Virtual PC 7 Question

ebcohnebcohn
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
So I just got Virtual PC 7 which I need for a very few yet critical things and am wondering if I need to install a seperate windows based virus protection software package on windows. I have heard both points, however just want to be sure that, say, Norton will not do something bad if installed on windows to the hard drive. Thanks.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 6
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    If I understand well what you say, you want to install some antivirus software (Norton) in the virtual disk in which your Windows installation, needed for VPC, resides. Of course you can, and it would be necessary to do so if you are using the virtual machine in networking. As far as I know, code for windows cannot be executed outside this virtual disk, which is the only one that it is affected if something goes wrong in the windows side. Hope this helps.
  • Reply 2 of 6
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by PB

    As far as I know, code for windows cannot be executed outside this virtual disk, which is the only one that it is affected if something goes wrong in the windows side. Hope this helps.



    Indeed. Or else, the purpose of Virtual PC would be defeated.
  • Reply 3 of 6
    randycat99randycat99 Posts: 1,919member
    Here's the part I am concerned about- since VPC 6, a feature was present where it could automatically mount any local (as in any Mac partition on your HD), network, and removeable volumes as accessible directories within Win XP. This feature can be disabled, but it does offer a degree of flexibility and convenience to leave it on. The catch is what if you get one of those PC viruses running in your VPC disk image? It could delete or corrupt any file on your computer just as easily as it accesses mounted directories within Win XP. Well, that's the theory, but I wonder if it is really viable. Here's the real kicker- if it can peruse any directory in your Mac, it does not seem to be confined to any of the existing permissions enforced by the native Mac OS file system. A windows executable can peruse any directory- even other user accounts. I don't know if it can get to documents that have been "file-vaulted", and I didn't investigate further to attempt a delete operation of any file that should otherwise not be accessible or writeable via permission restrictions. Maybe someone else here would be curious to explore this further?



    Irony presents itself in the VPC feature that allows you to mount your VPC disk image to your Mac desktop, so you can peruse for a document w/o having to start up a VPC to access it. The irony comes from if you are using an NTFS volume which remains secure and inaccessible unless accessed by Windows. See? VPC manages to completely compromise security when it comes to your Mac file system, but maintains security when it comes to accessing NTFS volumes.
  • Reply 4 of 6
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Randycat99

    Here's the part I am concerned about- since VPC 6, a feature was present where it could automatically mount any local (as in any Mac partition on your HD), network, and removeable volumes as accessible directories within Win XP. This feature can be disabled, but it does offer a degree of flexibility and convenience to leave it on. The catch is what if you get one of those PC viruses running in your VPC disk image? It could delete or corrupt any file on your computer just as easily as it accesses mounted directories within Win XP. Well, that's the theory, but I wonder if it is really viable. Here's the real kicker- if it can peruse any directory in your Mac, it does not seem to be confined to any of the existing permissions enforced by the native Mac OS file system. A windows executable can peruse any directory- even other user accounts. I don't know if it can get to documents that have been "file-vaulted", and I didn't investigate further to attempt a delete operation of any file that should otherwise not be accessible or writeable via permission restrictions. Maybe someone else here would be curious to explore this further?



    Irony presents itself in the VPC feature that allows you to mount your VPC disk image to your Mac desktop, so you can peruse for a document w/o having to start up a VPC to access it. The irony comes from if you are using an NTFS volume which remains secure and inaccessible unless accessed by Windows. See? VPC manages to completely compromise security when it comes to your Mac file system, but maintains security when it comes to accessing NTFS volumes.



    VPC is an application. Windows is an OS only within VPC. Outside VPC, Windows is just VPC editing its own data. While I cannot specifically dispute your fear, it is unlikely that Windows can substitute its privileges for those of VPC. The bottomline is that you should not expect VPC to make an end run around the MacOS X 10 privilege model. Data in your home directory are vulnerable to your instance of VPC. Data outside your home directory are not.
  • Reply 5 of 6
    randycat99randycat99 Posts: 1,919member
    Did you test this? I believe I just cited that I was able to search directories outside of my Mac home directory from within Windows.



    EDIT: Ok, just tried it out a little further to see what happens. It appears you are correct that OSX file access is upheld. I can see folders in a foreign user account, but I cannot see inside them (which is consistent with normal access behavior w/o VPC). Additionally, I was blocked from copy/pasting a file within the system library. I could surf throughout the folder tree there, but not make any changes (which is also consistent with normal access behavior). So it appears that the only folders/files that would be vulnerable are those within my home directory and any items elsewhere on the hard drive where my account has specific ownership or access priviledges (I presume). Therein still lies the typical malware-related dangers of the Windows environment upon files that are accessible. So an antivirus program detecting and sensing within Windows would seem in order to protect your personal files that exist inside and outside the VPC hard drive image.
  • Reply 6 of 6
    tim quinntim quinn Posts: 9member
    Good info, i was wondering about VPC 7 myself.



    Don't mean to thread jack, but while on the subject i might as well ask my own question about it as well. On the PC I was a big fan of Counter Strike, now I know that VPC is incredibly demanding and isnt designed to run that powerful of applications, but I was wondering if the 1.8Ghz G5 and a Gig of ram would be able to run counterstrike on VPC even at its most basic hardware settings? Has anyone tried this at all? and if so, how did it perform for you?



    Cheers,

    Tim
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