windows registry

[mbg19chev02]

When you remove a virus from an internal hard drive without using the computer its in, windows wont change the registry because its using the current local hard drive (which is a different working pc). so how can you change an internal hard drive's registry to match the changes made to it when used as an external hard drive.

[Broni]

Say again, please...

[mbg19chev02]

sorry ill try to be less confusing
say a computer is infected with a virus or malware and it is so bad that it takes to long to bring up the internet for hijackthis or to install a removal program.

now if this is the case i would personally take the internal hard drive out and use a working computer to clean it from the virus's. (i would hook it up with a ide/sata to usb adapter)

now my question: how do i fix the registry of NEWLY CLEANED HARD DRIVE

[Broni]

take the internal hard drive out and use a working computer to clean it from the virus's

Not a good idea, because you may infect other computer.
It's better to download antimalware programs on good computer, burn them to CD, and install them on bad computer from CD.

how do i fix the registry of NEWLY CLEANED HARD DRIVE

It depends what kind of damage was done. If it's a damage from virus itself, it may be fixed by running proper antimalware tools.

[mbg19chev02]

true i fully understand the consequences of hooking up the hard drive to the working computer.

the other working computer (my computer) is fully protected the right way.

I am just curious on how to manually fix the registry keys of the files that were deleted. After i hook up the hard drive back to the original computer.

I have already used several registry cleaner programs which still dont remove all missing keys. at least thats what i think.

its been a long journey to find someone to answer this question

[Broni]

Oh, so you already did it, right?

I have already used several registry cleaner programs which still dont remove all missing keys

NO registry cleaner will fix missing keys. Registry cleaner only REMOVES unnecessary registry keys.
In oreder to fix your registry you'll need Windows CD, unless you have some backup of "bad" hard drive.

[mbg19chev02]

yes i did it ....the hard drive is cleaned "file wise" not "registry wise" i could have exported a backup of the registry from the working computer which is one way to solve this but i dont know how to do this unless i backup the files pertaining to the hives of the registry:
-sam and 4 more i forgot the names though....i found this info from searching...it was unrelated though.

thanks for your quick responses

[Broni]

Registry from one computer won't work on another computer.
What EXACT problems are you having with the "bad" HD? Is it back in original computer?

[mbg19chev02]

well the hard drive had virus's so the problem no longer exists with the virus's but the hard drives registry still sees those virus's even though the virus's are removed.

this is because when you delete the virus(s) from a different computer it doesn't update the registry of the hard drive being cleaned....obviously. so now my repeated question (no offence):

? how do you manually fix the registry to see that the virus's are no longer there ?
(when you hook up the internal back to the original computer)?

[Broni]

registry still sees those virus's even though the virus's are removed

That means, virus was not properly removed.
If infected HD is back in original computer, can you connect to the Internet from that computer, so we can run some tests?

[mbg19chev02]

sure not at this time though....but the registry of that hard drive doesn't update because its hooked up to a different PC....so the virus's wont necessarily remove all the way using this method. unless i can manually change the registry.....back to the question again...

ps. i did this in the past not at this time...i just am curious for future purposes

[Broni]

so the virus's wont necessarily remove all the way using this method. unless i can manually change the registry

I still don't understand. Why are you keeping this HD in another computer, instead of putting it back into original computer, so we can work on it?
Why did you remove it, in the first place?

[patio]

You're making this procedure far more complicated than it needs to be...
The registry is unique to every machine.

[mbg19chev02]

i only do it this way because of it being hard to remove the virus's when the computer is fully infected....it is hard because it takes way to long to install any removal programs...so instead of using the infected computer to fix itself i use a different computer to clean the infected hard drive. then i am curious on how to fix the registry after.

[Broni]

Well, the only way to fix registry, I'm aware of, is to reinstall Windows.