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Vistapocalypse

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Everything posted by Vistapocalypse

  1. Vistapocalypse
    I thought Windows 8 was already “the new Vista.” I ran Vista for as long as my old hardware permitted, and I’m not happy that it is still synonymous with failure, particularly since Windows 7 was basically “Vista SP3.”
  2. Vistapocalypse
    MSE was indeed a luxury car compared to other jalopies I have driven, but the end of the road appears to be approaching now. Panda gave me big trouble a long time ago and I was never inclined to try it again: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31851125 Like so many users of CCleaner, I disliked the changes that began in 2017 - but that did not dissuade me from using an old version of Avast Free on Vista (18.8, which still receives definition updates). I’m not familiar with more recent versions of Avast. @VVallter Breneka will need to run Kaspersky’s removal tool before trying to install another free antivirus.
  3. Vistapocalypse
    Good question! Kaspersky has a free version, but I never used it and cannot tell a paid user how to downgrade to Kaspersky Free. Microsoft Security Essentials has long been a very popular free antivirus for Windows 7. However, Microsoft once said that definition updates would be provided “until 2023,” and there have been ominous reports from MSE users recently (such as this SevenForums thread). I cannot promise you that MSE will be useful for even a few more months. Avast/AVG also makes free versions that still support Windows 7, as does Panda. I wrote about antivirus products that have already ended or plan to end support for Windows 7 in a March 1 post.
  4. Vistapocalypse
    In my case, Panda was removed by performing a factory restore after it bricked not only me but thousands of other users: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-31851125 That was quite some time ago, but Malwarebytes 1.75 was already 2 years old and I had moved on to 2.x versions. Your biggest fan is actually a Vista user who I believe cares more about your politics than security software. I am genuinely interested in the software and would not write at length about a program that I never used.
  5. Vistapocalypse
    Can readers assume that Panda was easy to uninstall, since you didn’t write about removing it? 🤔
  6. Vistapocalypse
    As recently as June 28 you mentioned having Panda installed on one partition and Malwarebytes Premium 3.5.1 on the other. Can your loyal readers forget about Panda now? 🤔
  7. Vistapocalypse
    They are essentially the same, but both now suffer from the lack of EPG data in Microsoft’s proprietary format: https://msfn.org/board/topic/180377-windows-media-center-epg-ending-in-january-2020/ There is still no real PC-based alternative for cable subscribers in the USA, but if you wish to record over-the-air TV, then you have options. (Of course younger people mainly use Netflix etc. these days.)
  8. Vistapocalypse
    Soon after XP’s EOL, and actually long before Vista’s EOL (which is one reason I never considered Spybot)
  9. Vistapocalypse
    Hi Jody. It is most likely Microsoft starting to annoy you. MSE users have reported similar issues with definition updates in a recent thread at SevenForums.
  10. Vistapocalypse
    That’s very interesting because it sounds like Malwarebytes really is making a special batch of definitions for version 1.75. Perhaps that version was particularly popular with their paid business customers? (Although we consumers are admonished to upgrade our software at every turn, businesses often use surprisingly old software.)
  11. Vistapocalypse
    On the other hand, Malwarebytes is almost certainly creating a special batch of definitions for version 3.5.1 because they have moved to SHA-2 signing with their recent versions. Are those the definitions that Monroe and Astro are getting, or is there a third batch just for 1.75? AstroSkipper is such a thorough guy, he might be able to determine whether or not the definitions downloaded by 1.75 and 3.5.1 are identical. He might also want to visit AMTSO to see if the real-time protection of the Pro version can pass the drive-by download test, and whether the scan engine can not only detect but also quarantine the EICAR test file. (There was a time when Malwarebytes did not participate in AMTSO, but I believe they do now.) For a real-world test, it shouldn’t be hard to find a freeware installer containing PUPs. Malwarebytes was always very good at removing those!
  12. Vistapocalypse
    If someone running XP on an SSE-only processor wanted effective real-time protection that is free, then Kaspersky 18.0.0.405 is the obvious choice: https://support.kaspersky.com/us/common/compatibility/15479
  13. Vistapocalypse
    Good for you! Actually, many AV vendors (Avast/AVG, Panda, Kaspersky, etc.) made free versions that included real-time protection you know. Back in those days, nobody thought Malwarebytes was any substitute for a real antivirus, e.g. Martin Brinkmann in his April 10, 2013 article about version 1.75: https://www.ghacks.net/2013/04/10/malwarebytes-anti-malware-1-75-update-adds-archive-scanning/ Malwarebytes Premium was not certified by AV Test until October 2018: https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/manufacturer/malwarebytes/
  14. Vistapocalypse
    That advice applies equally to Malwarebytes 3.5.1, which is already 5 years old itself. It did not bother to check for OS compatibility before pushing a program update.
  15. Vistapocalypse
    @Anbima answered that question April 20. SSE2 should be no problem.
  16. Vistapocalypse
  17. Vistapocalypse
    What if one deselects “Trial” during installation, thereby installing Malwarebytes Free 1.75, IIRC. Any definitions then? @Mathwiz was using MBAM Free 1.75 as recently as 4 years ago, perhaps he might be interested in this discussion.
  18. Vistapocalypse
    Hi. Do you have Kaspersky 18 or 19? There is no “new one” for XP unless you have never heard of Panda. Astro is now looking for something besides Kaspersky 18 that will work with SSE-only processors (evidently 10-year-old Malwarebytes 1.75), but you appear to have an AMD Phenom processor so an SSE2 requirement should be no problem for you. If Kaspersky is quitting for some reason, have you tried Avast 18.8?
  19. Vistapocalypse
    I do not recognize the OP’s authority to declare Kaspersky “not an option for Windows XP.” For XP users with SSE-only processors, the alternative to Kaspersky will soon be no real-time protection at all. I do not own such hardware myself, nor have I ever used Kaspersky. If others prefer not to use Kaspersky for political reasons, that’s fine with me.
  20. Vistapocalypse
    Avast announced yesterday that versions 9/10/11 will stop receiving definition updates in September 2023: https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=324295.0 This does not affect version 18.8, which also supported XP/Vista but required SSE2. For those with SSE-only processors who want real-time protection, Kaspersky 18.0.0.405 is still a viable option AFAIK: https://support.kaspersky.com/us/common/compatibility/15479
  21. Vistapocalypse
    @Saxon Have you been able to locate a suitable version of Comodo yet? I want to refurbish my Vista x86 system and would like to hear about that firewall.
  22. Vistapocalypse
    Perhaps slightly OT since UAC was more advanced in Vista than XP, but yes I used a standard account for all web browsing and nearly everything else except installing/uninstalling software. The concept is similar to sandboxing. If a standard account is exploited, you can just create another one. Even more OT since Microsoft offers no more protection for XP diehards, but the efficacy of their protection is precisely why the antivirus industry found itself in a “merge or perish” situation. Times are changing, and a Norton user recently posted about an Avast file on his computer: https://community.norton.com/en/forums/avastscandumptxt
  23. Vistapocalypse
    But lab-grown meat is very tasty!
  24. Vistapocalypse
    One firewall that I strongly disliked was ZoneAlarm. If there was ever a time when ZoneAlarm was good, it was certainly not when I tried it (around 2013-2014). It could not even clean up its own temp files (I think that was when I started using CCleaner), and I recall forum posts pointing out memory leaks. AstroSkipper is wise not to waste his time writing an article about ZoneAlarm. (It looks like filehippo has a 14.3.119 download that would perhaps work on XP/Vista, but I cannot recommend it. )
  25. Vistapocalypse
    In that case, I’m part of the minority who does run real-time antivirus “all the time.” Of course I was not an XP diehard but rather a Vista diehard, and my old hardware (now in disrepair) could run Vista, a browser, and real-time protection all at the same time without any difficulty. My multicore processor never broke a sweat except when rendering video, although RAM did get a little tight sometimes (an x86 system with 3 GB). Of course I realize that the situation is different for many XP diehards, and that MSFN is still more of an XP forum than anything else (which does not bode well for its future). To the extent that there is a new generation of Windows XP users, they probably won’t be running XP on hardware that is 15-20 years old. They might actually prefer XP x64, and I’m not sure we even know what antivirus to recommend for that OS.
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