Internet Security & Anti Virus

Hi guys,

I'm new to Mac and have just installed Parallels 7 (Windows 7) on my new MacBook Pro. I heard that it is probably worthwhile to have both internet security and anti virus software installed on both the Mac and Windows 7 sides.

Are there are any good internet security and anti virus software out there that you can recommend (both free and paid version) for both the Mac and Windows side without slowing down the laptop too much ? The only softwares that I heard that are good are Sophos (for Mac) and Microsoft Security Essentials (for Windows 7). Would they be sufficient enough ?

Also, I heard that Parallels 7 tends to use virtual drive, not real partition. Does that mean that anything I downloaded or saved in Windows will be deleted once I exit out of Parallels 7 ? Does that also means that any viruses that infected my Windows will be removed from Windows / MacBook Pro once I exit out of Parallels 7 since it is a virtual drive, not real partitions ?

With shared local drives and folders (i.e. shared by both Mac and Windows), what happens if I get a virus in Windows ?Will this effect or infect my Mac operating system including my Mac local drives and folders (i.e. not shared by both Mac and Windows) ? How about if it is the other way round ?

Sorry for the many questions, as I'm very new to Mac and Parallels.

Thanks.

 

Just use Sophos on the the Mac and MS Security Essentials on Windows and you'll be fine.

Not wanting to be arrogant or rude, but the simplest way to answer your other questions is that they don't make any sense because they make erroneous assumptions (the not so simple way as to why they are absurd questions would imply explaining technically how Virtual Machines work, and I don't have the patience for that, and I sincerely doubt anyone else on these forum will explain correctly these questions).

 

Thanks, Specimen. No problem at all. Have u try ClamXav (anti-virus) ? Is it better than Sophos ?

 

I have. It isn't. ClamXav is the work of one developer that uses the open source clam av, and adapts it to OS X, quite great work, but you can't compare that to a product developed specifically for OS X by a software company.