Rescue disks (Safedisk)

 

Sometimes when you are under threat from a certain threats, it may be impossible to start up the computer, or boot it from a virus-free environment. In this case you need to boot the computer from a virus-free boot disk or system disk and scan and disinfect the computer from the floppy disk drive using this floppy disk or others.

 

Platinum Internet Security allows you to create several disks that will make it possible to boot, scan and disinfect a computer in a virus-free environment. These disks are called Rescue disks. A virus-free environment, refers to a computer that has no viruses resident in memory that could interfere with the scan and disinfection processes.

 

Platinum Internet Security includes a tool for creating these disks: Rescue disks. Its function is to create several floppy disks that allow the computer to be booted and scanned. These disks allow the computer to be booted and prevent the viruses from going memory resident when the computer is started up (provided that these disks are virus-free). After creating these disks, it is highly recommendable to write-protect them (using the corresponding tab).

 

Once the computer has started up you can scan and disinfect it using the Rescue disks.

 

It is also worth highlighting that the Rescue disks must be created in a virus-free computer. This guarantees that the floppy disks created are also virus-free. If this is not the case, these disks will be useless as they will not allow the computer to be booted in a virus-free environment.

 

Rescue disks can be created in two ways:

 

From the Windows Start button

1.    Click on the Windows Start button.

2.    Select Programs.

3.    Access the program group Panda Platinum Internet Security.

4.    Select the option Rescue Disks.

5.    A description of the function of the Rescue disks is displayed. Make sure that you have several blank 3 ½ inch high-density floppy disks to hand in order to create the Rescue disks. Click on Next.

6.    You are prompted to insert a floppy disk in the drive. Insert the floppy disk and click on OK (the content of the floppy disk will be lost and certain files will be copied to it).

7.    When the first disk has been created, the wizard will prompt you to insert the rest of the floppy disks in succession. As the disks are created, label them clearly and write-protect them by sliding the tab upwards (this will prevent them from being accidentally deleted or infected by a virus if they are used on an infected computer).

8.    A message is displayed informing you that the Rescue disks creation process is complete. Click on Close.

 

How are Rescue disks used?

If you need to use the Rescue disks to boot your computer from a virus-free environment and scan it, follow the steps below:

 

1.    With the computer switched off, insert Rescue disk 1 in the floppy disk drive.

2.    Switch on, restart or startup the computer. The computer detects an operating system on the floppy disk in the disk drive and will be booted from it.

3.    Follow the instructions displayed on screen.

 

How to use the installation CD as a rescue disk

The Platinum Internet Security installation CD-ROM also acts as a rescue disk in computers configured to boot from the CD-ROM. If this is the case and you want to carry out a Full Scan using the installation CD-ROM as a rescue disk, follow the steps below:

 

1.    Start your computer with the Platinum Internet Security installation CD in the CD-ROM drive.

2.    A screen will appear in which you can select the language. Press Enter to continue.

3.    Then, the welcome screen will be displayed. Press C to continue, or A (Advanced) if the hard disk has more than one partition and you want to select those to be scanned. In this case, after selecting the partition or partitions to scan, press the C key to continue.

4.    After a few seconds the scan will automatically start.

5.    When the scan is complete, information on the files scanned, infected, the viruses detected, etc. will be displayed. If you want to save this information in a text file, insert a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive and press the S key

 

Press the T key to end. Then, the CD-ROM tray will automatically open. When this happens, remove the installation CD-ROM. The computer will automatically restart and boot from the hard disk in the usual way.