Will installing on a virtual machine affect your real PC?

[Technique]

I installed a program which did what i wanted it to do, but it affected the internet connection badly - it slowed it down (i think) & it meant that i couldn't connect to the internet without the program being enabled. From research, even uninstalling wouldn't fix this.

I've since formatted my HDDs.

My question is if i run a virtual machine (i have VMware player installed right now) & install this program within this virtual machine, will it affect the 'real' PC once the virtual one is shut down?

I don't fully understand how these virtual machines work, hence the question. I don't want it to alter my internet connection on my real PC any.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

no, a virtual machine for all intensive purposes acts as a separate PC. it will get a separate IP address and everything (as long as you have the network connection for the VM set as bridged and not NAT)

all settings between the two are kept separate, so you shouldn't have a problem

for instance, you could get a virus on the VM that completely hoses the OS and the host PC would still be just fine

[Technique]

Thanks for your help.

(as long as you have the network connection for the VM set as bridged and not NAT)

I don't really know what i'm doing tbh, so how would i check this bridged -vs- NAT?

[+BudMan MVC]

Nutshell - if you use a bridged interface in your VM software then VMs would get a IP that is same as your physical machines connection.

So for example your physical network is 192.168.1.0/24

Router 192.168.1.1 for example

Your PC running VM software is 192.168.1.100 on its physical nic that is connected to switch/router

If you bridge this PC interface to your VMs -- then your VMs would get say 192.168.1.101, .102, etc. And would be connected to your network just like any other physical machine you connect to your switch/router

This is normally how most users would want to be setup - they create a VM, it has access to the internet just like any physical machine they connect. Just sharing the interface connected to the physical network that the VM software is running on and bridged too.

Now you can get fancy depending on what your wanting to do - You could NAT this VMs network to your physical network, you could create a HOST only network or a internal network that VMs use to talk to other VMs where they are not tied to the real world physical network at all.

But NORMALLY users will want to use a bridged network - make its much simpler to work with. Now your VMs sit on your network just like any physical computer would - they are just virtual and isolated in the sense that things you do in their OS does nothing to what you do on the HOST OS. Its a virtual machine running purely in software on your Host machine - it has its own virtual bios, etc. etc.

[Technique]

That makes sense to me, yet at the same time it doesn't if you get me?

I see what you're saying, and get the jist of the idea behind it all, but i don't know how to have the connection set as NAT.

As for what i'm wanting to do - nothing spectacular. I like it kept simple because i'm , well, simple. This is a spin off of a recent thread where i had to use HotSpot Shield to listen to a US based radio station. HotSpot Shield worked, but it turned my internet connection crazy.

People on various forums recommended proxies - they didn't & don't work.

Someone recommended Spotflux & claimed it worked for them with this radio station. I tried it - it didn't work & when i went back to the thread, their post had been deleted, so i don't even know who it was to ask them now.

HideMyAss has been recommended - again, didn't work.

So so far, all i know that works is HotSpot Shield, but it screws the net connection. This is why i thought of running it in VM so that it'll only screw THAT net connection, but not my 'real' one.

I guess there are ways around the ads & stuff that come with the program, but who wants to pay?

[+BudMan MVC]

And why do you want a double nat for your machine? That is NOT simple!

So for your VMs

internet -- Nat (router) --- 192.168.1.0/24 --- PC (VM software) --- 192.168.2.0/24 --- VM

If your using vmware workstation it prob arleady defaulted to nat.

As to how to change the network in VM workstation, here is a novel idea -- RTFM ;)

http://pubs.vmware.c...839BE40E1A.html

Here is the thing -- you want to circumvent restrictions on locations. Use of FREE proxy or VPN is not going to make your internet connection any faster that is for damn sure ;) Will the junk software they want you to install prob mess up your machine - yeah most likely ;) Running it in a VM is a great idea for what your doing. But I see little reason to double nat to the VM for such a setup.

I am not going to go into any details in helping you circumvent a restriction. But lets say I wanted an IP address in a different country, well then why not get a VPS in that country?? You need nothing more than the cheapest VPS you can get that you can ssh too, and there you go you have an IP in that country. I currently pay $15 a year for VPS -- there are lots of places to find a budget vps. Just saying.

http://www.lowendbox.com/

http://lowendstock.com/

etc..

[Technique]

And why do you want a double nat for your machine? That is NOT simple!

I don't. I just want to be able to have access to the radio station without any negative affect on 1) my PC & 2) my bank balance. I'm not particularly choosy on how that happens - just so long as my PC isn't effected or my bank balance, it's THAT that i want.

Look, i know you have your way of helping & i appreciate the time you take to reply, but i don't 'get' it. I may as well be reading a foreign language. I remember that you refuse to dumb down your responses & that's fair enough, but not everyone is as knowledgeable in the area as yourself. I could talk mechanics to someone who knits all day long & reel off jargon - it doesn't mean they're going to understand me if i push it harder.

So while i say thank you & i appreciate you taking the time ..... i just don't see what you're saying.

As said, i've read proxies do not work for this.

Anyway, it seems we've established what i came to ask - will running this through a VM mess up my PC & the answer seems to be no, so i'm happy with that.

[+BudMan MVC]

And what part in my answer did you not understand?

I dumb them down as much as I can!! I am happy to put this in terms anyone can understand. What is it your not getting and we can go over it at a more basic level.

But if all your looking for is a OK your fine type of answer then YES running something in a VM isolates what you do in that VM from your host machine.

If its a term like NAT or VPS or VM or RTFM you don't understand -- you have instant access to pretty much anything you can think of to ask. Google and there you go.

In my day I had to look up terms/words I did not understand by hand ;) Kids these days put them in a box and get answers in .2 ms.

edit: Added how is easy it is too find terms you don't know - so at a loss to what your confused about in my post?

[Tha Bloo Monkee]

No.

[Neowon]

It will not and to make it even easier for you, if you installed it with typical settings, it is as if you are running 2 different PCs. So if one gets infected by viruses or any other junk, the other will not effected. VMwares great to test out malware etc.