Virtual Machines/Virus Software

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  1. paulsalter
    Posts : 23,195
    Windows 10
       New #1

    Virtual Machines/Virus Software


    Hi,

    This is unrelated to Win 10 so thought this area might be best

    I put the VMWare Player on my PC to use Win 10 and would also like to now try putting XP on it for a bit of nostalgia, no networking with host but would like internet on it

    Is it safe to run XP under VMWare without any virus protection, can it get a virus onto my host machine

    I am assuming that all that can get affected is the VM and if this happens I can just delete it and re create it

    Thanks for any info
    Paul
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  3. whs
    Posts : 1,935
    Windows 7
       New #2

    The virtual partition is clearly seperated from the host system. There is really no chance a virus could 'jump' from the guest system to the host system. Make a copy of the XP VMware Player folder. Then you can always recover your XP system in case something happens there.

    It should be understood that anything from the internet or another external source that is being transferred from the virtual partition to the host can be infected. This can happen either via a shared partition or a shared clipboard. Before transferring such information, it should be scanned for malware in the virtual partition. Virus total is an excellent tool for that.
    Last edited by whs; 06 Nov 2014 at 07:09.
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  4. jimbo45
    Posts : 11,247
    Windows / Linux : Arch Linux
       New #3

    whs said:
    The virtual partition is clearly seperated from the host system. There is really no chance a virus could 'jump' from the guest system to the host system. Make a copy of the XP VMware Player folder. Then you can always recover your XP system in case something happens there.

    Hi there

    Not trying to be nasty -- but as a MVP surely your info should be a LITTLE more accurate.

    While it's true that an ISOLATED VM won't get a Virus or pass a Virus to the Host - there's no reason why a SHARED Volume on the HOST couldn't pick up a virus and then this could get the XP infected, Then the XP infection could infect the Host again via shared volumes / folders. The virus could even "mutate" on the XP machine so the Host re-infection could be WORSE !!.

    It's not a probable scenario but it IS possible so when running XP VM machines I'd definitely keep them ISOLATED - you can install a VM with NO networking --IMO that's the safest way and that's the advice you SHOULD have been given.

    Cheers
    jimbo
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  6. paulsalter
    Posts : 23,195
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #4

    Thanks for the replies, was going to do this at the weekend but life got in the way

    To clarify a few things
    I am not planning on doing any network sharing with it (unless VMWare automatically creates a share to the host machine)
    The only possible share I would have is OneDrive, but I don't believe this was available in XP, so will be a non issue, will not be installing software to set this up
    I do want it to have internet access

    I am just after setting up XP as it comes and using it as is
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  7. DavidE
    Posts : 353
    Multi-Boot W7_Pro_x64 W8.1_Pro_x64 W10_Pro_x64
       New #5

    paulsalter said:
    I am not planning on doing any network sharing with it (unless VMWare automatically creates a share to the host machine)
    I've been playing around with WTP as a VMware Guest running under Windows 7 Host.
    What I've found is the WTP VM can sometimes see data on the Host even if I haven't explicitly added a "VM Shared Folder".
    It seems to depend on what/where Shares are on the Host OS...

    When you have the VM installed, look in the VM Windows (file) Explorer.
    Check what you can see in Networking.
    You might find something you didn't expect where the VM can access Host data...

    hth,
    David
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  8. paulsalter
    Posts : 23,195
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       New #6

    Thanks, not got VM running at the moment
    Will have a look in the WTP this afternoon and see what it sees
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  9. whs
    Posts : 1,935
    Windows 7
       New #7

    jimbo45 said:
    whs said:
    The virtual partition is clearly seperated from the host system. There is really no chance a virus could 'jump' from the guest system to the host system. Make a copy of the XP VMware Player folder. Then you can always recover your XP system in case something happens there.

    Hi there

    Not trying to be nasty -- but as a MVP surely your info should be a LITTLE more accurate.

    While it's true that an ISOLATED VM won't get a Virus or pass a Virus to the Host - there's no reason why a SHARED Volume on the HOST couldn't pick up a virus and then this could get the XP infected, Then the XP infection could infect the Host again via shared volumes / folders. The virus could even "mutate" on the XP machine so the Host re-infection could be WORSE !!.

    It's not a probable scenario but it IS possible so when running XP VM machines I'd definitely keep them ISOLATED - you can install a VM with NO networking --IMO that's the safest way and that's the advice you SHOULD have been given.

    Cheers
    jimbo
    Now you are really nitpicking. Of course anything can happen with a shared volume, but that is not what the average person does because the setup is not that obvious. Example.
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  10. jimbo45
    Posts : 11,247
    Windows / Linux : Arch Linux
       New #8

    whs said:
    jimbo45 said:
    whs said:
    The virtual partition is clearly seperated from the host system. There is really no chance a virus could 'jump' from the guest system to the host system. Make a copy of the XP VMware Player folder. Then you can always recover your XP system in case something happens there.

    Hi there

    Not trying to be nasty -- but as a MVP surely your info should be a LITTLE more accurate.

    While it's true that an ISOLATED VM won't get a Virus or pass a Virus to the Host - there's no reason why a SHARED Volume on the HOST couldn't pick up a virus and then this could get the XP infected, Then the XP infection could infect the Host again via shared volumes / folders. The virus could even "mutate" on the XP machine so the Host re-infection could be WORSE !!.

    It's not a probable scenario but it IS possible so when running XP VM machines I'd definitely keep them ISOLATED - you can install a VM with NO networking --IMO that's the safest way and that's the advice you SHOULD have been given.

    Cheers
    jimbo
    Now you are really nitpicking. Of course anything can happen with a shared volume, but that is not what the average person does because the setup is not that obvious. Example.
    Hi there

    I'm not going to get into a long tedious argument over this one - but IMO you should simply have said Keep the XP VM isolated or "stand alone" which would have conveyed accurate info without getting into too much detail.

    Little things of OMISSION can cause far more mis-understandings and errors.

    Cheers
    jimbo
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  12. whs
    Posts : 1,935
    Windows 7
       New #9

    To make you happy I have added a paragraph to the original posting.
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  13. lehnerus2000
    Posts : 1,811
    W7 Ultimate SP1 (64 bit), LM 19.2 MATE (64 bit), W10 Home 1703 (64 bit), W10 Pro 1703 (64 bit) VM
       New #10

    Don't forget that viruses can be transferred just like on a real PC (e.g. USB sticks).
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