External HDD - Toshiba

I need to back up some or all of Win7 as I am going to install SP1.

However I have a smal issue. I believe my External HDD has a virus on it and I am concerned connecting it to my PC may cause the virus to be passed to the machine.

Is it safe to connect the HDD to my PC?
Can I virus check it?
Would anyone recommend wiping the HDD completly and starting again?

Any other options or suggestions?

This is genuine, and I am sorry to sound daft,

Kind Regards,

Download the Kaspersky Rescue ISO and burn it. Turn off the computer, plug in the external drive and boot the computer from the Rescue CD.
Choose the "Graphical Interface" option, accept the EULA, check the network configuration is correct, update the AV definitions and then scan the external drive.

Many thanks will look into this later

Depending on the ammount of data and the scan settings that you choose, this might take a while. However, if you have real suspicions regarding infection, it's worth taking that time and running with maximum settings.

The files come as a Zipped link, do I burn them Zipped?

Am a bit confused

There are no "zip" files involved.

To boot from CD, you need the ISO image. This must be opened with CD burning software such as Nero which will then create the CD. If Nero or similar isn't available, then use free software such as ImgBurn or Active@ or similar.
Once the CD is created, enter the BIOS and set the system to boot from CD first, save it and reboot with the CD in the drive.
If it boots from the CD successfully, reboot with the CD inserted and the suspect hard drive connected and continue as in the post above.

To boot from a USB pen, you'll need the ISO from the link above and the USB creation tool. However, booting from a USB device to scan a USB device may cause confusion at best or instability at worst.

Many thanks,

I took the plunge and tried it.. VERY good program, returned NO issues.

Fingers crossed it's right

In reply to a post by CJT:

..... Fingers crossed it's right

As long as the definitions were fully updated, I'd trust it over any other scanner.
You'll probably find a Kaspersky folder on your C: drive which can now be safely deleted.