AstroSkipper

As we all or at least many of us know, the last XP-compatible version 6.047 of Malwarebytes AdwCleaner is obsolete and not useful anymore. Freshly installed, it's most recent database is from 2017, and thus 6 years old. No option! @VistaLover has investigated this in detail and presented it in this post: Therefore, we need a replacement for this program in Windows XP to get rid especially of adware, spyware, potentially unwanted programs (PUPs), and browser hijackers. Of course, most more recent antimalware programs already provide these features such as Malwarebytes Free or Premium. But a specialized tool would not be bad either, and many people like to use those tools, like for example me. I did a research as I always do and found an interesting tool. In my next post, I will present an alternative to Malwarebytes AdwCleaner which is up-to-date. And the winner is Ultra Adware Killer.

Here is a little advice for testing software, and especially an anti-malware program! Just checking that a program can be installed and appears to run without errors at first glance has nothing to do with testing software. And presenting results in a short sentence even less! Justified question! And the fact that you have to ask this question at all is rather embarrassing. And I could go on and on. When testing an antivirus or anti-malware program, a few test results should be mentioned. Does the program itself still receive updates? Can it download the latest virus definitions? Are all the basic features like real-time protection, manual scanning, setting exceptions, changing program settings and so on still functional? Just one sentence cannot answer such questions, though. One sentence is informationless and rather meaningless. One has to put some effort into it, even if one might otherwise never write more than a few words. Kind regards, AstroSkipper

I provided the download link of my cleaned and re-repacked version of KFA 19 in this post for all who are interested: Cheers, AstroSkipper

Chances are that eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit (MWAV) will even run on systems whose CPU has no more than the SSE instruction set. However, since the program is portable, compatibility can easily be checked. @Dušan Vićić Here are the system requirements for the commercial version of eScanAV Anti-Virus: Minimum Hardware Requirements: Component Requirement Processor Intel or AMD single core x86 or x64 CPU. 1 GHz recommended RAM 1 GB recommended Disk Space 1GB recommended Due to the fact that an AMD single core x86 is listed, I think it might run on hardware with a CPU which has no more than the SSE instruction set. Kind regards, AstroSkipper

I am beginning to wonder what thread we are in here. This thread was opened by me to talk about Startup Managers for Windows XP. So please, back on topic, guys! I also continue to wonder where all these supposed Windows XP users actually are. Testing my problem takes only a few minutes and is completely unproblematic. At the moment, I seem to be the only one using Windows XP Professional SP3 32 Bit with all POSReady updates on a real machine (no VM).

Chances are that eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit (MWAV) will even run on systems whose CPU has no more than the SSE instruction set. However, since the program is portable, compatibility can easily be checked.

eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit (MWAV) eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit (MWAV) is an offline virus scanner from MicroWorld Technologies Inc., free for private and home use. And yes, it is still fully XP-compatible. MWAV provides the ability to scan for and remove any virus, spyware, adware or other malware on your computer. The database is continuously updated to detect new spyware and adware, and the scanning engine is constantly improved for faster and smarter detection. It requires no installation and can be run directly from your computer, on whatever media. It can also run when other antivirus software is installed on your computer. To "install" MWAV on the computer, I recommend extracting the installer manually to the desired target directory and calling the executable file mexe.com or MWAVL.exe there. Reason: If the installer is called directly, all files are extracted to the system's temporary folder. For me, this is not an option. MWAV is available in English, German, French, Nederlands, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Greek, Korean, Norwegian, Russian, Polish and Latin Spanish. Homepage: https://www.escanav.com/en/mwav-tools/download-free-antivirus-toolkit.asp Version number: 22.0.60 Date of release: 26.04.2023 System requirements: Windows® 2012 R2 / 2012 / 2008 R2 / 2008 / 2003 R2 / 2003 / 10 / 8.1 / 8 / 7 / Vista / XP (32 & 64 bit OS compatible) Minimum Hardware Requirements: Processor: Intel or AMD single core x86 or x64 with SEE2 instruction set, 1 GHz recommended RAM: 1 GB recommended Disk Space: 1GB recommended Review: https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/escanav_antivirus_toolkit.html Download link of MWAV: https://www.escanav.com/en/antivirus-downloadlink/downloadcounter.asp?pcode=MWAV&src=english_dwn&type=alter Download link of the (weekly) offline virus database updater: http://www.microworldsystems.com/akdlm/download/tools/esupdatebd.exe Screenshots: eScanAV Anti-Virus Toolkit (MWAV) is a free utility that helps Windows users to scan and remove viruses, spyware, adware and other malware that have infected their computers. It's free of charge and still compatible with Windows XP. The virus databsse can be updated online and even offline if the computer is not connected to the internet. Additionally, commercial products are offered which were tested by AV-Test and Virus Bulletin with very good results. I can definitely recommend this tool without any concerns. Cheers, AstroSkipper

BTW, it was not that easy to find this offline installer. It was the only link I found in the internet. Kaspersky must have made sure that the links disappear everywhere. I can't explain it any other way.

Free of charge with real-time protection are for example Avast, AVG, Panda, Comodo Antivirus, and 360 Total Security Essential360. Without real-time protection, there are many more.

You want to pay for an antivirus? Why? There are enough programs for free. The question which antimalware program is value for money (vfm) can't be answered easily. It depends on your needs. @shelby I personally prefer a pure antimalware program with real-time protection, web, behaviour and mail shield and rootkit detection. That's why I use Malwarebytes Premium. My firewall program was and is Windows 10 Firewall Control Plus XP. Both programs are commercial, worth their money and vfm.

Kaspersky Free Antivirus 19.0.0.1088 For all who are interested in KFA 19 (not me )! I found a download link to an offline installer for Kaspersky Free Antivirus 19.0.0.1088. I sent the link to @Dave-H to give his assessment whether I am allowed to post it here or not. He found an unwanted program inside reported by MBAM. Therefore, I decompressed (SFX-compressed) and unpacked the installer with UniExtract. Then I analyzed the installer. The installer was repacked by SolidShare. That's indeed a common practice by a lot of these websites. There was an SFX script inside which forced to start the file kur.exe. This file was not original and therefore deleted by me (and also the SFX script). I checked all files inside with MBAM, and they were clean except of course kur.exe, harmless, though, but nevertheless unwanted. I packed the files of the cleaned folder into a new 7-Zip archive KFA 19.0.0.1088.7z and uploaded it for you. Here is the download link: https://www.mediafire.com/file/5b41tc67a29vvbm/KFA_19.0.0.1088.7z/file The installation has to be started with the original file startup.exe. One thing is clear: all at your own risk. The archive is clean, but I didn't test the original files from Kaspersky. And I won't do that as I already mentioned here in this thread. Have fun! Cheers, AstroSkipper

You want to pay for an antivirus? Why? There are enough programs for free. The question which antimalware program is value for money (vfm) can't be answered easily. It depends on your needs.

It was on 10.06.17: KB4022747, KB402432 and KB4024402.

Has anyone tried to open a RapidGator link in New Moon 28 the last months? The final captcha doesn't work anymore in the last releases. Doesn't matter which link is selected.

Unfortunately, I have no choice! I would like to visit the past with a time machine. I think so but I don't want to discuss that here. Anyway! I just wanted to find out if anybody else noticed this issue. For comparison reason, I would prefer a testing on a real machine, no VM. Just to find out whether Glarysoft behaves differently with vs. without POSReady updates.

Link already sent via PM.

Never used it in an UXP browser! If I wanted to use such Google services, I would open them in a browser on my Android tablet. Google and Android is an endless love.

I added to my second post General solutions the method Restoring AU/MU/WU using a proxy server created by @ItCoder. As I already mentioned, I didn't test this method. As far as I know, this method is supposed to be working, though. Cheers, AstroSkipper

OT: I learnt British English. I am not really familiar with the nuances of American English. The problem with "you" is that it has different meanings. "You" can be meant as the 2. person singular or plural. Or it is equal to "one" to express uncertain persons. Therefore, I try to use it rarely or in situations where it is very clear. That's why I prefer very often the passive voice to avoid "you" although native speakers rather prefer the active voice. But, thanks for your clarification! Eloquentia conatum difficile est. End of OT.

Ok! I'm going to go a round further now as I'm getting fed up with this nonsense. Obviously @bluebolt is not willing to disclose any meaningful information here and share his knowledge with us in this forum. And that will have its reasons. First of all, here are the facts: The still downloadable online installers don't work anymore. BitDefender must have removed the online sources which these installers need to download. Offline installers are no longer available. All links seem to be removed. In one of @bluebolt's pictures, one can clearly see that a connection to My BitDefender is no longer possible. Here is a quotation from this picture: "My Bitdefender: Could not connect to server" Regarding these facts it is also pretty obvious why @bluebolt only spreads information here that is not really helpful. I assume or, even stronger, I am quite sure that even if such an offline installer exists, a successful activation of a new installation via the user interface won't be possible any longer. The reason for this was provided by @bluebolt himself: No connection to My BitDefender means no login into the user's account which unfortunately is necessary for a successful activation. Therefore, a new activation is no longer possible. I therefore consider BitDefender 1.0.21.1109 obsolete and no longer usable. No entry in my "list of working antimalware, firewall, and other security programs for Windows XP", but at most in the "list of programs that have recently been abandoned", although it actually was abandonded for more than a year. And further information is no longer necessary either, certainly not such pointless information that is not actually intended to help potential users of this program here in the forum.

Although in Germany the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) warned against the use of anti-virus software from the Russian manufacturer Kaspersky on 15 March 2022 https://www.bsi.bund.de/DE/Themen/Unternehmen-und-Organisationen/Cyber-Sicherheitslage/Technische-Sicherheitshinweise-und-Warnungen/Warnungen-nach-Par-7/Archiv/FAQ-Kaspersky/faq_node.html, I don't really share such concerns. The developers of Kaspersky software would ruin the entire company if they implemented malicious code in their software. For me, it's about a general statement, a sign of solidarity. And that may not always be fair, however Kaspersky has to thank for that a certain person.

For me, it is basically irrelevant in which country the software I use was developed. But every rule has its exceptions. What these look like in detail in my case cannot and won't be discussed here for well-known reasons. China exists to benefit Windows XP diehards? Nice try! As we all know, imagination knows no boundaries.

Yep, I totally agree with this assessment.

I found an offline installer for Kaspersky Free 19. No official link but a link to a file hoster. I am not sure if I am allowed to post it here. On the official Kaspersky servers, the folder KFA19 has been deleted. This version does not exist there anymore. The folder KFA18 still exists, though. That's probably why the online installer of KFA19 can't load its necessary files. And TBH, that was of course foreseeable.

Yep, Shadow Defender is already on my internal list. And of course, many other security programs for Windows XP, too. But first of all: Hello and thank you for your suggestion! I installed this program in my Windows XP system years ago.