dual-boot computers twice as vulnerable to viruses?

[VirtualLarry]

I was just thinking about my friend's PC, that I helped upgrade. It has two HDs, the old one with XP SP2 on it, and a new 1TB with Win7. I showed him how to change the boot order in the BIOS to select one or the other. The "other" HD still shows up in Explorer though, with a drive letter.

So conceivably, if a virus got in, and infected one of the OSes, it could potentially infect the executable files of the other OS too. So both OSes need to be protected well, otherwise they could both be infected.

 

[Crusty]

As long as your computer is powered on it is vulnerable to catching a virus. Having a dual boot doesn't all of the sudden make it more vulnerable. Sure maybe the virus can do more damage... but that's not the same as being vulnerable.

 

[LiuKangBakinPie]

I was just thinking about my friend's PC, that I helped upgrade. It has two HDs, the old one with XP SP2 on it, and a new 1TB with Win7. I showed him how to change the boot order in the BIOS to select one or the other. The "other" HD still shows up in Explorer though, with a drive letter.

So conceivably, if a virus got in, and infected one of the OSes, it could potentially infect the executable files of the other OS too. So both OSes need to be protected well, otherwise they could both be infected.

it can install autorun files on the other partition if its visible