How to keep Mac safe while running Windows in Fusion?

[AdiosVista]

I'm about to install XP on my machine using VMware Fusion but am concerned about viruses and all the other crap Windows attracts. I'll be using XP for browser testing only so it won't be open all the time but I will use it quite a bit. I also plan to use the same install for Bootcamp to play games.

I'm mainly worried about security. Will any viruses or malicious programs that may get on the XP install affect OSX, or are they well separated? What are some measures I can take to help keep OSX clean and safe? Thanks.

 

[P Mentior]

The viruses won't be able to do anything to the mac partition so don't worry. just a little tip, if you want to use the same install of XP in Fusion and boot camp you need to install it in boot camp first and Fusion will be able to see it.

 

[Mal]

In Fusion, you will get the option of placing your home folder on the Windows desktop as a shared folder, and you can choose whether it will be read-write or read-only. If it's read-only, you're in no danger, but if you set it to read-write, make sure your virus protection in Windows is nice and strong. Windows can't read an HFS+ formatted disk (without any extra software, that is), but if it's accessing it as a network share, which is how Fusion sets it up, it doesn't matter what format it is. So yes, it can affect it, but only if you change it from the default setup (read-only is the default).

jW

 

[AdiosVista]

The viruses won't be able to do anything to the mac partition so don't worry. just a little tip, if you want to use the same install of XP in Fusion and boot camp you need to install it in boot camp first and Fusion will be able to see it.

Good tip, thanks!

 

[AdiosVista]

In Fusion, you will get the option of placing your home folder on the Windows desktop as a shared folder, and you can choose whether it will be read-write or read-only. If it's read-only, you're in no danger, but if you set it to read-write, make sure your virus protection in Windows is nice and strong. Windows can't read an HFS+ formatted disk (without any extra software, that is), but if it's accessing it as a network share, which is how Fusion sets it up, it doesn't matter what format it is. So yes, it can affect it, but only if you change it from the default setup (read-only is the default).

jW

Ok. So if I set up the install as read-only, will I still be able to play Games and test web pages in XP? Sorry for the newb questions.

 

[Mal]

Ok. So if I set up the install as read-only, will I still be able to play Games and test web pages in XP? Sorry for the newb questions.

Yeah, won't mess you up at all. Just to clarify: read-only refers to whether Windows can read your Mac home folder. The other way around shouldn't be an issue.

jW

 

[mckyvlle]

Ok. So if I set up the install as read-only, will I still be able to play Games and test web pages in XP? Sorry for the newb questions.

When the Share Folder is read-only, your Windows will see it as a network share and can copy files from it, but not write files to that share folder.

Yes, you can play games and test web pages. Copy the files you want from the share folder to your drive in XP. (Or for web pages, just view them from the share -- assuming the paths are all correct.)

 

[felixelgato]

Zone Alarm

I'am using 2 diferent Windows XP instances under Parallels, both with zone alarm security suite. It is working very good on both.

 

[AdiosVista]

Great, thank you very much everyone, this is much more clear now.