Do I need Anti Virus in a Windows XP VM?

Discussions related to using VirtualBox on Mac OS X hosts.
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mikesh5
Posts: 6
Joined: 18. Mar 2010, 13:15
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows XP

Do I need Anti Virus in a Windows XP VM?

Post by mikesh5 »

Hi,
Just installed Virtual Box on my iMac running Snow Leopard.

I plan to run a Windows XP VM within Virtual box to run a couple of Apps I cannot get for the Mac

Quick question ... Do I need to take the same precautions within the Windows VM as I would in a normal Windows PC environment?
In other words, do I also need to install anti virus software within the VM environment? ... or now that I have this, do I need to run Anti Virus
on the Mac under Snow Leopard to protect both the Host and the guest environments?

Any advice/suggestions appreciated

Thanks
tb2571989
Posts: 145
Joined: 10. Sep 2009, 14:28
Primary OS: MS Windows 7
VBox Version: PUEL
Guest OSses: Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 R2, Ubuntu 9.10, Ubuntu 10.10

Re: Do I need Anti Virus in a Windows XP VM?

Post by tb2571989 »

Only, really, if you are connected to the internet. I would suggest something such as Microsfot Security Essentials as it does a fairly decent job (but bear in mind that this is not a firewall). Then again, you could take snapshots before installing programmes/at certain points and as soon as you think you may have a virus then you can revert back to a previous snapshot.

Personally, no, I wouldn't.
mikesh5
Posts: 6
Joined: 18. Mar 2010, 13:15
Primary OS: Mac OS X Leopard
VBox Version: OSE other
Guest OSses: Windows XP

Re: Do I need Anti Virus in a Windows XP VM?

Post by mikesh5 »

I will not use an IE browser (or any other for that matter) within the VM environment, but each application will connect to the internet for updates etc.
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