Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!

Prevent Windows' viruses from infecting Mac files in Fusion Apps
VMWare Fusion shares your /User directory with virtualized Windows installations. This is done automatically and also independently of OS X's file sharing systems, so it works even if both Personal File Sharing and Windows Sharing aren't activated in System Preferences (and even if OS X's firewall is turned on). Needless to say, if the virtualised Windows computer is hit by a virus or worm, there's no reason why it won't ransack the files in your shared /User directory. Some viruses even target shared folders.

The solution is to turn off Fusion's sharing feature, and then create a shared folder in the virtual Windows machine, which you can access via OS X's Finder. This way, any virus or worm won't "see" files on the OS X host, but you can still swap files back and forth. The following instructions are for a virtualized XP Home. The sharing preferences dialogs are slightly different in XP Pro, but you should be able to figure it out. Once these instructions are followed, you can still drag files between the virtual machine and the OS X desktop:
  1. Shut down the virtual Windows using Start -> Turn Off Computer.
  2. Click Settings on the Fusion window for the virtual machine, click Shared Folders in the list on the left, and remove the checks against Enabled and Enabled at Power On.
  3. Restart the virtual machine.
  4. Once booted, right-click the folder you want to share (such as My Documents) and click Properties.
  5. Click the Sharing tab and click the hyperlinked text that reas "If you understand the security risks but want to share files..."
  6. In the dialog that appears, click Just Enable File Sharing, and click OK.
  7. Click Share This Folder On the Network, and then click Allow Network Users to Change my Files. Click OK.
  8. Now you need the IP address of the virtualized Windows computer. This will probably be 192.168.61.129, but you can check by clicking Start -> Run, typing cmd, and typing ipconfig at the prompt. Look for the line that reads IP Address.
  9. On the OS X host computer, open a Finder window and click Go -> Connect to Server.
  10. On the Server Address line, type smb://192.168.61.129 (possibly replacing the IP address with the one you discovered earlier). Click Connect.
  11. A dialog should appear letting you log into the Windows share. You might have to type your Windows username and password. If there's no password, leave the password field blank.
Of course, you can create an OS X desktop shortcut to the share, too. Just right-click the icon that appears after you mount the share and click Make Alias. Be sure to drag the new mount to the Trash before shutting down the virtual machine. If you fail to do this, OS X will get angry and will punish you :).
    •    
  • Currently 2.50 / 5
  You rated: 5 / 5 (6 votes cast)
 
[12,232 views]  

Prevent Windows' viruses from infecting Mac files in Fusion | 3 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'Prevent Windows' viruses from infecting Mac files in Fusion' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Prevent Windows' viruses from infecting Mac files in Fusion
Authored by: imageworx on Jul 24, '07 07:40:56AM

I was told (by VMWare) that this only affects the "Windows EASY Install" of VMWare. Otherwise, this is off by default. This is also documented in the VMWare user documentation.

---
To BeOS or Not to BeOS



[ Reply to This | # ]
Prevent Windows' viruses from infecting Mac files in Fusion
Authored by: eykanal on Jul 25, '07 06:46:19AM

Does anyone have any comment on the security hole opened by allowing access to the folder? I'd be interested in hearing if this is a quick way to completely ruin your computer.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Prevent Windows' viruses from infecting Mac files in Fusion
Authored by: sofa surfer on Jul 29, '07 05:23:08AM

VMWare fusion allows you to select read-only when you enable shared folders. This would prevent a virus from damaging any files on the host.



[ Reply to This | # ]