I've got a headache from thinking about AV software.

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Hi Guys,
As the title says, I have given myself a headache just thinking about installing an Anti-Virus programme on my Mac Mini Aluminium. My problem is that I have Parallels installed with Windows XP. Now, before I switched, which was about 5 weeks ago, XP was my main Operating System and for AV software I used Avast. I had used it for a few years and I was very happy with it. To further complicate matters, Avast don't seem to do a Mac version.
To complicate things even more, my home network still has Windows based computers running on it. My wife can't use Mac software (to old, lol) and there is still a laptop and a netbook on XP and 7. So I figured that my Mac needed AV even if just to stop any virus from spreading through the network to the other PCs.

But here's my problem. Do I get a Mac AV or a Windows AV?
Will a Mac AV detect any problems within the XP bit of Parallels?
Will a Mac AV prevent any nasties from migrating to the XP area of my hard disc and from there to other areas of the home network?
Do I need to get both kinds and save them to specific areas?

Lastly, and I surely hope this is the case, am I overthinking the problem and there is a very simple solution?

Cheers for any info,
Stevie.
 

chscag

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If you're running Windows XP via Parallels on your Mac Mini you should certainly have a Windows type AV program. I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials which is free and protects both against viruses and malware.

A Windows virus can not infect your Mac even when the Mac is running Windows in a VM. If you feel you need an OS X program for the Mac to protect against Windows viruses being spread, I recommend ClamAV. It's free and detects\removes Windows viruses.
 
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Thanks for that info, chscag but that begs another question.
It would seem that what you suggest is that I have 2 AV programmes on my PC, Microsoft Security Essentials AND ClamAV. Is it OK to do that on a Mac?
We were always advised to only ever have one AV running on a Windows PC.

Also, with this ClamAV, I found that only the Beta version could be used in Snow leopard and that didn't seem to have a way of doing a scan on a particular folder. The version of ClamAV that I had running on a G4 PPC Mac Mini DID allow that.
Am I missing some setting somewhere 'cos I can't imagine that you need to do a full system scan just to check a 22 mb download.

Cheers,
Steve
 

bobtomay

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You would not be running two pieces of AV software in the same OS for which you are correct, that is never a good idea.
MSE would be running in Windows and only when you have the VM running, ClamXav would only run in OS X.

Can't help with what clam scans as I do not use an AV in OS X.
 

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