Parallels and Virus Concerns with XP

As a recent convert from XP to MAC, I have just one or two XP applications I would like to keep using (MS Money and Quickbooks). I decided to use Parallels 4.0 and plan to install XP Pro.

I do not plan to surf the net with XP. The only time I would go online with XP would be to download my bank statements.

Given this senario, do I need to install virus protection software? I would MUCH prefer not to if possible ( I distain the need for continuous upgrades and pop-up windows that come with most virus projection applications).

I deal with a nationwide bank. Am I correct in assuming bank statement downloads is a relatively low risk environment for a virus?

Thanks

even tho your are running windows in a virtual machine, i would recommend a virus protection system of some kind.
after all as far as windows is concerned its just running on a normal pc in the normal way.

As long as a Windows machine is connected to the Internet (even if it's a virtual machine), you run the risk of being infected with something if you don't run any Anti-Virus software.

As an alternative to Microsoft Money, I would recommend you try out iBank. MS Money was one of the few Windows apps I continued to run after I switched, but after finding iBank, I dumped MS Money like a cheap date on Prom night.

If you have a router in front of your computer, and you have the firewall turned on in Windows, and you are only connecting to the bank, I'd say you are reasonably safe.

The random exposure of a virtual machine to someone from the outside should be extremely minimal. The VM will not be the first choice for open ports (as they are called). The Mac would be, which has most of them closed by default.

As long as you don't browse to untrusted sites and don't use e-mail on the XP VM, I don't see you having issues.

You could run anti-malware software manually to perform the occasional check. To reduce cost there are free versions available.

It comes down to how paranoid you are and the amount of inconvenience you want to deal with. In this case I don't think the extra layer is worth it.

xstep said:

It comes down to how paranoid you are and the amount of inconvenience you want to deal with.

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Running Anti-Virus software isn't as inconvenient as trying to remove a virus after the fact, and even potentially having to reinstall Windows.

Khris said:

Running Anti-Virus software isn't as inconvenient as trying to remove a virus after the fact, and even potentially having to reinstall Windows.

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True, but I've never had to deal with that.;D

In any case, viruses inside your virtual machine will not have any effect on Mac OS X. Definitely try iBank though, it's a good app and is much easier then running an entire VM just for one program.

ADKhikerVW said:

In any case, viruses inside your virtual machine will not have any effect on Mac OS X.

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If you have a OS X folder exposed to the VM then potentially that can be affected by malware.

xstep said:

If you have a OS X folder exposed to the VM then potentially that can be affected by malware.

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Yeah, but it won't be able to do anything to your OS X system. It would just sit there uselessly.

Just have the firewall on and you'll be fine. Don't download anything stupid but since you wont be on the internet you have no worries.

xstep said:

True, but I've never had to deal with that.;D

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Never say never.

I don't use AV in my Windows VMs. Instead I simply install Windows, get it setup exactly how I like it, then shut down the VM. I then make a copy of the virtual hard drive (which is contained in a single file) and copy it off to my backup drive. Then if and when there's a problem, all I need to do is delete the existing hard drive file and restore the clean slate from backup. It takes mere minutes and my Windows installation is completely sandboxed. I don't need to worry about spyware/viruses or any malware, and of course, no Windows "rot" either.

Khris said:

Never say never.

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I did use the past tense. ;D

I started using iBank this year, switching from Money. I really like it so far and it is easy to get help. But, I do not download anything from the internet.