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Antimalware, firewall, and other security programs for Windows XP working in 2023 and hopefully beyond I hereby open a new thread on the topic of security programs for Windows XP. I have been thinking about that for a longer time, and then I decided to tackle this project. Windows XP is a very old operating system and a deeper knowledge of how to make it more secure is very important in my opinion. Therefore, I think it makes sense to get an overview of all the security programs still available for Windows XP. The thread "Which Antiviruses are Known for a Fact to be Working on XP SP3 as of 2019?", where I have previously written frequently about antivirus programs, has become rather bloated and confusing due to many informationless posts, is mainly focused on the topic of antivirus programs for Windows XP and has been completely unstructured from the very beginning. It is good to have such a thread full of different information for reference but there are many posts either outdated, incomplete or off-topic. Therefore, I have decided to start a completely different thread from scratch. I deliberately chose the term antimalware in the title of this topic. In these days, most so-called antivirus programs can not only identify computer viruses, but also trojans, worms, rootkits, exploits, spyware, and so on. Generally speaking: a virus is a malware, but a malware is not always a virus. Therefore, malware is a generic term for any malicious software, including viruses. For many years now, the so-called antivirus programs have actually been antimalware programs. In any case, this new topic here is about antimalware, firewall and other security programs for Windows XP. Under the term other security programs, I include among others security suites like internet security and total security, antivirus, antispyware, anti-rootkit, anti-exploit, online and offline scanner, ad blocker, protection layer, virtualization, security check and control programs and so on that make the use of Windows XP safer. And to avoid any misunderstanding, the main focus in this thread is on the concept of security. Those security programs that have been officially classified as insecure or not trustworthy are not the subject of consideration here, of course. Furthermore, many of these security programs can no longer be clearly classified in one of these categories due to their multifunctionality. I therefore define the following categories and their abbreviations: AM+ = Antimalware program with real-time protection AM- = Antimalware program without real-time protection SP = Specialized program (focused on one main antimalware function) IS = Internet Security TS = Total Security ON = Online scanner OF = Offline scanner AB = Ad blocker FW = Firewall VP = Virtualization program PL = Protection layer program SC = Security check program CP = Control program MF = Multifunctional program In addition, for the sake of simplicity, I define the following licence types and their abbreviations, reduced to the essentials: C = Commercial (any payment software including shareware) F = Free D = Donationware O = Open source In the second post of this thread, I will provide and maintain an alphabetical list of working antimalware, firewall, and other security programs for Windows XP which were each presented in a corresponding post here. This list has the following columns: Name, Version, Type, Date and Link. Name means the name of the program, Version means its last/latest version, Type means its license type, Date means its last/latest date of release or creation (in some cases, there is no date of release available anymore) and Link means the link to its corresponding post here in this thread. I will only include programs in this list that receive updates in some form, be it program updates, definition updates or database updates. With the exception, of course, that there are also programs that do not necessarily need such updates. In the third post of this thread, I will create and maintain an alphabetical list of programs that need to be tested for compatibility, features and support or whose installers have been lost and therefore could not be tested. In the fourth post of this thread, I will create an alphabetical list of programs that have recently been abandoned or should be avoided. Some of them should only be used for a while or be avoided due to security reasons. This project is very extensive and involves a lot of work. In-depth research in particular is very time-consuming, but necessary. So be patient, especially if the list of programs fills up slowly! As always: Good things come to those who wait. And just for clarification, I will not check all the programs myself to see if they can be installed properly and work, of course. Here, other members can make a perfect contribution with their knowledge or experiences already made. Furthermore, all the programs I have listed are not necessarily to be understood as recommendations. Basically, they are simply options that are still available for Windows XP. Because we all know that most manufacturers of security software have long since given up on Windows XP. If I personally consider a program to be good, I will express this in its relevant post. More about that here: Any discussions, questions or suggestions about security programs for Windows XP are explicitly welcome. But one thing must be very clear, everything should relate to this topic. Just for clarification, insulting, provocative or completely off-topic posts (especially about operating systems other than Windows XP) will not be tolerated. That means, please stay on topic! This thread is intended to be a well-structured source of information where readers can get ideas on how to make their old Windows XP a bit more secure. If you like this thread, or you find it interesting and helpful, I would appreciate any contribution, be it a comment, a like or an upvote. Thanks for your interest! Windows XP forever! Kind regards, AstroSkipper

I did understand that he was referring to UCyborg, mainly because D.Draker quoted him, but from Czechia to Slovenia there is some distance, maybe he was confused with Slovakia? jaclaz

Whose country? The Author of Hdat2, a re-known and appreciated program was - last time I checked - Czech. The program has been around since forever (since 2004 or earlier), the possible issue with it is only that is DOS based so that - likely - in a short timeframe it won't be possible to run it on "common" modern motherboards (with UEFI only, without CSM/BIOS). About Kontron, they should be industrial grade boards (please read as very tough, usually slower than current retail boards, and - again usually - costly). Still, while they may well be engineered and assembled in Germany, they may be produced in various EU countries, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia: https://www.kontron-electronics.com/production/#c18 BUT, for large quantities: https://www.kontron-electronics.com/production/ they have cooperation with Asian manufacturers "Very large unit quantities are produced by our collaboration partner Ennoconn, a subsidiary of Foxconn". And of course their board assembly lines need anyway to source the components in China, Taiwan, South Korea, etc. Thomson says little nowadays, there are a few companies connected to the "historical" Thomson (which was fractioned/dissolved/bought/merged some 20 years ago), right now AFAIK the brand for consumer electronics is property of Established Inc., together with many (once traditional european ones such as Nordmende and Saba): https://established.inc/ https://established.inc/brands/ incorporated in Delaware, offers branding to *anyone* (please read as "to Chinese manufacturers"). The effects of globalization (like it or not) are so deep that today *anything* related to electronics is anyway originating in some Asian country, you simply cannot avoid that. The US are (again, rightly or wrongly) considering to re-gain manufacturing capabilities, but (if it will ever happen it will take years) while in EU there are only some projects of trifling relevance. As a side note, last time I was in Sweden (circa 2016) the representative of a local company operating in the steel sector (that I won't name for two reasons, first one being that I don't remember their name) for a large national building project told me how most of their steel products[1] were manufactured in China anyway (under their supervision and with excellent quality control, still ...). jaclaz [1] Sweden was once re-known in Europe for the quality of some "special" steel products

No, unfortunately not. I always use the forum search to find a program I am looking for here in this thread. The problem with such a list is its regular maintainance, which is a lot of work, of course. And there are only a few members who would take on such work.

You're welcome! To write about Total Commander was a personal concern for me. Absolutely! I totally agree. Simply unbelievable! I don't know that from any other program. I think so, too.

Off-topic and argumentative posts removed. Back on-topic now please. This thread is for discussing Antivirus issues on Windows XP SP3 only.

I'm trying alls antivirus software to make a short list. Protegent Antivirus AV Cloud is not currently supported on Windows XP. When trying to install it unpack 2 programs in c.\PAV If it is done from XP, only Unistal-Date Care aka Crash Proof is installed, which claims to make copies of the software and is not an antivirus (it is not known what it really does, it does not give info, help, or options). Danger. It seems that he takes all the information from your hard drive and sends it to his cloud.