Q:use 2nd hard drive to test harmful file w/o harming main?

[lavista]

My friend told me that you can use the second hard drive to test dangerous file (say that you download to test whether it has virus or not).
but i don't really understand how he did it...(i think i also heard he say something about if the second hard drive is full, when you are running the first one it will not have any effect like slowing the first one....)

Q: I think if you filled up a hard drive that will make the computer run slower right?
(correct me if I get it wrong…)

Is this done by using double OS ? One OS per hard drive, so when i download and open untrustful file in the second one it will not affect anything one the first one?
But if I use double OS, say I open the first hard drive, can I save file into the other hard drive?

I also try to search in the tech forum, and also from google but kind of not get it....
Seem like if i partition 40 GB hard drive into two partition , say partition A=10 GB and partition B=30 GB, and if i install OS into partition A and don't put any file in partition A, then even if i filled up partition B, the computer will not be slow.
It also seem like if i do the same thing with hard drive (instead of partition) it will also give me the same result...

If there is any other way to do it pls help me, I am kind of new with computer ...
(direction / answer will really help)

[Jsy3k]

Well, basic things first:

You do the right thing when you do the partition because quite a lot of people did not do it. The partitions does not improve your speed of your computer. Instead, the main reason why people creates partition on the hard disk is for future purposes in cases where you want to reformat your computer or maybe upgrading to a better Operating System. The second partition is being used purely for your data like your documents. The only thing you have to format, if you need to, is your partition that is used for the Operating System which is the first partition in this case.

Yes, filling up your hard disk near max may slow down the system because one of the main reason is your virtual memory space is being reduced.

The partitions does not necessary isolate the virus-infected file because in the end, it is one hard disk and in the end, it can be infected to other parts of the hard disk. The same thing happens even if you use second hard disk (in this case, it is either an external or a second internal hard disk). In the end, data travels through the cables and virus is a data program in the end. So it is not really a fool-proof way of checking any infected file. If you want to make sure that the virus does not invade your computer, get antivirus software which have background screening, which means it always on constant check and running in the background while you are doing your things normally. I would suggest the Norton family, but the best one I found out so far is the Corporate Edition.
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Innocent Tranquility

The Smile that defies all thoughts of rationality[/

[lavista]

wow thx for the answer jsy3k; that's answer my question^^
btw, is there a way so that you can test a dangerous file without infecting the whole computer ?

what i was thinking to do is:
- use two hard drive say A and B, at A installed window XP, B have window 2K
- Now because they have two different OS, when i start up my pc, say with window XP, can i still access the second hard drive (that used window 2k) like transfering file etc?
- Say if hard drive B is infected by virus, drive A will not be infected right? (correct me if i am wrong), but what will happen if i access drive B when i boot the computer using window XP(drive A)? (will it be infected ?)
-My reason to do this is because if i use drive B as slave, then i think if drive B is infected master will also be infected (if A and B is using the same OS) (again correct me if i am wrong >.<).

-my objective is i try to play with the OS, so that i can play arround with one hard drive say drive A (as test drive without bugging the other drive say drive B ) but still capable of transfering the good file to drive B.
(say if drive A is my test drive, without transfering to another external hard drive and transfer it again to drive B.
AKA ( i want to test a fool-proof way to check infected file, but without the difficulty of transfering virus-proof file directly to the safe drive ^^ (without transfer to thumb drive, and then transfer it from thumb drive to the safe drive))

Any help?>.< more importantly is this possible to be done ?
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Still newbie in computer, trying to fix my English.
Always welcoming correction, suggestion, direction and critiques>.<

[Frundock]

That's not really true, a virus might infect your other OS too. Let'S say it spread into our exe files, well it might scan both your harddrive and infect everything. Best way to check if a file is infected is still the good'ol anti-virus.

One way might be to use file system completely different, let's say you format your drive a in NTFS and drive B in FAT32. Well your system installed on the Fat32 should not have access to the file on NTFS (this would require some config).

You can try and have different breed of OS... Like Linux / Windows to test your files. But this kind of option is really much harder to do then just find a good anti-virus. You can find plenty of free one : Avast or AVG (there is other). There are some you can pay for : Panda Anti-Virus (my fav), Norton, McAffee, Trend-Micro Anti-Virus.

Hope this will help you.

[lavista]

ok thx for the help^^
this really answer my question now yea^^