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I need to run a program, but I don't trust the author. I think it is infected with spyware, viruses, or malicious files. I scanned it and didn't find anything, but I'm still not feeling good about it.
So I was thinking to create another Windows user account.
- Will viruses on one account infect the second account? Do I have to scan both user accounts?
- And if I removed the account infected, will viruses be removed from the PC?
If that won't work then:
- Is there any "sandbox" to do some testing and insure that you're PC is safe?
- Is Virtualbox an option?
I have Windows 7.
. . . and having a backup. – Psycogeek – 2013-08-14T22:48:55.850
@Psycogeek i don't think a backup will work that's why i haven't mentioned it in the question, i searched yesterday and here's what i found http://superuser.com/questions/201468/can-system-restore-remove-virus-from-the-computer
– Lynob – 2013-08-14T22:57:08.4776system restore , no way. a real whole backup of the system, that is restored fully without the system being operational or existing at all, including MBR. Like acronis from a CD, or some such cloning or imaging methods. – Psycogeek – 2013-08-14T23:00:15.673
I wouldn't trust sandboxie to keep you safe if the app requires privilege escalation. Really, the only safe thing to do is run it in a VM. – Fake Name – 2013-08-15T08:29:45.470
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@FakeName A VM is not magically secure, there may be flaws: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine_escape
– Tobias Kienzler – 2013-08-15T10:41:54.037@TobiasKienzler - I know that, but it's sure as hell a lot more secure then just an API wrapper (which is what santboxie is. It wraps the standard windows API, and redirects calls to it into the sandbox). – Fake Name – 2013-08-15T18:45:52.227
@FakeName That is true, I just wanted to state that even a VM (though by design more secure than sandboxie) may not be as secure as an actual physically separated machine – Tobias Kienzler – 2013-08-16T06:43:18.957
Don't forget that viruses can use exploits and zero days to get privilege escalation. There's no way to trust the file without trusting the source. – Gabriel Graves – 2013-08-19T20:38:22.357