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Got a cheap new laptop to play old games with a VM of Windows XP/7, with the host being Windows 11.

Using a WiFi that isn't my own (as I don't plan on connecting to the internet with this laptop) I installed whatever updates were needed, along with Bitdefender and VirtualBox (Networking functionality wasn't included).

My questions are; do you think this is enough to keep the laptop secure and malware free? The only "risky" thing I imagine I'd be doing is sharing files/usb devices with the VM from the host. Would antvirus software be needed in the VM OS?

Thanks.

larld
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    Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. – Community Jul 22 '22 at 18:59

1 Answers1

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  • Make sure your guest OS LAN adapters are configured as a NAT connection. This will protect the guests from LAN connections which cannot be considered safe (even from your Host OS).
  • Make sure your host is fully updated and is running at least Windows Defender.
  • In your guest OS'es as long as you run known good binaries there's no need to install an AV besides there are no modern AVs which still support XP. Most still support Windows 7 though.
  • If you feel adventurous enough, enable ESU updates for your Windows 7 guest. This would be considered warez here, so Google is your friend.
Artem S. Tashkinov
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  • Thanks for answering. Would you mind elaborating on your first point on LAN adapters. Would the fact that my internet would be off mean I wouln't need to configure this? What exactly do you mean by binaries? Thanks. – larld Jul 23 '22 at 22:56
  • If you don't enable a network adapter it's even better. "Binary" is a different name/word for "application". – Artem S. Tashkinov Jul 24 '22 at 12:04