My computer got infected with the "Security Tool" spyware/malware crap a few days ago, and it was an improved strain apparently. I wasn't able to access the taskmanager, either with CtrlAltDel or by running it in the Run window. And, it wouldn't let me launch any anti-spyware programs like mbam (malwarebytes.org), so I was beat. After much frustration and annoyance, our home computer is back alive again, and better than ever (knock on wood). We built this thing 6 years ago, so it needed some upgrades anway. I bought a new 320 gig hard drive and installed Windows 7 on it, and added an extra 1meg of RAM (up from just 256k LOL). I know its still a dinosaur, but I like it and it works well.
Now, here's the question/problem. Does the malware only affect the OS on that particular hard drive, or could it infect the whole machine? I ask, because all of my family photos and iTunes are on the original 80gig HD that was running my old Windows XP, and I need that stuff. Ideally, I'd like to just connect the old 80gig HD as a slave unit to the new 320gig which runs the new OS. As long as the infected drive is a slave and not running the OS, I should be in the clear, correct?