Advice Request What is better a VM or a whole another pc/laptop for testing/trying out new stuff (like software)?

[ng4ever]

I can't be sure. Both have advantages and disadvantages.

 

[SumTingWong]

A whole new machine to run a vm will be nice. If malware accidently escape vm then land onto the host machine, you will not going to get your data compromise.

 

[upnorth]

A whole new machine to run a vm will be nice. If malware accidently escape vm then land onto the host machine, you will not going to get your data compromise.

Very good advice, and one could wish most people that fiddle with malware in one shape or another also would follow it. Then on the other hand, if one log in on any online service/account on this VM and also consider many malware variants and families, are credential stealing, it's not as bullet proof as one might think.

 

[dinosaur07]

You can simply try Shadow Defender. Very good for software testing.

 

[Lenny_Fox]

Reading this post, I wonder ...

Would there be a benefit in using a different OS on the host (e.g. a Linux distro) and in the VM (e.g. Windows 10). In the unlikely event a malware would escape the host machine, it would be faced with a different OS (on which its code is likely not prepared).

Other question are there examples that one VM was infected by another VM, so using above assumption would one powerfull PC with Linux distro as host with one 'for personal use' VM and one 'for playing use' VM the ultimate solution?

What are the thoughts of the people really using VM's on this?

 

[Kongo]

You can simply try Shadow Defender. Very good for software testing.

@upnorth just said that there is a lot of credential stealing malware out there. Shadow Defender can't protect you from that. However, if you install Shadow Defender on a fresh copy of Windows it would work out great.

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

VMs can also be easily detected so the program can handle its execution differently than on non-VM systems.

 

[Behold Eck]

It wouldn`t cost that much to buy a second hand laptop and put SD on it. Then you could test away to your hearts content without ever having to worry about VM leaks et al.

I use an old low end laptop with Toolwiz Timefreeze on it and the fun I`ve had throwing shed loads of nasties at some poor AV, I could tell ya! Who needs video games ?

Plus if some AV performs good resources wise on old lappy, it`s gonna fly on a "proper" system.

Regards Eck