I want to test myself.........

General Discussion (off topic) Anything and everyt
#1

I want to test CIS & other Security Softwares myself but I dont have a spare PC. Can I install VMWare on my Production Machine & test?? Is it completely safe??? Which is the best free VM Software??

My Production Machine is WIN XP SP3 with Latest Updates.

Thanxx
Naren

#2

Yes, you can.

If the virtual machine has access to the outside drivers, the worms could spread. It isn’t likely, but technically possible.

VMware Player/Workstation. There is a free alternative VirtualBox, but some software doesn’t work properly in it (eg. CIS).

#3

What do you mean by “If the Virtual Machine has access to the outside Drivers, the Worms could spread”??

VMware Player/Workstation are Freeware. Which one is Good??

Thanxx
Naren

#4

VMWare Workstation isn’t free, it’s pretty expensive!
Virtualbox isn’t recommended (if you are going to install CIS)
VMWare Player is an excellent tool, from my understanding you cannot create a VM with this you can only run a VM

VirtualPC is a great tool (I used it before i knew about Workstation(VMWARE))

Hope this helps!

Jake

#5

So I can install VMware Player & do the tests, right?? And it is completely safe, right??

Thanxx
Naren

#6

Nothing ever is completely safe :stuck_out_tongue: but darn close to it! ;

Confirmed; VMware Player can create VM’s :slight_smile:

But yes VMware player is the better choice out of those 2 my opinion of course…

#7

Virtual machine uses real network adapter, and if you infect VM with worms, it could spread the virus and exploit vulnerable software to infect the real PC (highly unlikely).

VMware Player in free version doesn’t have option to create snapshots. VMware Workstation has some advanced features that VMware Player doesn’t have.

#8

OHH, the memory requirement is min 1gb, I have 512mb, will it run??

This is the 1st time I am doing the tests. Any advice/suggestions??

Thanxx
Naren

#9

512?

I would upgrade your ram… Unless you dont have many apps running…
I would use virtualbox… to be honest… you dont have that alot to share with the guest OS…

Jake

#10

OK, I am giving it a try. Installing now

Thanxx
Naren

#11

You’ll be able to use winXP Pro / home only… and i would customize it before doing any type of testing… (Disable ‘themes’ service, disable printer spooler etc etc)

You’ll be able to give at maximum 300 MB to the guest… but it will be a bit slow… i do recommend again to upgrade your ram :smiley:

Hope all goes well

Jake

#12

I have updated the system to win xp sp3. I have win xp sp2 cd. It will do??

Thanxx
Naren

#13

I really recommend you to have 1,5GB. you can use CTM 2.9 as you snapshot creator. CTM is cool and dam good!

Regards,
Valentin N

#14

Hi naren,

you should sandbox your virtual machine.FullSubject.com is for sale | HugeDomains

But how about theoretical scenarios like malware escaping the Virtual Machine environment?

Well, the solution is to simply run your Virtual Machine sandboxed (I use Sandboxie for this when I am testing malware), and/or enable a system virtualiser (I would suggest Shadow Defender) before testing the malware in your Virtual Machine. In this way, the malware will need to bypass your Virtual Machine as well as Sandboxie and/or Shadow Defender. Then once it’s out, it will still need to bypass LUA + SRP + Hardware DEP.

If you decide to use the manual sandbox of Comodo could you give some feedback, i read that article just a few days ago, and right now i do not have the time to test. I use Virtual PC.

Thanks

#15

For it to be completely safe you would need Comodo blocking inbound on your host, because VMWare uses a network for file sharing, commonly exploited by malware.

#16

Guyzz I wasn’t able to test coz due to low memory it was freezing all the time. In an hour I was able to test just 4 malwares. So I uninstalled it.

Thanxx guyzz for your help & time

Regards
Naren

#17

:smiley: Told ya!, what you could do is install CTM?

Other than that… upgrade your RAM :slight_smile:

Your welcome btw

Jake

#18

Maybe you’d like to give iCore a try? http://icoresoftware.com/windows-virtualization.html

#19

Wow it seems light & also compatible with my system & hardwares. But I dont know anything about this. Is it completely safe like VMware, Virtual Box, etc. VirusTotal - ClamAV detects it as Rootkit.

Thanxx
Naren

#20

It’s safe. You can research about it if you like. Here are some you might encounter along the way.

http://virtualization.info/en/news/2009/07/cisco-keeps-eye-on-icore-software.html
http://virtualization.com/2008/12/29/icore-virtualization-for-use-at-home/
http://forums.techguy.org/reviews/748692-icore-virtual-private-accounts.html
http://forums.windowsforum.org/index.php?showtopic=37171

http://blogs.virtualizationadmin.com/conger/2008/12/29/new-kid-on-the-block-for-operating-system-virtualization/