How do i safely transfer data from virus ridden HD to new computer

[GShcleich]

Hey Toms,
Been reading information here for a long time, first time poster.
I gave a new dell inspiron to my in laws because their 10 year old, virus ridden dinosaur finally died. They asked if there was any way i could transfer some files ( resumes, pictures, etc. ) from the their old computer to the Inspiron i gave them. Im VERY computer savvy, but never attempted this before. So here i am lol.
Upon inspection, the HD out of their dinosaur has the same connections as the HD in new Inspiron. My questions are:
1) Is it ok to take the HD out of the new inspiron and put the dinosaur HD in and attempt to clean it with my usual antivirus and malwarebytes WITHOUT the possibility of the new inspiron somehow getting infected when i put the original (new/safe) HD in?
2) If i do the above ( assuming its safe, ill wait for your guys' opinions and advice ) and im not able to remove all the viruses, whats my best option to attempt to transfer a few files and pictures to the Inspiron HD?
I do not have any external drives available, but i do have a few 4gb-16gb thumb drives available. I also have a flash drive vaccination tool with my Panda antivirus and , of course, Malwarebytes.
Would it be safe, assuming im not able to remove the viruses, to transfer the files from the infected hard drive to thumb drive, then reinstall the original inspiron HD and insert the USB, then run my thumb drive vaccine tool and proceed to put the files and pictures on the Inspiron?
If this is confusing, please let me know. Ill attempt to clarify any confusion or questions.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

1) Is it ok to take the HD out of the new inspiron and put the dinosaur HD in and attempt to clean it with my usual antivirus and malwarebytes WITHOUT the possibility of the new inspiron somehow getting infected when i put the original (new/safe) HD in?

It almost certainly won't boot, because of drivers plus licensing.

Get a USB-SATA (or maybe PATA, if it's that old) cable, and connect the old drive to the new machine. Then copy stuff off. You'll probably be safe from any but the most invasive viruses, especially if you give any files you copy a scan with a decent tool.

 

[ComputerSecurityGuy]

With Windows? A lot of malware will spread via drives. Really the right way to copy is by booting a Linux LiveUSB and copying over only select files. It will probably be faster, Windows has some idiotic permissions scan that takes ages and then keeps popping up with permissions errors.