Hello CF, Recently my laptop started acting up and not connecting to the internet. There was a small warning at one point for a Trojan that had been detected. I ran MalwareBytes and a few other programs trying to find it. Unfortunately I couldn't download MalwareBytes update without internet. At this point, the laptop won't even get past "Starting Windows" or the "Startup Repair". I cannot even run it in safe-mode. I've pretty much given up. Any possible way to retrieve data from the laptop? I don't really care for much, but it would be convenient if I could collect all of my music files. Thanks in advance for your help. Will rep.
You'll need a spare laptop/computer and an external harddrive enclosure. Laptop harddrives are 2.5 while desktops can be 3.5. That's the main difference. Open up your bad laptop and unscrew/pry out your harddrive. Attach the harddrive to your enclosure then connect that to your backup. Once connected, your broken harddrive will read like a flash drive or an external harddrive. Run virus scanner... dl a free one like avira, then update the scanner before scanning, on your broken harddrive. Afterwards, when clean pull out your data and then back it up. I'd run a scan locally just in case. You can even reformat the broken one, install a fresh copy of windows and magically fix your laptop.
Couple of options. 1 is as suggested above, ie. opening up the laptop. If you are not keen to open up your laptop, the other is to boot Linux via a USB stick and then copy your files into an external drive. So you will need o ability to download a copy of Linux o a USB stick (>= 512Mb) o an external drive to copy your files to. Steps are (for Windows) download some version of linux, eg Linux Mint or Ubuntu Linux. http://www.ubuntu.com/ You will need a usb stick. Use something like the following to install the linux onto the USB stick. http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal-usb-installer-easy-as-1-2-3/ After installing linux onto the USB stick, then plug in the USB stick into your laptop. You may need to change the BIOS of your laptop to make it bootable via USB. Once booted up, plug in your external drive. You can use then use the filemanager to copy your files onto the external drive. Good luck.
I went ahead and followed your advice since it would save me from purchasing the external drive enclosure. Awesome results as I am now transferring all relevant data to my PC (after scanning external hard drive with Malwarebytes and McAfee). Ubuntu Linux ran pretty smoothly on the laptop with the ability to use the internet (not able to on Windows OS). Ideally I'd like to download some anti-virus software through Linux to scan the computer for the Trojan/virus and fix the issue. What are some solid free anti-virus programs for ubuntu? Thanks for the help.
Yay! I think Uncle Google might be of better help here. I'd start with clam anti virus? But google would be your best bet. I have no wisdom here. http://www.maketecheasier.com/remove-windows-viruses-with-linux/2010/02/02
