Maximum PC

I'm running a machine with windows 7 and XP. AVG and Malwarebytes are installed on the 7 side but not XP, after an incident the other night, which I'm hoping is fixed, I'm thinking its a good idea to have the XP running AVG as well.

Are there any problems I need to be aware of when running anti-virus programs on two boot-able partitions? Should I exclude Win7s drive from virus scan when the XP side is scanning and vice-verse?

Thanks in advance.

You're way overthinking this. What's installed on Windows 7 isn't going to run unless you tell it to run from within XP.

Only one operating system is active when you choose to boot to one or the other, so you will need to install an anti-virus and anti-malware app in each. I would use Microsoft Essentials in both along with Malewarebytes. I have both on my system running now and they work fine...oh yes, stay off the damn porn sites...they are full of malware and viruses. Also add WOT to your browsers, that program will tell you if there is a problem with the site you clicked on or not.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/wind ... essentials

http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5756

http://www.mywot.com/

Nasty

I'm just worried about XP's AVG picking up Win 7's AVG virus vault. I wasn't sure if that would cause any issues.

I never had a problem when I dual booted. When you install it in an operating system it sets pointers to the new files it creates when you run the install.

Nasty

You're missing the point of the vault if you're storing files that aren't a false positive for any extended length of time.

To answer your question though, what's the difference between having a second partition and plugging in an external HD that held a vault?

Well I really don't know, but I'll assume what you're trying to say is its not an issue. The only reason I asked is I seem to remember reading in MXPC that sometimes an anti-virus program can pick-up items in another program's virus vault and cause potential problems. If that's not an issue, then I won't worry about it.

I would bet the article that you were referring to was talking about having two or more AVs actually running at the same time, and yes, Having two AVs fighting for the same resource at the same time is a disaster in the waiting.

I don't see how it can find the other vault it is on C:\ and your second OS is on D:\. If you install one anti-virus on each it will only look at where the registry key is pointing in that particular OS and looks nowhere else.

I ran a dual boot for many years and NEVER had a problem installing one Anti-virus on each. You can even have the OS you booted to check the other partition if you want. Gad Zooks!... just make a restore point in each and install the darn thing.

Nasty

That is probably what I was thinking of. Anyways I installed it the other night and all is good. Thanks to you and nasty for helping to clarify my question.