Windows 10: How truly safe is VirtualBox with an old computer?

Please forgive me because I know this sounds like an incredibly stupid question for newbs. I wanted to install VirtualBox on an old computer and then have the computer connected to my router so it can get access to the internet. Although it will be connected to my network, no other PC in my house will connect to it.

I'm going to use this computer to watch stuff like PubFilm sometimes, go to websites that I don't really trust, download 3rd party programs in order to test them for a week or two, etc. I would put this virtual machine to heavy use.

My question is this:

How likely will a virus be able to break free through VirtualBox and spread throughout my network to my family's PC's?

I actually looked up the answer already on the internet and some said that VirtualBox actually isn't that foolproof and there is a good chance! Some say otherwise of course. There seemed to be mixed answers but generally people safely say that it's not 100% safe but it's pretty decent. But I'm wondering how likely percentage wise will the other PC's on my home network will get infected with viruses due to this virtual machine, within say a year's time?

I'm asking annually because I'm thinking maybe the safe thing to do is have everyone in my family just re-install their Windows fresh every year to make sure they minimize the damage of all possible viruses.

:)

 

How truly safe is VirtualBox with an old computer?


Please forgive me because I know this sounds like an incredibly stupid question for newbs. I wanted to install VirtualBox on an old computer and then have the computer connected to my router so it can get access to the internet. Although it will be connected to my network, no other PC in my house will connect to it.

I'm going to use this computer to watch stuff like PubFilm sometimes, go to websites that I don't really trust, download 3rd party programs in order to test them for a week or two, etc. I would put this virtual machine to heavy use.

My question is this:

How likely will a virus be able to break free through VirtualBox and spread throughout my network to my family's PC's?

I actually looked up the answer already on the internet and some said that VirtualBox actually isn't that foolproof and there is a good chance! Some say otherwise of course. There seemed to be mixed answers but generally people safely say that it's not 100% safe but it's pretty decent. But I'm wondering how likely percentage wise will the other PC's on my home network will get infected with viruses due to this virtual machine, within say a year's time?

I'm asking annually because I'm thinking maybe the safe thing to do is have everyone in my family just re-install their Windows fresh every year to make sure they minimize the damage of all possible viruses.

 

Installing VirtualBox on an old computer. Will it protect me?


Hey guys, I have another question I hope you can answer about safe networking.

I have another old computer that I don't use (Windows XP). Can I install VirtualBox (or Sandboxie) on it and use it when I need to access sites that aren't exactly safe.

For example, if I wanted to go to PubFilm.to and watch movies, would VirtualBox protect the other computers on my home network from getting any viruses that might get downloaded to the old computer?

Also, can I use it to test 3rd party programs. Install unknown 3rd party programs and see if the registry has changed a week later? For example, I like ShareX but not sure if it does anything harmful to my computer.

Thanks in advance for your help, guys.

 

Is it safe to install Virtualbox?

Hi,

Just the other day I downloaded an android emulator, which is telling me that I must have a virtualization engine for it to run. I have seen some posts where people complain about issues on Windows 10 after they had installed Virtualbox.

So I just wanted to ask that is it safe to install any kind of virtualization engine, e.g., Oracle Virtualbox, on Windows 10 version 1703, or will it result in some kind of errors?