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transfering virus from pc to mac via ethernet crossover cable?

G

gerz85

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 3, 2006
11
0
I just got a virus/malware a couple days ago on my dell running xp. i guess it happened at just the right time, b/c i bought a new imac from the refresh yesterday.

my question, although highly unlikely, is there a chance that i could transfer that virus from my pc to mac when im trying to transfer my media files from the pc to mac? i only plan on transfering my media files (mp3s, movies, pix, some documents). althought im not 100% sure, i dont think any of these files have been affected.

(i have the "spyware protect 2009" and "hijack.sound" spyware/malware on the pc if that helps)
 
At the present moment, it is not possible to get a virus on a Mac that will work. That being said, the Mac can have the file that contains the virus, but the virus itself will not work, but it you transferred that file back over to a PC, you would infect the PC.
 
You can transfer a virus from your PC to a Mac, but it won't run on or affect the Mac. However, you do need to be careful, since you could transfer that virus back to a PC and infect that PC.
 
gerz85 said:
I just got a virus/malware a couple days ago on my dell running xp. i guess it happened at just the right time, b/c i bought a new imac from the refresh yesterday.

my question, although highly unlikely, is there a chance that i could transfer that virus from my pc to mac when im trying to transfer my media files from the pc to mac? i only plan on transfering my media files (mp3s, movies, pix, some documents). althought im not 100% sure, i dont think any of these files have been affected.

(i have the "spyware protect 2009" and "hijack.sound" spyware/malware on the pc if that helps)
Click to expand...

Windows viruses tend to be .exe files. Mac OS X cannot read .exe files, so even if the virus transferred to the Mac it would just sit there and do absolutely nothing, as the file type cannot be opened.
 
Scippy said:
At the present moment, it is not possible to get a virus on a Mac that will work. That being said, the Mac can have the file that contains the virus, but the virus itself will not work, but it you transferred that file back over to a PC, you would infect the PC.
Click to expand...

Is this better phrased for you?
 
Scippy said:
At the present moment, it is not possible to get a virus on a Mac that will work. That being said, the Mac can have the file that contains the virus, but the virus itself will not work, but it you transferred that file back over to a PC, you would infect the PC.
Click to expand...

Scippy said:
Is this better phrased for you?
Click to expand...

He's just trying to help by making sure that misinformation isn't passed. It IS possible to get a virus on a Mac. At present, none exist. That doesn't mean it's impossible (however unlikely) for one to be created in the future.
 
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