Gaming odd issue with freezing

[Devilkid32177]

ok, i don't know how to explain it, but im hoping this will do:

ok, i helped a friend get their pc back up and running after a crash, don't know what they did to it, but now the external HDD i used to help back-up stuff on is literally crashing mine now, so what could be the sure fire issue with it??

im using safe-mode right now

 

[Originality]

No such thing as "sure-fire". If your external HDD, which you know has never had problems before, is causing excessive lockups now... it could either be a communication problem between the PC and HDD (check for dirt on the contacts), or a virus or ten.

Check the contacts, check the cable, check S.M.A.R.T, and run a virus scan. That should considerably narrow down the possibilities.

 

[Devilkid32177]

well the problem is, i really cant run a virus scan on it, so i will check the cables and contacts first, then i will try to run a scan in safe mode to see if anything is a miss on it

im currently running a scan on my pc to see if anything could be wrong there

edit:
ok, what would be a good formatting program, since i was able to connect my HDD in safe mode and found there is a virus on it >__>

 

[Originality]

Oh how I'm not surprised... USB worms can be some of the more interesting viruses to play with, because messing with USB can have many interesting effects (take the PS3 jailbreak for example).

Anywho, for formatting I've always used Windows system tools (right click, Properties). You can do a quick-format to just clean the file tables, or you can do a low level format (overwrite everything on the drive to 0's). I know better tools exist, but I've never needed them so I wouldn't know what's "good" or not.

 

[Devilkid32177]

hmm.. ok ^__^

i did a google search and found the HP USB tools, seems like HP has a lot of issues with USB stuff

 

[Deleted-246289]

Try scanning with an Anti Virus (Use Avira and Malwarebytes' Anti Malware), then use CCleaner to clean it, after that try to use an Autorun.inf Remover, if it didn't work then try formatting.
Please guys let formatting be your last choice.