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can I get a windows virus through osx internet?

F

faumble

macrumors regular
Original poster
If I only connect to internet from macosx, can I get a virus that affects the windows part? I mean, can I get a windows virus through macosx? I plan to not connect to internet through windows so I don't get any viruses.
Thanks in advance!
 
Thanks! I am curious Why is it that I cant get one and why there aren't any mac viruses?
 
well, i believe you can get a virus but it won't affect you.

but if you forward it to a pc... just hope the person receiving it has an up-to-date antivirus software 😀
 
You can get a virus by downloading anything with a virus in it, or opening any email attachments with a virus in them, just like on Windows. Except, it won't do anything. OS X won't know what to do with the virus's code. It'll just sit there and be a bunch of 1's and 0's, like a pointless duck in a foundry. It won't hurt you, but you can pass it on to other Windows machines if you email it to someone or transfer the file.
 
faumble said:
Thanks! I am curious Why is it that I cant get one and why there aren't any mac viruses?
Click to expand...

there are a lot of threads that discuss this. search for "mac virus" and read on...

the one which i personally believe in is, the unix core is stable, which means, to get to one level, you would need to type in the admin password. and to do that, a person must have physical access (or using remote desktop...) to the computer etc. etc.

anyway, don't worry about viruses. just enjoy the apple experience and be happy about it.
 
thanks!, so lets say I am on osx and I download a windows virus, this wont affect me while I am on osx, but what happpens when I reboot through windows? it will affect me right?
EDIT: so my idea of connecting through internet only from osx to protect windows from getting viruses wont work..?
 
faumble said:
thanks!, so lets say I am on osx and I download a windows virus, this wont affect me while I am on osx, but what happpens when I reboot through windows? it will affect me right?
Click to expand...
Again the short and simple answer is no. If you downloaded a windows virus while using OSX then rebooted into windows using bootcamp, the only way that virus could infect the windows side is if you went looking for it on the Mac partition and decided to open it.
 
faumble said:
thanks!, so lets say I am on osx and I download a windows virus, this wont affect me while I am on osx, but what happpens when I reboot through windows? it will affect me right? so my idea of connecting through internet only from osx to protect windows from getting viruses wont work..?
Click to expand...

OK.

You are in OS X, and download a file. This file happens to have a Windows virus attached to it. IT cannot and will not hurt OS X in the slightest.

Now, you reboot into Windows... unless you are using MacDrive, that file cannot hurt you in Windows either. Windows by default has no idea what to do with your OS X partition, and can neither read from it, nor write to it. MacDrive lets you do that, but then on Windows you should have an anti-virus program.

Now, as to your original statement.... there is no difference in the internet, whether you connect from linux, your cell phone, windows, or os x. They al go to the same place.
 
I have the same problem, only opposite.

I got a virus through my Windows side (and it's one I've had before that has killed my last computer [a PC]), so I immediatly shut the Mac down, booted into my Mac side, and erased the Windows partition from the hard drive it was based on.


1) Am I safe?
2) Is it okay to reinstall Windows?
 
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