[Macworld.com]

Face it, a Mac running Windows is a Windows PC. You need to take precautions. [more]

[mr_rsu]

Why would anyone wanted to keep using Windows OS, especially it can be run on the Intel-based Mac? It's full of HOLES!!

[d00d]

Here's what I use:
1. Keep my Mac Pro behind my router (acting as a firewall).
2. I use Norton Antivirus as I get it free.
3. I like Windows Defender for antispyware.
4. I feel the built-in software firewall is sufficient after the hardware firewall.

[MainMac]

It depends on what your using Windows for, but unless your software specifically needs to connect to the internet (i.e. using a Windows application that needs to network to your office), you're better off disabling any network access on your Windows side. Using Parallels, I've disabled the network, as far as Windows is concerned I have no network card. I've got a Mac/Win shared folder where I do all my work, I dowload anything I need from the Mac side to that folder.
By keeping my PC work files in the shared folder, I can back up my Windows disk image, and periodically revert it to backup, so my Windows system is always pristine. If I need to update Windows software I grab a pristine drive image, install the update and backup the updated image. It works great for the occasional user of Windows software, without any virus or spyware protection necessary.

[rameeti]

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It works great for the occasional user of Windows software, without any virus or spyware protection necessary.

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Not really. Viruses can come along with other good programs that have been purposely downloaded on the Mac side. Just because a user believes that the source is a safe site does not make it immune to viruses. ie. iPods recently came with viruses intact.
Spybot should be added to the list as every user should have a good antispyware program. It is free and finds many things that Microsoft's Defender does not find.

[Cedric]

I personaly use Avast! antivirus, and rely on my router and the built-in firewall against intrusions.
I also simply de-activate my network connection when I don't use it. I just plug it in to get updates etc.

[palane]

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Why would anyone wanted to keep using Windows OS, especially [if] it can be run on the Intel-based Mac? It's full of HOLES!!

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AutoCAD for one. Zemax for another (optical ray tracing software). This one may seem like a real niche application, but software for bowling league secretaries is Windows only. [I wound up setting up Excel spreadsheets to do the job, but it took a lot of work to get it running smoothly.]
BB

[jhewell]

New feature in release x.1970 makes all this moot?
Parallels Shared Networking. Running Windows in Parallels Desktop for Mac is now more secure than if you run Windows on a PC. Shared Networking enables multiple IP addresses to appear as one IP address on a network and effectively hides virtual machines from the outside world, making them far less likely to be the victim of a hacker attack. You can now connect both of your Mac and Windows to the Internet & computer network that only allow you to connect one computer.

[frankie]

If you use any Windows apps professionally, 99.4% of the time that means moving data to & from work, therefore you're at risk from any other PC that touched those files.
At a minimum Parallels users need antivirus (AVG, Avast & AntiVir are all free) and probably antispyware (SpyBot, AdAware & Windows Defender are all free).

[seanmcg]

One of my big protections is not to run anything as an administrative account unless I have to, and most programs can be adjusted to run in the normal user context, although it takes some advanced registry and folder permission tweaking to do so. However, once set, you rarely need to run any program as an administrative user.

[jamescat]

I agree whole-heartedly about Spybot -- However, it should be noted that there are SEVERAL programs that try to use that name. Almost exclusively, the one people mean when recommending it though is Spybot S&D (Search & Destroy) and its URL is: http://www.safer-networking.org/

Accept no substitutes. The combination of Ad-Aware SE Personal and Spybot S&D has been all the spyware/adware protection I've needed in the past for Windows PC's that I administered at various jobs. (Never had a PC at home, but have managed / supported many in my past jobs.) And IMHO with Spybot's proactive tools, you should be able to avoid a need for the $30 Spy Sweeper mentioned in the article.

Add one (or two) of the free antivirus programs (I personally like ClamAV - or more specifically, the ClamWin port - because it's free and open source, but AVG mentioned in the article seems to be popular with many people in my experience) and you should then be well on your way to as safe an existence as a Windows system can have.

If you do end up using your network connection at all though, I'd also suggest using one of the free online virus checks from the "big names" periodically. I usually don't run into any problems with the free antivirus programs missing anything... but it can't hurt to double check with a "professional" scan from time to time, if you're going to use the internet connection anyway. For instance Trend Micro's Housecall can be found here: http://housecall.trendmicro.com/ - I can't remember Symantec's URL, but you should be able to find it on their site with a little work. (I've never found their site to be one of the best organized, but you can get there through all the upsell ads regardless.)
Oh, and my sympathies for having to run Windows on a Mac in the first place. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

[zolblu]

Well Chris, ZoneAlarm does a too good a job; running XP/Parallels, build 1970, on a first gen MacBook Pro, ZA blocks all internet access. At least in my hands.
Regards/ZB

[Chris Breen]

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ZA blocks all internet access

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Really? You might want to check your network settings. I've got ZA on my Intel mini running the latest version of Parallels and it works as it should.

[alexhook]

Having recently reformatted my PC, and installing a copy of windows XP with only SP1 - i ran into a few troubles.
Within 5 minutes of being connected to the net (not actually browsing - just my Ethernet cable plugged in) i contracted the blaster worm (the one that shuts down the computer spontaneously). I thought this was rather funny, and left it running overnight without installing SP2 or any virus protection software. The next morning (after an unimaginable amount of automatic restarts caused by the blaster worm) i installed AVG and did a quick scan....17 viruses and worms.
17! without accessing the net through a browser! This just goes to show that windows is incredibly insecure. Thats why I will have zonealarm and AVG on my windows install when i purchase my macbook soon - i don't want my mac to ever have to face the horror and tyranny most windows viruses bring!