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I tried to upgrade to 14.04 yesterday, but there was a problem with a partition being too small (the swap file, I think).  The installer said that if I didn't go back and increase the size, the installation might fail.

So I did go back.  I increased the size of the most likely suspect in GPARTED.  At which point neither Ubuntu nor XP was happy with the partition table.

I ran the XP installer and got XP SP2 running again, at which point I decided to boot & nuke the external drive.  Next I will boot & nuke the internal (XP) drive, just to be sure everything is clean, then I'll re-install XP, followed by Ubuntu 14.04.  Hopefully, I'll end up where I want to be - a dual-boot with Ubuntu and XP (where XP isn't allowed online), and a known clean external drive on which to save Norton Ghost files of the XP installation...

Thanks for your help guys.  Feel free to tell me if I'm barking up a wrong tree!

Here are the two outputs Mark and Chemicalfan,

And I know you're going to tick me off for this, but the installed version I did the tests in is Ubuntu 9.04.

However, I've also tried the drive in a live CD of 14.04 with the same result (IE: not visible).  I'm intending to install 14.04 soon, but I used 9.04 for the tests as it boots infinitely quicker.  I assumed the results would be the same in both versions. Am I wrong?

[email protected]:~$ sudo blkid
[sudo] password for mike:
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for mike:
/dev/sda1: UUID="80D419D7D419CFF0" TYPE="ntfs" LABEL="data"
/dev/sdc1: UUID="6C74B52774B4F4C4" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sdc2: UUID="AEDCCEF6DCCEB7BB" LABEL="Ubuntu" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sdc5: UUID="470c2e75-fa21-45f3-a77c-bcc5b88a55d2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdc6: TYPE="swap" UUID="f984b42f-e6db-4a1a-87d3-96ffc85e8a53"
[email protected]:~$





[email protected]:~$ mount
/dev/sdc5 on / type ext3 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
tmpfs on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=620)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.28-11-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw,mode=755)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/mike/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=mike)
[email protected]:~$

Hello Mark,

Here's the output from the terminal. The external drive in question is indeed a Maxtor one-touch, but I can't find it anywhere although Linux can obviously see it.  This may well be something simple - like my ignorance of how Linux works - so assume little or no knowledge on my part!

Thanks also for your input, Chemicalfan.


[email protected]:~$ dmesg | tail -n 30
[  779.232020] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] 160084992 512-byte hardware sectors: (81.9 GB/76.3 GiB)
[  779.438385] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[  779.438387] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 1c 00 00 00
[  779.438390] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  779.439006] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] 160084992 512-byte hardware sectors: (81.9 GB/76.3 GiB)
[  779.645266] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[  779.645268] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 1c 00 00 00
[  779.645270] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  779.645273]  sdd: sdd1
[  779.668853] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI disk
[  779.668914] sd 9:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[  829.256883] usb 2-6: USB disconnect, address 3
[  849.832012] usb 2-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
[  849.965104] usb 2-5: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[  849.965410] scsi10 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
[  849.965877] usb-storage: device found at 4
[  849.965880] usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
[  854.964122] usb-storage: device scan complete
[  855.170007] scsi 10:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Maxtor   OneTouch         0201 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
[  855.170988] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] 160084992 512-byte hardware sectors: (81.9 GB/76.3 GiB)
[  855.377252] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[  855.377255] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 1c 00 00 00
[  855.377257] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  855.377874] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] 160084992 512-byte hardware sectors: (81.9 GB/76.3 GiB)
[  855.584132] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] Write Protect is off
[  855.584135] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] Mode Sense: 1c 00 00 00
[  855.584137] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  855.584140]  sdd: sdd1
[  855.607093] sd 10:0:0:0: [sdd] Attached SCSI disk
[  855.607153] sd 10:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg4 type 0
[email protected]:~$

No, I can't see it in Gparted or the file manager.

Not sure what you mean by Disk Utility - I'm very much new to Linux

Hello Folks,

Me again.

I'm now running Ubuntu and XP as a dual boot. The intention is to keep XP offline, just to use as a workhorse for stuff I want to do.

The problem is, I want to use an external hard drive to store Norton Ghosts of the XP installation, but first I need to wipe the drive in Linux to make sure it's free of any rootkits.

Obviously I don't want to access the external drive in Windows in case it re-affects the system.  But I can't get Ubuntu to see it.  Any clues please?  It's an old Maxtor 80gb USB/IDE drive.  Ubuntu sees a USB stick, but not the USB Maxtor.

Thanks in anticipation.....

Just an update for all you kind folks who took the time to help.

Well, I boot & nuked the drive, reinstalled XP and Ghost, then restored from a ghost file which had been on an external drive, so shouldn't have been infected.  Then I did a scan with Avast (clean) and started reinstalling software/doing updates etc.

When I installed Adobe Premiere, Avast detected a 'threat', so I did a boot scan and, guess what?  Good old hupigon was back!

I'm now fairly convinced that these were false positives all along, but I boot & nuked again and reinstalled XP again.  Been too busy to think ever since, so that's as far as I got, but I'm going to scrap all ghost files and reinstall absolutely everything from scratch, as and when I get time.  Also, I won't necessarily believe Avast in the future.  I'll use several antivirus packages and see what the consensus is on future 'threats'

Meanwhile, I'm using an old PC which is adequate for my current level of usage.

Thanks again for all your help.  No doubt I'll be back with Linux questions at some point!

By the way - something odd about the time of this post.  It shows as 8:56pm, but as I type this amendment it's still only 8:36pm.

Just copied a folder in the same way.

The problem seems to be B) writing to the new Truecrypt file.

Thanks Mark.  Obviously I need to look at the new file and maybe re-create it. (As this drive is intended only to hold the data temporarily, I suppose I could not bother to encrypt it anyway).

I'm floundering a bit because my knowledge of Linux is fairly limited (but growing).  Everything takes longer when you're unfamiliar with the OS.

Off to bed now.  Will carry on tomorrow.  Thanks for your help.

Mike

Yes,

I've just copied a file from the old Truecrypt pn to the new drive (but into the unencrypted space, not into the encrypted file).

Me again!

Got the 500gb drive today, formatted it and created a Truecrypt file.

Then I mounted the new Truecrypt file and the old Truecrypt partition and tried to copy the files off onto the new drive (in a USB caddy).

Should have been easy, but for some reason I keep getting the response  "Error: Operation not permitted".

I don't know whether this is a Truecrypt problem or a Linux problem.  Can anyone shed any light on this please?

Just a quick update.

I've now spent hours on this and got nowhere, so I'm intending to cut my losses and take up Chemicalfan's suggestion of nuking the whole drive and starting over.  That's a fair amount of work in itself, but at least I'll know what I'm doing and should end up with a clean install.

I've got most of the important files off using puppy, and I've just ordered a 500gb drive to copy the rest off (it's on an encrypted partition - thanks Mark for pointing out that Truecrypt also works in Linux).  Once that's done, it's Boot & Nuke time.

I will keep an XP installation, although I intend to dual boot with Linux (probably some variant of Ubuntu), and maybe also get Windows 7, despite Microsoft's offensive approach to licensing.  I'll restrict my browsing to Linux and/or a VM.  I'll also keep all ghost files on an external drive, rather than keeping the most recent on a separate internal one.  That's what I'm kicking myself for most, although I've never known anything to infect a ghost image before.  Some things you just have to learn the hard way!

I'm liking Linux more and more, so I'll probably be back asking dumb questions from time to time.

Thanks to everyone who took the time to help.  Happy New Year.

M

Deliver?  I don't stoop to deliver!

I'm a collections driver.

Deliveries are hard work.

Hello Folks,

Just so you know, I'm still here and I will post back with any progress.  I appreciate your suggestions and will try them asap.  The thing is, I work for Royal Mail, and it's Christmas, so I'm not getting much free time.

Later!

M

Thanks folks,

I will try some of your suggestions as soon as I get a few minutes to myself!  At the moment I can't devote enough time to do it properly, which is a pain, since I'm stuck with a slow, old machine in place of my usual one.

No, it's not SAGE, Mark. It's a very old DOS package which she had a hand in designing, so it does exactly what she wants of it.

Ideally, I want to keep an installation of XP for use offline. I'd been thinking of creating a brand new, fully updated one just before microsoft finally pulls the plug on April 8th 2014 and ghosting it, so maybe this virus isn't such an inconvenience anyway - at least now I can't forget about it until it's too late!

I'm going to clean the infected disk one way or another and do that, then I'll create a dual boot with some flavour of linux (assuming I can get one to run on this hardware).  One thing's for sure, I'll do all my surfing in a VM in future to avoid this situation.

I will post back and report progress, as soon as I've made some!

Thanks again for your time.  All suggestions welcome.

Thanks Mark,

I know XP's days are numbered (although as I understand it, over 40% of the world's corprations are still using it), but I'm running various Windows-based software I don't want to be without (Truecrypt, to name the most important).  Also, my wife is a self-employed bookkeeper who needs to exchange files with her Windows-based clients.  So it's not quite as simple as swapping Linux for Windows - not to mention the learning curve, which I would enjoy, but don't have the time for....

I've been wondering which way to jump for a while now, and Linux ticks most of the boxes, but there's still hardware compatibilty - I've never managed to get any distro running happily on my main PC, other than in a VM.

My instinct is to ditch Microsoft and move to Linux, but that may not be possible overnight.  I need a period of dual-booting and learning.  Meantime, I need access to my encrypted files and certain Windows/DOS applications.  I've been thinking about Windows 7 but I hate Microsoft's approach to licensing/activation.  Ultimately, I know I'll move to Linux.  The problem is managing the transition.

Thanks Chemicalfan,

Considering at the lengthy procedures for eliminating the thing anyway, a fresh start is looking more and more appealing.

How would I completely erase the partitions in question from Linux?

Bear in mind we are talking about a partitioned drive - do I need to worry about the other partitions which haven't so far been found to be infected?  Also, if I nuke the system partition do I still need to nuke the partition table? I assume deleting the latter means losing every partition on the drive.