. They said 20 minutes or so for a quick format and a couple of hours for a full format.

I went the full format path and it's now been formatting for 5 hours and it's only 4% completed. At this rate, I'll go on vacation and when I get back, it may or may not be done.

Physical Memory Useage is at 1.64 GB and the CPU Usage is between 85% - 95%

What is the difference between a quick format and a full format? (Full might not be the correct term, but I think that will be understandable.)

And... can I stop the full format and try the quick format without messing everything up?

I can't believe that it's going to take 4 whole days to format this HD.

Thank you ahead of time,
Tony

 

[richc46]

Welcome
Per MS, Full VS Quick Format.
Id do the full if I were you

When you choose to run a regular format on a volume, files are removed from the volume that you are formatting and the hard disk is scanned for bad sectors. The scan for bad sectors is responsible for the majority of the time that it takes to format a volume.

If you choose the Quick format option, format removes files from the partition, but does not scan the disk for bad sectors. Only use this option if your hard disk has been previously formatted and you are sure that your hard disk is not damaged.

 

[Tony Bentit]

I need to format the brand new HD (1.5 TB).

If it has bad sectors, I'm already in deep kaka.

It's been 9 hours and I'm up to 6%. WEEEEEE. I'm having fun now!

At this rate it's going to take more than 6 days to format. Really!

 

[richc46]

That amount of time is a bit unreasonable. As I said I would do a full format, but since its brand new try a quick format.You should be ok.

 

[Tony Bentit]

What should I do to stop this attempt at formatting?

Then... how do I start the quick format? I don't remember seeing that option before.

Thanks for your help.

Tony

 

[richc46]

Im sorry, even with research, I find that it cannot be stopped. I have also found out that a 300GB HD would take 4-5 hours for a full format.

 

[Lottiemansion]

Hi,

Look at this picture & select quick format: -

 

[Tony Bentit]

Thanks Rich for your help. Sorry I didn't tell you ahead of time that my PC hates me and does everything it can to ruin my life!!

I think that I've come to a point where I need to start a new thread with a new title.

I tried to add to your "rep" but it says I need to add to somebody else "rep' first.

Thanks again,
Tony

Thanks again,