Dual boot + isolate

vegan_vicky

I have a dual boot set up for Windows 7 and Windows 8 which are both installed on the same hard drive but in two separate partitions. My Windows 7 machine has unrecognized software which may contain malware. I would therefore want to prevent Windows 7 from being able to access my main OS partition (Windows 8). Will this setup protect my Windows 8 install from getting infected by a potential malware on my Windows 7 install?

Originally asked by user197690 on Stack Exchange (superuser) (CC BY-SA 3.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

Not having any partitions that windows 8 can access mapped to drive letters will stop 99% of all malware, but you will need to do it in the other direction too, so windows 8 can't see win7 partitions too. Otherwise a file that both systems can see will get infected on the 7 side, then you reboot, open the file on 8, and get infected over there too. You may be better off just giving 8 the entire drive and running 7 inside a VM, that will help keep the separation of the two and you won't get any accidental spill over contamination.

Full answer by Scott Chamberlain: https://superuser.stackexchange.com/a/549802 (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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