Vistapocalypse

One of the world’s last Norton users running Vista (perhaps even the very last one AFAIK) posted today at another forum, “it can’t seem to find the updates when I run LiveUpdate.” In addition, the Norton webpage describing their “Maintenance Mode for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 SP0” appears to have been taken down recently.

OP would rather discuss science fiction films with @UCyborg

Perhaps it’s just that you never saw As Good As It Gets. What about One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? 🦇

I gather that you don’t watch movies then.

I wonder what you thought of Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of a successful author with OCD in the 1997 film As Good As It Gets (also starring Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear)? Did you see anything of yourself in that character? I don’t usually go for romantic comedies (I’m more of a science fiction fan), but my relatives urged me to see that movie and I really enjoyed it. My relatives think I’m “antisocial” because I dislike listening to lengthy “conversations” about topics that are of no interest whatsoever; but despite my Aspergers, I have far more social graces than Nicholson’s character in that film (and no OCD diagnosis). The most agreeable way to communicate with my relatives is via brief text messages: no audio filtration necessary.

Thank you for additional information! Too bad KFA 2019 only seems useful for Vista but not XP x86. (Of course KFA 2018 might still be an option for XP.)

I don’t doubt that the installer works (mina7601 said as much Friday), can you activate? This is the part of Snowshoe’s post that was most concerning:

I can’t find a way to use the Quote feature on my iPhone using Safari browser, although I can directly quote another forum post (e.g. I just quoted yours). I’m sure I was able to use the Quote on my Vista PC before it conked out. It would suit me fine if Blockbuster makes a comeback! My iPhone is no way to watch a movie (screen is too small, and holding it in front of your face for hours is ridiculous), but I still have antiques such as a TV and DVD player. I have watched many DVDs lately, and do not subscribe to any streaming service. Just call me old-fashioned. 🧙🏻‍♂️

Welcome to MSFN SuperWorkstationXP. Your hardware must be relatively Super. Many diehards running XP x86 have old hardware that just won’t die, and would be hard-pressed to run two OS at the same time even if Chrome supported 32-bit Linux (which it doesn’t). On the other hand, with the right hardware, this concept is by no means restricted to XP diehards. Chrome has now ended support for everything older than Windows 10. For fans of Windows Vista, this might be an alternative to the extended kernel.

Maybe not! (see Snowshoe’s post). Sounds like you better stick with KFA 2018 my friend.

It sounds like you are still relatively young. I’m getting pretty old now, but I still like science fiction films a lot - so much that I feel a compulsion to reply even though it takes my own topic off topic (and “compulsion to reply” is a big reason why I thought mental health awareness month was a good topic for general discussion at MSFN). I regret that I never saw T1 in a cinema either. I was old enough, but it was not a major success at the time. It became a cult classic thanks to the arrival of the VCR, and T2 would later become a blockbuster that I eagerly anticipated. James Cameron is my favorite filmmaker. All of his films are good (except Piranha II, avoid that one). I have only been in a cinema once since Covid-19 appeared, to see Avatar: The Way of Water - and yes I wore 3D glasses. However, even I am somewhat concerned about the number of Avatar films that Cameron contemplates making. I am sure that science fiction films are regularly discussed on social media platforms, and that is probably more appropriate than discussing them at MSFN. On the other hand, MSFN will not long survive without young members who are perhaps not obsessed with Windows XP, and younger members seem to take a more social approach to their internet activities than older members like myself. Perhaps there is a “generation gap” that needs to be bridged here? I’m not too old to reconsider my own attitudes in this regard.

I didn’t recall that “Bedlam” once referred to a specific psychiatric hospital in the UK. (In 20th-century American literature it generally meant “scene of confusion.”) I don’t think I ever heard “booby hatch” at all, but it checks out. 👍 In the early 1990s when Terminator 2 was a very popular movie, the term “Pescadero” came into limited usage, e.g. “Certain members belong in Pescadero.” The literal Spanish meaning is “fishmonger,” but in T2 it was the facility where Sarah Connor was incarcerated for believing in time-traveling terminators and attempting to blow up Cyberdyne Systems. The sign said it was “a criminally disordered retention facility.”

Based in the south of France. Wonder why they still support XP? https://www.carifred.com/about_us/

Oops, I forgot about “loony bin“! Are there any other English euphemisms for “insane asylum” or “mental hospital” that I haven’t mentioned?

If this topic keeps an XP antivirus thread from growing another page in length, then perhaps it was worthwhile.

Bravo! I still wonder why @winvispixp encountered trouble installing the previous version on a VM in 2021 (possibly related to extended kernel?). I trust you are able to get current definitions?

Sampei.Nihira mentioned that Tuesday. Maybe more Windows 7 users should test the nightly builds? Mozilla isn’t loaded with cash like Google, and might not survive the year.

I’m pleased that this topic has been resurrected today because Mental Health Awareness Month is still in full swing and I sincerely believe that MSFN is one place that needs greater awareness of this issue! I posted this news in the Funny Farm subforum not so much because of its comedic potential but because “funny farm” is synonymous with “nut house,” “cuckoo’s nest,” or “insane asylum.” At least one of this forum’s most compulsive posters has still not replied to this topic, but I won’t say who unless he/she decides to step forward. Being mentally ill certainly does not suggest stupidity - oh no far from it! The close kinship between genius and madness has been remarked on since ancient times. I think we have some very bright members here who need to devote more attention to something other than old versions of Windows.

Norton was actually spun off from Symantec before merging with Avast, so Symantec is not part of Gen Digital. There has long been a need for consolidation in the antimalware industry because there were too many unprofitable vendors competing. Now that the typical Windows 10 user simply relies on Microsoft’s excellent antimalware, Gen Digital just might be big enough to survive! I thought you disapproved of “discussions about concerns regarding the country of origin”? You make an exception for Russia, but apparently imagine that China exists to benefit Windows XP diehards.

It looks like Kaspersky Free 2019 is no longer an option for any OS. I just searched Kaspersky’s website and it was possible to select paid versions of Kaspersky 2019 (evidently offline installers), but the only free version in the dropdown list was 2018. If anyone is interested in those: https://products.s.kaspersky-labs.com/

That reminds me: While searching unsuccessfully for an offline installer I came across a February 2020 post that the version in question could not be activated (but at least this poster evidently had a working installer): https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/81987/unable-to-activate-bitdefender-antivirus-free-edition-1-0-21-1109 The only advice he received was to uninstall it and install “the latest version.” Bitdefender announced EOL for their Free Edition for Windows as of December 2021, including a threat that “all updates will cease” June 30, 2022: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2027/ Apparently there is an all-new Bitdefender Antivirus Free in 2023, but of course it does not support XP or Vista; and Bitdefender plans to end support for Windows 7 and 8.1 in January 2024. It would actually be shocking if they are still providing definition files signed with SHA-1 solely for the benefit of XP diehards running a 2016 version that can no longer be downloaded.

My old friend VistaLover seems to have put me “on the spot.” Alright then: My dim recollections lead me to another forum where a Vista user who went by the name AndyTampa posted a query about Windows Mail in April 2019: https://www.vistax64.com/threads/yahoo-embedded-images-missing-damaged-in-windows-vista-default-mail-client.305570/ In the last line of the original post, he provided his exact antivirus version. I’m certain that I could unearth at least one more instance of someone using Kaspersky 19 on Vista if I searched long enough, but it wouldn’t necessarily follow that it was also compatible with XP (although one author of Kaspersky support articles certainly seems to think it was). In case I haven’t mentioned it lately, I never used Kaspersky myself. By all means attempt it! However, winvispixp stated January 22, 2021 “I couldn’t install it [KFA18] in a vm but on my real pc it works just fine.”

I just looked at a YouTube video in which that exact version was tested. The video was uploaded in June 2014 i.e. that’s a mighty old version! Edit: The version x.x x.1109 that bluebolt uses only dates back to July 2016.

Even if an offline installer can be located (bluebolt posted a third-party download link April 23, 2019 but filehorse evidently no longer has that old version), “all updates” for BitDefender Antivirus Free for Windows were supposed to cease June 30, 2022: https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2027/

That was in 2021. I’m not sure how it could affect Windows XP diehards using a 2018 version of Avast. 🤔