Is an XP guest safer from malware?

[AndrzejL]

I would say it depends on you. If you don't surf porn and other stupid websites, it's relatively safe.

But not even a bit safer then when installed on a non-virtualbox machine which was the question.

Andy

[AndrzejL]

Exactly, no porn and XP will run perfect forever....

Not true.

Andy

[Texstar]

There are so many holes in Windows you could be compromised and not even know it.

[AndrzejL]

There are so many holes in Windows you could be compromised and not even know it.

That's it. You said it Dude.

0 day chasing another 0 day followed by another 0 day...

Andy

[GermanTux]

I will say this about XP in VirtualBox.  Giving XP a nice small 10GB partition really helps speed wise.  It doesn't give NTFS the chance to fragment the hard drive to hell.  My XP guest is faster than any of the XP workstations at work, which run with far more robust resources. 

[moniac]

There are so many holes in Windows you could be compromised and not even know it.

That is why I tell people if you have to use windows to never do online banking with windows. Instead use a linux livecd and I recommend PCLinuxOS livecds.

[menotu]

There are so many holes in Windows you could be compromised and not even know it.

That's it. You said it Dude.

0 day chasing another 0 day followed by another 0 day...

Andy

+1

It's like trying to put a "real glass Window" back together after its been smashed and cracked open - blinkin' impossible!!!

[fraxinus]

Good advice on this thread. I have been running XP guests in VMware and (now) Virtualbox for many years and have had no problems to date.

• Like other posters above, I keep a backup VDI of my guest. If my XP guest messes up I can just set up again by deleting the broken VDI and importing a copy of the backup.
• I do not ever use my XP guests to surf or to access the Internet. There is no need!
• My virtual machine needs to be connected to my LAN, which is plugged into the Internet. I keep the XP guest away from the Internet by setting a bogus proxy server address under XP's Internet Settings>LAN Settings. I also keep Zone Alarm firewall installed on the XP guest and set it to deny Internet access to all programs installed on the guest.

[pags]

Good advice on this thread. I have been running XP guests in VMware and (now) Virtualbox for many years and have had no problems to date.

• Like other posters above, I keep a backup VDI of my guest. If my XP guest messes up I can just set up again by deleting the broken VDI and importing the new one.
• I do not ever use my XP guests to surf or to access the Internet. There is no need!
• My virtual machine needs to be connected to my LAN, which is plugged into the Internet. I keep the XP guest away from the Internet by setting a bogus proxy server address under XP's Internet Settings>LAN Settings. I also keep Zone Alarm firewall installed on the XP guest and set it to deny Internet access to all programs installed on the guest.

Out of curiosity, are there network resources other than file shares XP needs access to?

I ask, because if the answer is "no", you could setup a shared folder to allow the exchange of files, and otherwise deny XP network access in the VBox settings, removing the need for proxy changes or Zone Alarm...

[fraxinus]

Out of curiosity, are there network resources other than file shares XP needs access to?

I ask, because if the answer is "no", you could setup a shared folder to allow the exchange of files, and otherwise deny XP network access in the VBox settings, removing the need for proxy changes or Zone Alarm...

Good point! Until I acquired a LAN 18 months ago, I too simply disabled networking in VMware and Virtualbox to keep my XP guest away from the internet.

[j-retired]

I may be missing something, but I have been running XP onVBox for a long while without problems.  no AV or FW, but when I tried a "shields up"test it showed no ports at all visible to an outside probe. I took this to be an indication of a reasonable security level.
I agree that sloppy use of the browser could drop me right in it, but surely otherwise this sounds pretty safe?

J

[AndrzejL]

ShieldsUp is testing the "External" IP not the LAN one which VBox is using.

Andy

[pags]

I may be missing something, but I have been running XP onVBox for a long while without problems.  no AV or FW, but when I tried a "shields up"test it showed no ports at all visible to an outside probe. I took this to be an indication of a reasonable security level.
I agree that sloppy use of the browser could drop me right in it, but surely otherwise this sounds pretty safe?

J

That doesn't protect against "drive-by" infection (if access the Internet from XP), because those connections are initiated from  within XP, natted through (possibly your PC and) your ISP, and then allowed back into XP...

[AndrzejL]

I may be missing something, but I have been running XP onVBox for a long while without problems.  no AV or FW, but when I tried a "shields up"test it showed no ports at all visible to an outside probe. I took this to be an indication of a reasonable security level.
I agree that sloppy use of the browser could drop me right in it, but surely otherwise this sounds pretty safe?

J

That doesn't protect against "drive-by" infection (if access the Internet from XP), because those connections are initiated from  within XP, natted through (possibly your PC and) your ISP, and then allowed back into XP...

Indeed.

Andy

[j-retired]

I may be missing something, but I have been running XP onVBox for a long while without problems.  no AV or FW, but when I tried a "shields up"test it showed no ports at all visible to an outside probe. I took this to be an indication of a reasonable security level.
I agree that sloppy use of the browser could drop me right in it, but surely otherwise this sounds pretty safe?

J

That doesn't protect against "drive-by" infection (if access the Internet from XP), because those connections are initiated from  within XP, natted through (possibly your PC and) your ISP, and then allowed back into XP...

Oops!! So I've been lucky so far.  Can you explain that a little more fully for me please - I don't fully understand what you're saying.

j