AstroSkipper
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My article about Panda Antivirus Free has been updated to include all recent information:
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My Browser Builds (Part 5)
AstroSkipper replied to roytam1's topic in Browsers working on Older NT-Family OSes
Yep! It works. A working login form appears. But a login is only possible for school or business accounts. Private accounts are not supported. I tried to configure my old, private hotmail.com account but a message came up that private accounts were not supported. -
I'm not so sure about that. If you take a closer look at the scan results for the completely clean cmdow.exe file, you'll see that Kaspersky flags the file, but Panda Antivirus and Avast do not. Everyone can draw their own conclusions from this.
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This confirms my statement: And the moral of the story: don't trust scanners blindly.
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The archive is definitely virus-free. It was password-protected by me since MediaFire uses scanner which tend to produce many false alarms. Kaspersky is as bad as the virus scanner which MediaFire is using. These files are all clean and virus-free. The cacert_Updater.exe file has been fixed by me as the original version from @heinoganda stopped working. It is totally clean. And the cmdow.exe file is a DOS file from a trusted source and checked by me. Unfortunately, some scanners don't like it but it is totally clean, too. So, forget about Kaspersky and similar scanners. Set exclusions if you trust me. And if not, don't use it. In any case, I will not change anything in my packages because of faulty or overly cautious virus scanners. I have invested a lot of time in programming and am not going to start compensating for the inadequacies of certain virus scanners now. BTW, many virus scanners don't like exe files which have been generated by BatToExe converters due to their compression type. I use such converters and don't care about false positives of those scanners. Excluding such files from scanning is my way of dealing with this nonsense.
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Yes. Install my package ProxHTTPSProxy's PopMenu TLS 1.3 3V3! Inside the archive, there is a short and a long, more detailed user manual. The user should read it carefully. All in all, installing my package is very easy, and the configuring of the PopMenu is done automatically. When done, start the proxy. Finally, you have to set the proxy in Panda's settings menu. The address is 127.0.0.1 with the port 8079. You need this proxy only once for the activation. When done, you can delete the proxy settings and close the proxy.
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Russia, China, United States and so on. All these totalitarian, undemocratically run regimes spy on people and collect data in order to gain total control. Fortunately, I am European and, above all, German. I have my privacy and the data I disclose well under control. I have no problem disclosing a specific email address for contacting a company like Panda.
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The activation of a Panda account needs a TLS connection. That's why you have to use ProxHTTPSProxy or similar technology under Windows XP. No chance without it since Windows XP lacks modern, secure protocols natively. And any contact to Panda support without a registered account is not possible.
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I have different email addresses. Therefore, I don't care at all if I get flooded with advertising emails on certain email accounts. But I wouldn't use a temporary address for the Panda account, as this email address is used to register the products used and for support enquiries.
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One thing is clear. Panda Antivirus Free is a cloud-based anti-malware programme. You have to be connected to the internet and perform scans only online and not offline to get a reasonable detection rate.
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This review is 7 years old and therefore obsolete. My linked test is from this month, December 2025. On this side, you can read that its online protection score was a strong 99.25%. Of course, you can always pick out whatever you need for your argument.
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@VistaLover didn't talk about your "ancient version" but about Panda Antivirus Free. BTW, it doesn't make any sense to talk about your ancient version as it is no longer available for other users and therefore no option. Furthermore, I doubt the tests you carried out regarding Panda's detection rate. Panda has always achieved reasonable results in official tests. It is better to leave such tests to the professionals. Here is a current test with a comparison of 28 antivirus programmes from December 2025: https://softwarelab.org/best-antivirus-software/ Panda came in fourth place in this test with a detection rate of 99%. Here is a quotation from this test: Your detection rate of 6% is rubbish. Does Kaspersky pay you to spread such nonsense?
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Panda Free Antivirus is more or less the last anti-malware programme with real-time protection for Windows XP free of charge. There are a few others, but they need a paid licence. The firewall I have been using for many years is the Sphinx Windows 10 Firewall Control Plus XP. Personally, I consider this firewall to be the best under Windows XP. And I've tried almost all of them.
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Did you enable under Settings -> Antivirus the scanning of archives? The default is disabled if I remember correctly.
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The facts are on the table. The issue has been identified, as has the time at which it occurred. So what now?
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My old, underpowered Windows XP computer with a Pentium 4 single-core processor is a multiboot machine. Five OSes were independently installed and can be booted totally indepedently by the best bootmanager I have been using from the very first: BOOT-US. The OSes are Windows ME, Linux (XUBUNTU and Q4OS) and Windows XP twice. No problems here with starting OSes in the first place. BTW, my Windows XP computer is now 25 years old and fully working. I don't believe that modern computers will reach such an age.
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Thanks for the hint! But I don't think the issue has already been fixed. However, one should definitely take a close look at the new "Legacy Installer", if available. Ok. I checked the "Legacy Installer" FREEAV_LGC.exe but it wasn't updated. Only the FREEAV.exe installer.
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I would also be interested in reports from people who use Windows XP on more powerful computers. As always, my results come from my old, underpowered Windows XP computer, which simply refuses to leave me. But this computer is perfect for diagnosing such errors that you might not notice on more powerful computers. The offline installer can't be found on Panda's homepage. Here is a website where you can get the old offline installer of version 21.01.00: https://panda-free-antivirus.sooftware.com/windows/download/338378 You have to enable the checkbox "Offline installation" during installation. After finishing installation, the programme won't update to a more recent version, even when the automatic update function of the programme under settings is in use. Thanks for the hint! But I don't think the issue has already been fixed. However, one should definitely take a close look at the new "Legacy Installer", if available.
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I have accelerated my tests and investigations and now finally finished. And what I already mentioned in my previous post, has now actually been confirmed: an older version of Panda Antivirus Free is the solution. Panda Antivirus Free 21.01.00, the last version (from October of 2022) before the 22 series was released, runs smoothly under Windows XP without the annoying delay at system start-up. The main culprit of all versions 22.0x.0x is the process PSANHost.exe which does not run properly, leads to a full utilisation of the system during computer start-up, a very long delay and unsightly disturbances during other operations after completion of loading. Therefore, my current recommendation is to use Panda Antivirus Free 21.01.00 on Windows XP instead of the latest version, which is currently 22.03.05. At least, until the manufacturer provides a fixed version. I have informed the Panda support in detail but don't know if they will ever react. But I do hope so. In any case, my Windows XP computer needs now again less than 2 minutes for system start-up without any unsightly disturbances during later operations. So once again, the old rule applies: the latest is not always the greatest. Merry Christmas to all, AstroSkipper
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I am a registered member, and visiting a thread with 0 views does not count my visit. So, your theory is wrong. BTW, even not registered visitors were counted in the past. All that means something has changed in the forum software, and unfortunately not for the better.
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Even a thread with only one reply can be very interesting and be read many times. I am interested in how often an article is visited. It doesn't matter who it is. Bots are everywhere and can never be ruled out. Perhaps bots are commonplace in your country. After all, anything is possible there these days. However, I am convinced that it is quite frustrating for creators of new threads when supposedly no one reads their threads. Apart from that, I have never noticed any unusual increases of views in my threads.
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This seems to indicate that the forum software is not functioning correctly. Is that right? I visited topics in the Windows XP forum with 0 views that were not counted by the forum software. And my topics don't seem to be counted anymore either. It is clear that accurate view counting is an important tool for the author of an article. Therefore, I hope that this will be working again soon.
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Apparently, I'm not the only one who has noticed such abnormal delays when starting up Panda while system start: 16 minutes! That's record-breaking. Any other here observing similar issues? Until Panda fixes this bug, I will avoid using the latest version 22.03.05. When starting my Windows XP computer, I am not prepared to accept lazy compromises. The start-up process must run smoothly as I always managed in the past. Panda offers two different installers, one of which is a "legacy" one. This installer does not solve the delayed start-up problem either. All 22.0x.0x versions have start-up problems on my computer. Especially the PSANHost.exe process leads to a full utilisation of the system during computer start-up. During my tests and investigations, I have now also looked at older versions. One of these seems to run much better, with a start-up behaviour that appears almost normal. Let's see if this proves to be true over the next few days.
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ProxHTTPSProxy and HTTPSProxy in Windows XP for future use
AstroSkipper replied to AstroSkipper's topic in Windows XP
Even today, the proxies ProxHTTPSProxy, HTTPSProxy and ProxyMII have lost none of their importance for Windows XP. There are programmes that still run on Windows XP but require a secure TLS connection. A good example of this is Panda Antivirus Free, which requires such a connection to activate the user account, albeit only once. -
Apparently, I'm not the only one who has noticed such abnormal delays when starting up Panda while system start: 16 minutes! That's record-breaking. Any other here observing similar issues?