Free virtual machine to test software?

[rabbitfairferry]

Hey I would like to test out some software but not sure if they are malicious or are loaded with adware. Scanning for viruses alone isn't enough. Are there any free virtual machines that allow me to install them to try out and delete once done?

I know of one called sandboxie but am wondering if there are others.

[mocacinno]

You can always install vmware player on your local machine, just make sure the network is disabled, nothing is shared, drag and drop is disabled,...

[rabbitfairferry]

You can always install vmware player on your local machine, just make sure the network is disabled, nothing is shared, drag and drop is disabled,...

Thanks. So just to confirm if my vmware catches viruses or malware, it would not pass on into my main computer? And I can simply just reset my vmware to get a clean version of the desktop?

[mocacinno]

Thanks. So just to confirm if my vmware catches viruses or malware, it would not pass on into my main computer? And I can simply just reset my vmware to get a clean version of the desktop?

In the past, there were vulnerability's in virtualbox that could have been exploited, but the odds of running a virus in a very recent virtualbox vm that's built to exploit any unpatched vulnerability's is very low. You do have to make sure you isolate the VM properly... If your network isn't disabled, a virus could spread over the network, same with shared drives and maybe those drag and drop options...

That being said, malware *could* exhause the host's resources, so it's possible your PC will freeze because of a virus running in a VM container, but this should be harmless...

Running in a VM is better than running in sandboxy afaik... the level of isolation would be a lot better in a virtual environment vs a sandbox on your system.

[rabbitfairferry]

In the past, there were vulnerability's in virtualbox that could have been exploited, but the odds of running a virus in a very recent virtualbox vm that's built to exploit any unpatched vulnerability's is very low. You do have to make sure you isolate the VM properly... If your network isn't disabled, a virus could spread over the network, same with shared drives and maybe those drag and drop options...

That being said, malware *could* exhause the host's resources, so it's possible your PC will freeze because of a virus running in a VM container, but this should be harmless...

Running in a VM is better than running in sandboxy afaik... the level of isolation would be a lot better in a virtual environment vs a sandbox on your system.

Thanks alot! You seem like an expert in this area. Do you know of any good guides online for setting up the VM safely?

You provided a good list but I am not sure how to do it in VM ware.

[mocacinno]

Thanks alot! You seem like an expert in this area. Do you know of any good guides online for setting up the VM safely?

You provided a good list but I am not sure how to do it in VM ware.

It has been a long time since i last ran vmware player (at work, we have power partitions, at home i switched to openVZ for my virtualisation needs a long time ago), but after some quick googling around, you should be able to go to "VM > Settings, click the Options tab, and select Guest Isolation", then disable "drag and drop" and "copy and paste". To disable the network, you should probably go to your network adapters on your local machine and disable the "VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter". For the local folders: IIRC, the default options would be not to share any local folders, so if you use the default settings the folder sharing should be disabled already.

These are the  things that immediately come to mind... Maybe somebody else will weigh in on this topic and give some more tips and tricks?

Good luck!

[rabbitfairferry]

It has been a long time since i last ran vmware player (at work, we have power partitions, at home i switched to openVZ for my virtualisation needs a long time ago), but after some quick googling around, you should be able to go to "VM > Settings, click the Options tab, and select Guest Isolation", then disable "drag and drop" and "copy and paste". To disable the network, you should probably go to your network adapters on your local machine and disable the "VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter". For the local folders: IIRC, the default options would be not to share any local folders, so if you use the default settings the folder sharing should be disabled already.

These are the  things that immediately come to mind... Maybe somebody else will weigh in on this topic and give some more tips and tricks?

Good luck!

Thanks alot man! Would google myself too