Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Would WINE open my Mac up to Windows viruses?

W

Wireless Buddy

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2007
199
0
Baltimore, Maryland
I want to use WINE to run one simple Windows only app called Palringo, but I am worried that this may cause my Mac to get Windows viruses because WINE allows you to run Windows apps, which means it would run viruses...

I want to use this one app, but it's not worth giving my Mac bugs. Anyone know?
 
wrldwzrd89

wrldwzrd89

macrumors G5
Jun 6, 2003
12,110
77
Solon, OH
I use WINE myself to run a bunch of Windows apps. It works pretty well. In theory, you are correct - WINE is capable of running Windows viruses as well as regular programs. However, WINE doesn't provide everything Windows has. This means getting some programs running under WINE can be a bit of a pain, as you have to find and install all the various dependencies. The same goes for viruses.

That said, I personally think the reward outweighs the risk, and if you want to minimize your chances of accidentally spreading Windows viruses with your Mac, get one of the Mac OS X virus scanners that detects Windows viruses as well.
 
applemagic123

applemagic123

macrumors regular
Aug 19, 2009
226
0
Bump

So I just received an email stating that a parcel was sent to my address. It has an attachment that the email says has the tracking number. I get the attachment, and it's a zip file, so I unzip it, and it's an exe file. I was like, oh cool, I have winebottler, I can open exe files. I open it and all it did was open wine like the little wine glass on the top menu bar, and it opened, and X11 opened as well but it didn't do anything after that. I closed wine but before it closed a message popped up stating that an error like that has never occurred before and to send the report to wine.

I googled for a letter like this and found out that it is a virus. The exe file I opened was a virus. As soon as I clicked on it, it disappeared and I cannot find it anywhere within the "wine files" folder in the home folder of the finder. Do I have ANYTHING to worry about? I've entered credit card numbers with this macbook I'm on and have had since 2007 and I don't want anyone hacking my computer to get to it.

If anyone cares, I have winebottler so I can use "highgrow 4.0" hehe, don't ask. Also, Chips Challenge.
 
simsaladimbamba

simsaladimbamba

Guest
Nov 28, 2010
22,670
31
located
applemagic123 said:
So I just received an email stating that a parcel was sent to my address. It has an attachment that the email says has the tracking number. I get the attachment, and it's a zip file, so I unzip it, and it's an exe file. I was like, oh cool, I have winebottler, I can open exe files. I open it and all it did was open wine like the little wine glass on the top menu bar, and it opened, and X11 opened as well but it didn't do anything after that. I closed wine but before it closed a message popped up stating that an error like that has never occurred before and to send the report to wine.

I googled for a letter like this and found out that it is a virus. The exe file I opened was a virus. As soon as I clicked on it, it disappeared and I cannot find it anywhere within the "wine files" folder in the home folder of the finder. Do I have ANYTHING to worry about? I've entered credit card numbers with this macbook I'm on and have had since 2007 and I don't want anyone hacking my computer to get to it.

If anyone cares, I have winebottler so I can use "highgrow 4.0" hehe, don't ask. Also, Chips Challenge.
Click to expand...

A Windows virus will only be able to run in Windows, thus your Mac OS X side is safe.
GGJstudios said:
The only anti-virus you need to protect your Mac is education and common sense.
Click to expand...
 
T

themacster298

macrumors member
Feb 20, 2011
55
0
applemagic123 said:
So I just received an email stating that a parcel was sent to my address. It has an attachment that the email says has the tracking number. I get the attachment, and it's a zip file, so I unzip it, and it's an exe file. I was like, oh cool, I have winebottler, I can open exe files. I open it and all it did was open wine like the little wine glass on the top menu bar, and it opened, and X11 opened as well but it didn't do anything after that. I closed wine but before it closed a message popped up stating that an error like that has never occurred before and to send the report to wine.

I googled for a letter like this and found out that it is a virus. The exe file I opened was a virus. As soon as I clicked on it, it disappeared and I cannot find it anywhere within the "wine files" folder in the home folder of the finder. Do I have ANYTHING to worry about? I've entered credit card numbers with this macbook I'm on and have had since 2007 and I don't want anyone hacking my computer to get to it.

If anyone cares, I have winebottler so I can use "highgrow 4.0" hehe, don't ask. Also, Chips Challenge.
Click to expand...

Something similar happened to me. Would deleting Wine altogether solve the problem?
 
T

TheConfuzed1

macrumors 6502a
Jun 4, 2003
925
0
applemagic123 said:
*snip*
Click to expand...

I am a Nigerian prince. I have 32 million dollars that I need to get into the US.

If you will allow me to use your bank account for this transfer, I will gladly pay you half of it, no questions asked.

Until I can convert my currency to US dollars, it is inaccessable, so I will need you to cover the $1,000 cost to process the transaction.

You have demonstrated yourself to be exactly the type of individual I am looking for!

Send your money ASAP!
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
TheConfuzed1 said:
You have demonstrated yourself to be exactly the type of individual I am looking for!

Send your money ASAP!
Click to expand...
Great! Do you want me to fax the money? Or just put it in Dropbox for you? I can buy lots of cool stuff with 44 million dollars..... that's half, right? :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom