How to use an antivirus boot disc or usb drive to ensure your computer is clean

Chris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. He’s written about technology for over a decade and was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Chris has written for The New York Times, been interviewed as a technology expert on TV stations like Miami’s NBC 6, and had his work covered by news outlets like the BBC. Since 2011, Chris has written over 2,000 articles that have been read nearly one billion times—and that’s just here at How-To Geek. Read more.

If your computer is infected with malware, running an antivirus within Windows may not be enough to remove it. If your computer has a rootkit, the malware may be able to hide itself from your antivirus software.

This is where bootable antivirus solutions come in. They can clean malware from outside the infected Windows system, so the malware won’t be running and interfering with the clean-up process.

The Problem With Cleaning Up Malware From Within Windows

Standard antivirus software runs within Windows. If your computer is infected with malware, the antivirus software will have to do battle with the malware. Antivirus software will try to stop the malware and remove it, while the malware will attempt to defend itself and shut down the antivirus. For really nasty malware, your antivirus software may not be able to fully remove it from within Windows.

Rootkits, a type of malware that hides itself, can be even trickier. A rootkit could load at boot time before other Windows components and prevent Windows from seeing it, hide its processes from the task manager, and even trick antivirus applications into believing that the rootkit isn’t running.

The problem here is that the malware and antivirus are both running on the computer at the same time. The antivirus is attempting to fight the malware on its home turf — the malware can put up a fight.

Why You Should Use an Antivirus Boot Disc

Antivirus boot discs deal with this by approaching the malware from outside Windows. Boot your computer from a CD or USB drive containing the antivirus and it loads a specialized operating system from the disc. Even if your Windows installation is completely infected with malware, the special operating system won’t have any malware running within it.

This means the antivirus program can work on the Windows installation from outside. The malware won’t be running while the antivirus tries to remove it, so the antivirus can methodically locate and remove the harmful software without it interfering.

Any rootkits won’t be able to set up the tricks they use at Windows boot time to hide themselves from the rest of the operating system. The antivirus will be able to see the rootkits and remove them.

These tools are often referred to as “rescue disks.” They’re meant to be used when you need to rescue a hopelessly infected system.

Bootable Antivirus Options

As with any type of antivirus software, you have quite a few options. Many antivirus companies offer bootable antivirus systems based on their antivirus software. These tools are generally free, even when they’re offered by companies that specialized in paid antivirus solutions. Here are a few good options:

• avast! Rescue Disk – We like avast! for offering a capable free antivirus with good detection rates in independent tests. avast! now offers the ability to create an antivirus boot disc or USB drive. Just navigate to the Tools -> Rescue Disk option in the avast! desktop application to create bootable media.
• BitDefender Rescue CD – BitDefender always seems to receive good scores in independent tests, and the BitDefender Rescue CD offers the same antivirus engine in the form of a bootable disc.
• Kaspersky Rescue Disk – Kaspersky also receives good scores in independent tests and offers its own antivirus boot disc.

These are just a handful of options. If you prefer another antivirus for some reason — Comodo, Norton, Avira, ESET, or almost any other antivirus product — you’ll probably find that it offers its own system rescue disk.

How to Use an Antivirus Boot Disc

Using an antivirus boot disc or USB drive is actually pretty simple. You’ll just need to find the antivirus boot disc you want to use and burn it to disc or install it on a USB drive. You can do this part on any computer, so you can create antivirus boot media on a clean computer and then take it to an infected computer.

Insert the boot media into the infected computer and then reboot. The computer should boot from the removable media and load the secure antivirus environment. (If it doesn’t, you may need to change the boot order in your BIOS or UEFI firmware.) You can then follow the instructions on your screen to scan your Windows system for malware and remove it. No malware will be running in the background while you do this.

Antivirus boot discs are useful because they allow you to detect and clean malware infections from outside an infected operating system. If the operating system is severely infected, it may not be possible to remove — or even detect — all the malware from within it.

Chris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. He’s written about technology for over a decade and was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Chris has written for The New York Times, been interviewed as a technology expert on TV stations like Miami’s NBC 6, and had his work covered by news outlets like the BBC. Since 2011, Chris has written over 2,000 articles that have been read nearly one billion times—and that’s just here at How-To Geek. Read more.

Some people spend hours — maybe even days — trying to clean an infected Windows system and ensuring it’s actually clean and safe afterward. It’s usually not a good idea to do this — just reinstall Windows and start over.

This may seem like a daunting task, especially if you don’t have good backups of your important files. But it’s worth it to quickly obliterate an infection and ensure your system is safe.

If One Piece of Malware Slips By, Your Computer is Compromised

The key to securing your computer is ensuring it doesn’t get infected in the first place. That’s why people run antivirus applications that can check programs before they run, ideally preventing a piece of malware from running even once. If malicious software makes it through this protection, it has free rein over your system until it’s discovered and removed.

This is a problem for many different reasons. The malware can take this chance to burrow deeper into your system, hiding itself from being discovered by installing a rootkit that starts up during the boot process. It can infect various system files. It can use its access to transmit your personal data, credit card numbers, and passwords over the Internet.

Worse yet, malware can function as a Trojan horse, opening the floodgates to additional malware that it will download and install from the Internet. If you find your computer is actually infected by a piece of malware, you don’t know if that’s the only piece of malware that’s infected your computer.

Antivirus Utilities Aren’t Perfect, and Can Take Time

Antivirus utilities aren’t perfect. To really clean up a system, you’ll want to run an antivirus boot disc to scan your Windows system for malware and try to remove it all — or at least reboot into safe mode. This scan process takes some time, and it isn’t guaranteed to be 100 percent successful. If your system is infected and the anti-malware software found and removed an infection — or, even more worryingly, multiple infections — there’s no guarantee your system is completely safe.

To mitigate this problem, you might want to run multiple different antivirus programs, scanning your system with those multiple engines to get a second, third, and maybe even fourth opinions. This takes more and more time, and you’ll never be 100 percent sure everything is gone, and your system is completely secure.

Fix Any Infection By Reinstalling Windows

Reinstalling Windows is the solution. If a computer is seriously infected — not just by a shady Ask toolbar or the browser cookies many silly security programs consider a “threat,” but by actual malware — we recommend starting over from a fresh Windows system. To do this, you just need to use your manufacturers’ recovery partition to restore your Windows system, reinstall Windows from disc or USB drive, or use the Refresh your PC feature found in Windows 8 or 10.

When you reinstall Windows, your system files will be wiped and they’ll be replaced with known-good ones from the Windows installation disc. You’ll also have to install your programs again, which will ensure they’re safe, too. This takes a bit of time, but perhaps not as much as you’d think — especially if you have good backups. It can also save time over long, arduous slog of cleaning an infected PC and triple-checking it.

Ensure you have backups of your important files before doing this! Some methods of reinstalling Windows won’t wipe your personal files, but it’s always good to be safe.

How to Quickly Back Up Your Important Files

If you keep good backups, you’re good to go. If not, you’ll want to back up your important files first. You probably shouldn’t do this while the infected system is running. Instead, we recommend booting from a Linux live CD or USB drive and using that clean system to copy your important data files to a USB drive. Believe it or not, you can also back up your files directly from a Windows installer disc if you have one lying around!

You’ll then have a backup, and you can copy the files from your backup to your fresh Windows system after reinstalling Windows.

Ensure Your Backups Are Secure

You’ll want to ensure all your backups are clean and uninfected, of course. Generally, the files to watch out for are the .exe files and other executable programs. These can be infected by viruses and infect your system later. Microsoft Office files could also potentially have malicious macros inserted into them, but modern versions of Office are more resistant to this. Other data files like images, videos, and music generally can’t be infected.

It’s a good idea to eye and .exe files with suspicion if they came from an infected computer. Re-download them if possible to ensure they’re safe. You’ll also want to run a scan of your backup files with an anti-malware program after getting a fresh system, ensuring nothing nasty is hiding in your backups somewhere.

This may sound like a Herculean task for people who don’t keep good backups and are worried about setting up their computers from scratch. But, if you do anything sensitive with your computer, from online banking and shopping to filing taxes with your social security number, it’s better to be safe than sorry. You won’t be worrying whether your computer is still infected in a week or two.

Chris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. He’s written about technology for over a decade and was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Chris has written for The New York Times, been interviewed as a technology expert on TV stations like Miami’s NBC 6, and had his work covered by news outlets like the BBC. Since 2011, Chris has written over 2,000 articles that have been read nearly one billion times—and that’s just here at How-To Geek. Read more.

Microsoft has long offered a “Windows Defender Offline” tool you can use to perform malware scans from outside of Windows. With Windows 10’s Anniversary Update, this tool is included with Windows, and even easier to launch. Here’s how to use it, no matter which version of Windows you’re on.

Windows Defender may prompt you to download and run Windows Defender Offline if it finds malware it can’t remove. But, if you’re concerned your computer might be infected, it’s worth running an offline scan with something like Windows Defender Offline just to be safe.

Why an “Offline” Scan Is So Useful

This tool is called “Windows Defender Offline” because it scans when Windows isn’t running. Rather than attempting to run from within Windows and scan your computer while Windows is running–and malware could be running in the background–it restarts your computer into a clean environment and scans from outside of Windows.

Since the tool scans while Windows isn’t running, any malware that might be running inside Windows can’t interfere. Some rootkits may hide from Windows during the bootup process, but be detectable when running a scan from outside Windows. Some malware may hook so deep into Windows that it can’t be removed while Windows is running, but can be removed if you run a standalone scan outside the OS.

This tool is essentially an antivirus boot disc, but integrated into Windows 10 and easier to run. (And if you’re on Windows 7 or 8.1, you can make a disc and run it yourself.)

How to Run Windows Defender Offline on Windows 10

Update: In the latest versions of Windows 10, open the “Windows Security” app, select Virus & threat protection, click “Scan options” under Current threats, and select “Microsoft Defender Offline scan” to choose an offline scan. Click “Scan now” to perform the scan.

Assuming you’ve upgraded to the Anniversary Update, you can do this in one click from within Windows 10. You won’t find this option in the Windows Defender desktop application, however. It’s only located in the Settings app.

Head to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Defender. Scroll down and click the “Scan Offline” button under Windows Defender Offline.

After you click this button, your computer will automatically reboot and begin scanning your PC for malware. The scan may take up to fifteen minutes. If any malware is found, you’ll be prompted to clean it up from within the Windows Defender Offline interface. If no malware is found, your computer will automatically boot back into Windows once the scan is complete.

How to Run Windows Defender Offline on Windows 7 and 8.1

For previous versions of Windows, you can download Windows Defender Offline, create a bootable USB drive, CD, or DVD, and boot the Windows Defender Offline tool on the PC. This works identically to the Windows Defender Offline feature on Windows 10, but requires you create the bootable media and boot it up yourself.

Microsoft recommends creating bootable media on a known-clean computer. Malware can interfere with the media creation process if it’s running in the background, so if you’re concerned your current PC might be infected, use another PC to download Windows Defender Offline and create the media.

Head to the Windows Defender Offline download page, scroll down, and download either the 32-bit or 64-bit version depending on whether your PC is running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows. Here’s how to check.

Run the downloaded msstool64.exe or msstool32.exe file and you’ll be prompted to create installation media on a USB drive, or burn it to a CD or DVD. You can also have the tool create an ISO file, which you can burn to a disc yourself using your preferred disc-burning program. The tool will create Windows Defender Offline media containing the latest virus definitions.

If you use a USB drive, the drive will be reformatted and any data on it will be erased. Be sure to back up any important data from the drive first.

Once you’ve created the USB drive, CD, or DVD, you’ll need to remove it from your current computer and take it to the computer you want to scan. Insert the USB drive or disc into the other computer and restart the computer.

Boot from the USB drive, CD, or DVD to run the scan. Depending on the computer’s settings, it may automatically boot from the media after you restart it, or you may have to press a key to enter a “boot devices” menu or modify the boot order in the computer’s UEFI firmware or BIOS.

Once you’ve booted from the device, you’ll see a Windows Defender tool that will automatically scan your computer and remove malware. It works identically to Windows Defender Offline on Windows 10, and it’s the same interface you’d see in Microsoft Security Essentials on Windows 7 and Windows Defender on Windows 8.1.

After the scan is complete and you’re done with the tool, you can reboot your computer and remove the Windows Defender Offline media to boot back into Windows.

If your computer is tainted with malware, executing an antivirus inside Windows may not be sufficient to get rid of. If your computer possesses a root-kit, the malware may be able to conceal its identity from your antivirus software. This is the place bootable antivirus results gain entry. They can remove malware from outside the tainted Windows system, so the malware won’t be executing and meddling with the cleaning process.

The Problem With Cleaning Up Malware From Within Windows

Touchstones antivirus software executes inside Windows. If your computer is tainted with malware, the antivirus software will have to fight with the malware. Antivirus software will attempt to block the malware and get rid of it, while the malware will try to oppose itself and shut down the antivirus. For tremendously awful malware, your antivirus software may not be able to totally get rid of it from inside Windows.
Root-kits, a kind of malware that conceals itself, can be even more knavish. A root-kit has the ability to load at boot time prior to other Windows components and block Windows from viewing it, conceal its processes from the task manager, and even trick antivirus applications into conceiving that the root-kit isn’t executing.

The problem persisting here is that the malware and antivirus are both executing on the computer at the same time. The antivirus is attempting to battle the malware on its home turf, the malware can put up a battle.

Why You Should Use an Antivirus Boot Disc?

Antivirus boot discs treat with this by going about the malware from outdoors of Windows. Boot your computer from a CD or USB drive comprising the antivirus and it loads a differentiated operating system from the disc. Yet if your Windows installation is totally infected with malware, the particular operating system won’t contain any malware running inside it.

This intends that the antivirus program can execute on the Windows installation from outdoors. The malware won’t be executing while the antivirus attempts to get rid of it, so the antivirus can methodically situate and get rid of the harmful software without it meddling.

Any root-kits won’t be able to establish the tricks they utilize at Windows boot time to conceal themselves from the remainder of the operating system. The antivirus will be able to view the root-kits and get rid of them.

These tools are frequently pertained to as “rescue disks.” They’re intended to be utilized when you require to save a dispiritedly infected system.

Bootable Antivirus Options

As with any kind of antivirus software, you have rather a few alternatives. Lots of antivirus organizations provide bootable antivirus systems grounded on their antivirus software. These tools are usually free, even when they’re provided by companies that particularized in compensated antivirus solutions. Here are some good options:

• avast! Rescue Disk – We are in favour of avast! for providing a adequate free antivirus with good spotting rates in freelancer tests. Avast presently provides the ability to make an antivirus boot disc or USB drive. Just go to the Tools -> Rescue Disk option in the avast desktop application to make a bootable media.

• BitDefender Rescue CD – BitDefender invariably looks to get good scores in freelancer tests, and the BitDefender Rescue CD provides the same antivirus engine in the pattern of a bootable disc.

• Kaspersky Rescue Disk – Kaspersky also gets good scores in freelancer tests and provides its own antivirus boot disc.
These are just a few of options. If you choose some other antivirus for some cause like Comodo, Norton, Avira, ESET, or nearly any other antivirus product , you’ll likely discover that it provides its own system rescue disk.

How to Use an Antivirus Boot Disc?

Utilizing an antivirus boot disc or USB drive is really very simple. You’ll just require discovering the antivirus boot disc you require to use and burn it to disc or install it on a USB drive. You can perform this part on any computer, so you can make antivirus boot media on a neat computer and then head it to a tainted computer.

Insert the boot media into the tainted computer and then reboot. The computer should boot from the removable media and load the protected antivirus environment. You can then adhere to the instructions on your screen to scan your Windows system for harmful virus and get rid of it. No malware will be executing in the background while you perform this.

About Nick

Nick is a Software Engineer. He has interest in gadgets and technical stuffs. If you are facing any problem with your Windows, feel free to ask him.

Microsoft Defender Offline is a powerful offline scanning tool that runs from a trusted environment, without starting your operating system. This topic describes how to use Microsoft Defender Offline in Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7.

When should I use Microsoft Defender Offline?

Run Microsoft Defender Offline if:

Windows Security (named Windows Defender Security Center in previous versions of Windows) detects rootkits or other highly persistent malware on your PC and alerts you to use Microsoft Defender Offline. You might see a message stating that malware was found on your device, or receive a message in Windows Security notifying you that additional cleaning is required.

You suspect your PC might have malware that’s hiding on it, but your security software doesn’t detect anything. In this situation, you can start a Microsoft Defender Offline scan from Windows Security settings. Here’s how:

Select Start , and then select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection .

On the Virus & threat protection screen, do one of the following:

In an up-to-date version of Windows 10: Under Current threats, select Scan options.

In previous versions of Windows: Under T hreat history, select Run a new advanced scan.

Select Microsoft Defender Offline scan, and then select Scan now.

You’ll be prompted that you’re about to be signed out of Windows. After you are, your PC should restart. Microsoft Defender Offline will load and perform a quick scan of your PC in the recovery environment. When the scan has finished (usually takes about 15 minutes), your PC will automatically restart.

Before you use Microsoft Defender Offline, make sure you save any open files and close all apps and programs.

You typically need administrator rights on the PC on which you plan to run Microsoft Defender Offline.

If you experience a Stop error on a blue screen when you run the offline scan, force a restart and try running a Microsoft Defender Offline scan again. If the blue-screen error happens again, contact Microsoft Support.

Where can I find scan results?

To see the Microsoft Defender Offline scan results:

Select Start , and then select Settings > Update & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection .

On the Virus & threat protection screen in Windows 10, under Current threats, select Scan options, and then select Protection history (In previous versions of Windows it may say Threat history).

Using Windows Defender Offline on Windows 7 and Windows 8.1

Note: On older versions of Windows, Microsoft Defender Offline is still called by its old name: Windows Defender Offline

If you’re running Windows Defender Offline on Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, follow these four basic steps:

Download Windows Defender Offline and install it to a CD, DVD, or USB flash drive.

Restart your PC using the Windows Defender Offline media. This means having the CD, DVD, or flash drive you created in step 1 inserted in the PC when you restart it. Follow the prompts to boot from the drive containing this media.

Scan your PC for viruses and other malware.

Remove any malware that’s found from your PC.

Windows Defender Offline will walk you through these four steps when you’re using the tool. If you’ve been prompted in Microsoft Security Essentials or Windows Defender Security Center to download and run Windows Defender Offline, it’s important to do so. Doing this helps make sure that your data and PC aren’t compromised.

To get started, find a blank CD, DVD, or USB flash drive with at least 250 MB of free space, and then download and run the tool. You’ll be guided through the steps to create the removable media.

Note: We recommend that you download Windows Defender Offline and create the CD, DVD, or USB flash drive on a PC that isn’t infected with malware—the malware can interfere with the media creation.

Table of Contents

If you ran an antivirus error message from a USB drive on your PC, check out these troubleshooting methods.

Download antivirus software from the manufacturer’s website.The downloaded antivirus software will be saved on your hard drive.Plug in your USB drive and double-click the downloaded file to start the installation process.More Articles …

Since portable antivirus software is usually not very large, it is easy to install it on a portable USB drive. This is useful for troubleshooting other computers or for transferring software from a work computer to an infected computer. You can use any of your favorite antivirus solutions or free antivirus software from AVG, Avira, or Malwarebytes. The download and launch process on your portable media is pretty much the same, regardless of the program. Microsoft Windows Defender Offline is a free security tool specially designed to work on a flash drive and clean up a damaged computer.

Why use an anti-virus boot disk

Anti-Virus Boot Disks solve this problem by targeting malware outside of Windows. Boot your computer from an anti-virus CD or USB drive and load a dedicated operating system from the disc. Even if your Windows installation is completely infected with malware, noRedaction programs will not run on a dedicated operating system.

This means that the antivirus program can be launched when installing Windows from the outside. The malware does not start while the antivirus is trying to remove it, so the antivirus can methodically find and remove malware without any intervention.

Not all rootkits can tweak the tricks they use when they start Windows to hide them from the rest of the operating system. Antivirus software can view and remove rootkits.

These tools are often referred to as hot spares. They are meant to be used when you need to rescue a desperately infected system.

Recover Or Delete Infected Files

After scanning your PC, the rescue disk will inform you of the results. When threats are detected, you can choose to remediate automatically (preferred method) or manual execution (alternative method).

After restarting your computer, you can remove the external USB-CD / rescue disk drive.

Follow these steps to start the rescue disk on your USB stick:

Follow these steps to start the Rescue CD on the CD:

1. Turn off your computer and insert the USB rescue disk into the USB port.
2. Insert the Rescue CD into your PC’s CD / DVD drive and shut down your PC.
3. Turn on your computer for scanning. When starting the PC, press the corresponding key to display the Start menu.

• On the BIOS boot screen of your computer, look for text (usually the computer manufacturer’s logo and / or hardware initialization information that appears a few seconds before Windows starts) that shows you how to access the Start menu.

If you cannot access the Start menu, read the documentation for your PC on the manufacturer’s website or contact the manufacturer’s support.

• On the BIOS boot screen of your computer, look for text (usually the computer manufacturer’s logo and / or initialization information And hardware that appears a few seconds before Windows starts), which shows you how to access the Start menu.

• Avast Premium Security 19.x
• Avast Free Antivirus 19.x
• Avast Omni 1.x
• Avast Premier 19.x

• Microsoft Windows 10 Home / Professional / Business / Education – 32/64 bit
• Microsoft Windows 8.1 / Pro / Enterprise – 32/64 bit
• Microsoft Windows 8 / Pro / Enterprise – 32/64 bit
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Basic / Home Premium / Professional / Enterprise / Ultimate – Service Pack 2, 32/64 bit
• Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic / Home Premium / Business / Enterprise / Ultimate – Service Pack 2, 32/64 bit
• Microsoft Windows XP Home / Professional / Media Center – Service Pack 3 32-bit

How do I run a virus scan on a flash drive?

After connecting the USB drive, open My Computer. Right-click on the USB icon and then left-click on “Scan for Viruses” from the drop-down menu. When launching the shell scanner, make sure the include subdirectory is checked and click the green start button (circled below).

How can I protect my external hard drive from viruses?

To prevent your External hard drive from virus attack, always perform regular virus checks. Get yourself a good anti-spyware, and conduct a virus scan before using it. It can prevent you from data loss by possible virus intrusion.

Can you scan an external hard drive for viruses?

To scan a flash or external hard drive, insert it into a USB port. Ignore the dialog box that asks what you should do with the drive. Instead, click Start, then Computer (or My Computer), right-click the drive and select the option to scan for malware.

How do I put a security code on my external hard drive?

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive to your computer via a USB slot. Step 2: Go to This PC, right-click on the external hard drive volume and select Turn on BitLocker option from the context menu. Step 3: Choose the option “Use a password to unlock the drive ”, then enter a password and click Next.

Can we install software on external hard drive?

You can use an external hard drive on your work computer for all of the same tasks as the primary drive inside your computer such as storing applications and your work files. You can download and install software on your external drive instead of your primary computer drive when you run the application’s installer.

Can external hard drives be hacked?

No. A EXT hard drive cannot be “ hacked ”. There is NOTHING to hack.

How do I scan my external hard drive for viruses Windows 10?

Right-click on the USB icon, then left-click Scan for viruses from the drop-down menu. When the Shell Scanner starts, ensure include subdirectory is ticked, and click the green start button (circled below). This will scan your USB drive for any viruses and produce a report like this, which you can then close.

Will replacing my hard drive get rid of viruses?

If your computer is infected with a virus, formatting or erasing the hard drive and starting over often removes any virus. However, if backups of your computer were made and backed up the virus, your computer can be re-infected if not protected by an antivirus program.

How can I remove a virus from my external hard drive without losing data?

How To Remove Virus From USB Without Deleting Files

1. First of all, plug your Pen Drive into your Windows PC.
2. Click on Start and open Run. Here, type ‘cmd’ and hit the Enter button.
3. After this, execute the below command in Command Prompt and press Enter. ATTRIB H:*.* /D /S -H -R -S.

How do I run chkdsk on an external hard drive?

You can nevertheless run a manual disk check on an external hard drive via the CHKDSK utility. To launch this utility, right-click the drive in File Explorer and click “Properties.” Click the “Tools” tab, and then click “Check” to launch the CHKDSK utility, which automatically begins scanning the drive for errors.

How can I lock a folder in external hard drive without software?

1. Step 1Open Notepad. Start by opening Notepad, either from search, the Start Menu, or simply right-click inside a folder, then choose New -> Text Document.
2. Step 3Edit Folder Name & Password.
3. Step 4Save Batch File.
4. Step 5Create Folder.
5. Step 6 Lock the Folder.
6. Step 7Access Your Hidden & Locked Folder.

How do I unlock my Seagate external hard drive?

Unlock the drive

1. Open Toolkit.
2. On the Main Menu, click on the device.
3. Click Unlock.
4. At the prompt, enter your password.
5. Click Continue.

What should I put on my external hard drive?

Here are the top 5 uses for an external drive.

1. Storage.
2. Backups.
3. Digital editing.
4. Data sharing.
5. Gaming.

How do I make my external hard drive my main drive?

How to Make an External Drive Your Main Hard Drive

1. Prepare the USB drive. Install your operating system of choice to the USB drive.
2. Prepare your computer. Access your computer’s BIOS and navigate to the Boot Order menu.
3. Shut down your computer.
4. Attach your external USB hard drive. Plug this drive in to any of the available USB ports.
5. Test the USB hard drive.

What is the fastest external hard drive?

The best external hard drive deals

1. Buffalo MiniStation Extreme NFC external hard drive.
2. Western Digital My Passport Ultra 4TB external hard drive.
3. Samsung T5 SSD external hard drive.
4. Adata SD700 External SSD.
5. WD My Book Duo 4TB external hard drive.
6. Buffalo MiniStation Thunderbolt external hard drive.

Chris Hoffman is Editor-in-Chief of How-To Geek. He’s written about technology for over a decade and was a PCWorld columnist for two years. Chris has written for The New York Times, been interviewed as a technology expert on TV stations like Miami’s NBC 6, and had his work covered by news outlets like the BBC. Since 2011, Chris has written over 2,000 articles that have been read nearly one billion times—and that’s just here at How-To Geek. Read more.

Usually, you boot your computer from its main hard drive, which contains your operating system (like Windows). But occasionally, you may need to boot from a CD, DVD, or USB drive—say, if you’re running a recovery program, or testing out a new operating system like Linux.

In order to do this, you need to tell your computer’s BIOS to load the operating system from a different place than usual. You can do this in two ways: By changing the boot order in the BIOS or UEFI firmware (so it attempts to boot from CD or USB every time), or by accessing a boot menu on startup (so it’ll only boot from CD or USB that one time). We’ll show you both methods in this guide. The first is permanent until you change it again, but should exist on every computer. The latter method is faster, but may not exist on every machine.

NOTE: This process will look different on each computer. The instructions here will guide you through the process, but the screenshots won’t look exactly the same.

How to Change Your Computer’s Boot Order

The boot order is controlled in your computer’s BIOS or UEFI firmware, depending on how new your computer is.

To access the BIOS, you’ll need to restart your computer and press a specific key at the start of the boot process. This key is generally displayed on-screen during the boot process. For example, you may see a message that says “Press to enter setup” or “Press F2 to access the BIOS.” Press the required key at the correct time and your computer’s BIOS will appear.

While Delete and F2 are probably the most common keys, your computer may require another key, such as F1, Escape, or Ctrl+Alt+Escape. If you don’t see the required key on-screen, consult your computer’s manual or search for your computer’s model name and “bios key” on Google. (If you built your own computer, consult the motherboard’s manual instead.)

On a PC with UEFI firmware—which most newer PCs that came with Windows 8 or 10 will have—you may not be able to press a key at boot to access this menu. Instead, you’ll first need to boot into Windows. Press and hold the “Shift” key as you click the “Restart” option in the Start menu or on the sign-in screen. Windows will reboot into a special boot options menu.

Click Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > UEFI Firmware Settings on this menu screen to access your computer’s UEFI settings screen.

This boot menu will also automatically appear if your PC is having trouble booting properly, so you should be able to access it even if your PC can’t boot Windows.

Once you’re in the BIOS or UEFI firmware menu, look for some sort of “Boot” option menu. If you’re lucky, there will be a tab at the top of the screen named Boot. If not, this option may be located beneath another tab.

Use the arrow keys to navigate through the BIOS. To select something, press Enter. You’ll generally see a list of the keys you can use at the bottom-right corner of your screen. Some newer computers with UEFI firmware may allow you to use a mouse on this screen, too.

Locate the boot order screen that lists the boot devices. This may be on the Boot tab itself or beneath a Boot Order option.

Select an option and press Enter to change it, either to disable it or specify another boot device. You can also use the + and – keys to move devices up or down in the priority list. (These steps may be slightly different on some computers; consult the list of keyboard shortcuts on your screen.)

Note that “USB drive” doesn’t appear as an option in the list, even though our computer has USB ports. If we connected a USB device to the computer before starting our computer and accessing this screen, we’d see the USB drive option in the list. Some computers display the USB drive option even when a drive isn’t connected, while some don’t.

The boot order is a priority list. For example, if “USB drive” is above “hard drive” in your boot order, your computer will try the USB drive and, if it’s not connected or no operating system is present, it’ll then boot from the hard drive.

To save your settings, locate the Save & Exit screen. Select the “Save Changes and Reset” or “Save Changes and Exit” option and press Enter to save your changes and restart your computer.

You may also be able to press a specific key to save your settings and reset the computer. Ensure you select the “save and exit” option, not the “discard changes and exit” option.

Once your computer restarts, it will boot using your new boot order priority.

How to Access Your Computer’s Boot Menu (If It Has One)

To reduce the need to change your boot order, some computers have a Boot Menu option.

Press the appropriate key—often F11 or F12—to access the boot menu while booting your computer. This allows you to boot from a specific hardware device once without changing your boot order permanently.

On a UEFI-based PC—again, most PCs that shipped with either Windows 8 or 10 use UEFI—you can choose a boot device from the advanced boot options menu.

From within Windows, press and hold the Shift key and click the “Restart” option in the Start menu or on the sign-in screen. Your PC will restart into the boot options menu.

Select the “Use a device” option on this screen and you can choose a device you want to boot from, such as a USB drive, DVD, or network boot.

ESET SysRescue Live is a free utility that you can use to restore your computer if it is damaged by malware or other threats. If you are experiencing a persistent malware issue, you can boot from a “rescue disk” that you have created directly into ESET SysRescue Live and use the utility to scan and clean your system.

System requirements

• Microsoft Windows 10*, 8.1, 8, 7, Vista, XP, 2000
• Microsoft Windows Server 2000, 2003 (x86 and x64), 2008 (x86 and x64), 2008 R2, 2012, 2012 R2
• Microsoft Small Business Server 2003, 2008, 2011

* ESET SysRescue has been tested with Windows 10 but is not officially supported. It should work in most cases, but you may experience some unreported issues with your system.

Solution

Create a rescue USB or CD/DVD

USB flash drive data will be erased

This procedure will erase any data saved to your rescue USB flash drive. Back up any existing data before you begin.

.IMG file recommended

If you use the .ISO file to make a rescue USB flash drive, it will not be able to save any download updates. For this reason, we recommend using the .IMG file for creating a rescue USB flash drive.

To create an ESET SysRescue Live media on which you can update the Detection Modules whenever you use it with a computer connected to the internet, download the .img image file.

To burn a disc image, right-click the downloaded ISO image in Windows file explorer, select Burn disc image and follow the on-screen instructions.

Use a free third-party software to create a rescue USB flash drive. There are several free utilities available on the internet, such as Rufus, UNetbootin or Universal USB Installer, among others.

On a Linux machine, you can use the dd command in a terminal window:

sudo dd if=/path/to/eset_sysrescue_live_enu.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=4M && sync

In the command above replace path/to/eset_sysrescue_live_enu.iso with the real path leading to the downloaded .iso image file. /dev/sdb is the path leading to the inserted rescue USB. Use the sudo fdisk -l command in a terminal window to double-check the path of the inserted rescue USB.

Scan and clean your system

With your computer powered off, insert your rescue USB flash drive (if you do not have one, see Create a rescue USB or CD/DVD) and power on the computer. If you are using a CD/DVD, insert it as soon as the computer is powered on. ESET SysRescue Live may start automatically. If it does not, follow any prompts to boot from removable media during startup.

Booting from removable media

Most computers are configured to look for bootable media like your rescue disk and will ask if you want to boot from this media during startup.

If ESET SysRescue does not open and you do not receive a prompt to boot from your rescue USB flash drive or CD/DVD during startup, you will need to change the boot sequence on your computer to use ESET SysRescue. On most computers, you can access these settings by pressing one of the function keys (F8–F12), or the ESC key during startup. Please contact your system manufacturer for more detailed instructions.

If your computer has a Windows 8.x or Windows 10 operating system, it probably uses UEFI mode to start the operating system. To use ESET SysRescue, switch to Legacy BIOS mode first.

Select Run ESET SysRescue using the arrow keys and press Enter.

Figure 2-1
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Read the ESET License Agreement, select your preferred option from the Live Grid and Potentially Unwanted Applications drop-down menus and then click I accept the terms in the License Agreement if you agree to the terms.

Figure 2-2
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Click Update → Update virus signature database. ESET SysRescue will download the latest detection modules (If you do not have an active internet connection, skip to step 5).

Figure 2-3
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Cannot update virus signature database?

If you cannot update virus signature database with internet connection available, clear the update cache:

Press F5 to open the ESET SysRescue preferences window.

Click Update , then click Clear (see the figure below) and close the window.

Run Update virus signature database again as described in step 4.

If you still cannot update, try to update at a later time.

Click On-demand scan → Custom scan.

Figure 2-4
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Select In-depth scan from the Scan profile drop-down menu, select the check box next to Computer in the Scan targets window and then click Scan. ESET SysRescue will scan your system and clean infected files. If infected files that cannot be cleaned are found, you will be prompted for the action to take with these files.

Figure 2-5
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RAID partitions

The scanning options are configured to scan the /media folder that includes mounted discs. If RAID partitions are not recognized, mount them manually.

ESET SysRescue Live may not be able to clean detected threats in Windows Vista 64-bit, and Windows 8/8.1/10. Due to the file-system architecture of these operating systems, especially when the operating system is hibernated, ESET SysRescue Live cannot clean threats detected during scanning.

Erase a rescue USB flash drive

You can erase SysRescue data from a rescue USB flash drive if it is no longer needed and you want to use the rescue USB drive for other applications.

Click the folder icon in the start menu bar, or press + E keyboard shortcut to open Windows file explorer.

In the left-hand menu, right-click your USB key.

Select Format.

Change the value of Volume label field to rename your rescue USB for easier identification if needed.