Is scanning my pc for open ports from a VM reliable?

Hi,I am reading a book about security,and it suggests we scan our computer for open ports,both from our same computer and from an external ISP,a computer owned by a friend,etc so the scans are more reliable(meaning,if somebody is hiding some open ports you would be more likely to find them).I was wondering though,if it was possible to scan my own pc from an OS installed on virtualbox.and have the same reliability.I once tried doing that and it crashed,so, I am asking experts.My only other option would be to link another computer of mine to the same router of the computer I am using now and scan it from the same lan,if I well understood,so,I prefer trying from virtualbox 1st;only if it's reliable though .

Well it really depends on how your firewall is configured.

Virtual machines create another (virtual) LAN inside the machine, much like the LAN you have to connect all the physical machines in your immediate vicinity.

If your firewall is configured to only watch what comes in "over the wire", then anything on the internal virtual LAN can potentially see more of your host than something on the outside.

Thanks a lot,salem.I will appropriately configure my firewall .