WCR3 wrote:
Look into Sandboxie: http://www.sandboxie.com/

From their Web site: "Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer."

Sandboxie will help but it has been hacked. There is no way to be protected 100% so don't do it on a computer with real data on it.

The best way is a dedicated computer with an image of the clean, initial set up that you can blast onto the hard disk when you suspect a virus. Also there are applications that will return your machine to the original state with less hassle than restoring an image from a DVD. I can't recall the names of those apps. I think Sandboxie does that if I remember correctly.

Aaron Lewis Photography wrote:
The problem with your theory is one of them is  going to destroy the OS and render the machine useless and that's all you're going to know.

I did this sort of thing for testing AV solutions, in a virtual environment or in a sandbox environment. Not the above mentioned Sandboxie, a real sandbox

It's really not worth the headache of reinstalling an OS just because you wanted to see what happens.

That's the fun of it.  I want to see how bad it will destroy it and how often the destruction is total

Looknsee Photography wrote:
I'd be careful about that...

...  Before you ever connect to any network, store off a boot image & a full
     backup.  Keep these safe.
...  Store no personal info on that notebook.
...  Create a separate & unique e-mail address that you use only on that notebook;
     do not forward anything you receive on that notebook.
...  Uninstall any anti-virus.
...  Don't use it to access any web site that you frequent (like MM).
...  If you sign on to any web site, use a separate & unique member name/password.
...  Don't leave it connected to your network.  If possible, create a separate network.
...  Never copy files off of that notebook onto any other computer or flash drive.

Go crazy.

I know all of that, but good advice.   I'm not going to do it, I just was saying it would be fun!

Good Egg Productions wrote:
I held an 11" MacBook Air on Tuesday and never really wanted a Mac before. Now I really do.

Does the apple store lace their stuff with crack?

I want.

Yes. Massive amounts of crack. And paycheck. But mostly crack.

ei Total Productions wrote:
That I can use to check out all of these virus links that I get from friends.  Today two people sent me one with a spoofed link to MSNBC.

Heck, if I had a dedicated notebook, I could click all these links and see what happens without caring about it.  I've always wanted to see what was on the other end of some of these malicious threats.

Download Virtualbox and install a test OS there.  If it gets infected you can delete it and start over without screwing up your original OS.

ei Total Productions wrote:
That's the fun of it.  I want to see how bad it will destroy it and how often the destruction is total

I still say the best way is in a virtual environment. Hyper-V is free. Fire up a Hyper-V server and install a few desktop OS's once the VM's are installed make copies of the VD's for quick recovery.

Go out, break a VM and recover it from your copy of the VD. Fast, easy, cheap.

GCobb Photography wrote:
Download Virtualbox and install a test OS there.  If it gets infected you can delete it and start over without screwing up your original OS.

This!  Rather than spending money on a dedicated box that may end up getting ruined by some malicious virus, install a virtual computer, FOR FREE! that will do the exact same thing.  I know someone who does it all the time.

  He uses his to set up virtual servers so that he can try different things with them.  When a customer calls with a problem, he can solve it before doing anything to their real servers that might prove to be detrimental. 

  The other beauty of this is that if you have a program that will run on Windows Xp but not your current operating system (assuming it's different), you can install Xp in that virtual box and run that program you need to run.  When you're finished and have the resulting file you need for whatever it is, you can drag it into your regular computer and use it as if you created it there.

Good Egg Productions wrote:
I held an 11" MacBook Air on Tuesday and never really wanted a Mac before. Now I really do.

Does the apple store lace their stuff with crack?

I want.

This is what happened to me and now I own a top of the line retina display macbook pro 15". With maxed out specks.

I LOVEEEEEE it. *shame*

Good Egg Productions wrote:
I held an 11" MacBook Air on Tuesday and never really wanted a Mac before. Now I really do.

Does the apple store lace their stuff with crack?

I want.

I have.

I love.

Becks wrote:

This is what happened to me and now I own a top of the line retina display macbook pro 15". With maxed out specks.

I LOVEEEEEE it. *shame*

Did you ever get that Photoshop issue solved?

R A V E N D R I V E wrote:
a dedicated computer to check stuff for viruses? I've been using virtual machines for this purpose for many years


you can literally have a brand new install of a windows running in its own consolidated virtual environment within 10 minutes.

I usually allow 512mb ram for it in this arrangement.

Virtual machines are among the great unheralded innovations of the past decade or so.

ETA:  Virtualization has been around for a long time in various forms, but has only become fairly routine relatively recently.

Monad Studios wrote:
Virtual machines are among the great unheralded innovations of the past decade or so.

ETA:  Virtualization has been around for a long time in various forms, but has only become fairly routine relatively recently.

Yup, because MS made a big deal out of it. I worked with virtualization years ago on Mac, Linux and maybe even some IBM stuff. Never really understood what was happening until recent times but I remember it existing.

Aaron Lewis Photography wrote:
Yup, because MS made a big deal out of it. I worked with virtualization years ago on Mac, Linux and maybe even some IBM stuff. Never really understood what was happening until recent times but I remember it existing.

Hyper-V was MS playing catchup.  It was VMware that made virtualization serious.

ETA:  MS was always slow to exploit the hdwr capabilities Intel presented.