XPerceniol Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 I look forward to know what those reasons were/are. On 11/3/2022 at 12:00 PM, AstroSkipper said: There are reasons why I changed from Avast! to WiseVector StopX, though. I will write something about it soon. Did it cast you a 'pretty penny'? I have a few pennies that are pretty and shiny. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPerceniol Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) I know not an antivirus, but this free tool from F-Secure is still working on XP. The F-Secure rescue DVD (linux) also still works but no def updates (of course) I think it was put to rest in 2018, but just going by memory. https://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/F-Secure-Easy-Clean.shtml <---This does not work at all now. https://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Rescue-CD.shtml PS: To be honest, as far as recovery CD/DVDs, while F-Secure does work (with outdated definitions), I prefer Norton recovery CD which is still updating. I just tried it in fact. Boots to light Linux with another tool that scan S.M.A.R.T which reminds me I have bad sectors (have for quite time some, but still huffing and puffing along) Very old equipment here, so can't complain too hard. https://support.norton.com/sp/static/external/tools/nbrt.html Edited November 4, 2022 by XPerceniol 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msfntor Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 @XPerceniol - I've Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scanner free version v1.75.0.1300, use very rarely... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 15 minutes ago, XPerceniol said: I look forward to know what those reasons were/are. On 11/3/2022 at 6:00 PM, AstroSkipper said: There are reasons why I changed from Avast! to WiseVector StopX, though. I will write something about it soon. Did it cast you a 'pretty penny'? I have a few pennies that are pretty and shiny. It's a longer story. Oddly enough, I've had various problems with Avast! this year. Will probably write about it at the weekend. Then I will have time for it. One thing I can say: Although I had some concerns about the country of manufacture, WiseVector StopX is a great AV program and requires only few resources in terms of used disk space, RAM usage and CPU load. It's just perfect for an old box like mine! And the software is constantly being developed and maintained, is Windows XP compatible and free of charge. But, you have to configure it very carefully! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 1 hour ago, msfntor said: @XPerceniol - I've Malwarebytes Anti-Malware scanner free version v1.75.0.1300, use very rarely... I loved this version and used it as an offline scanner for many years. Unfortunately and sadly, it was abandoned, hasn't got any definition updates for a long time, and logically won't get any more, either. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msfntor Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 Ah oh...thank you @AstroSkipper! ...but I've the old Windows version, so I fear the old viruses...? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted November 4, 2022 Share Posted November 4, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, msfntor said: Ah oh...thank you @AstroSkipper! ...but I've the old Windows version, so I fear the old viruses...? For the old ones, of course! BTW, Malwarebytes' versions 1 and 2 were abandonded. No more definition updates! But, versions 3 and 4 are supported. The last version compatible with Windows XP is Malwarebytes (Premium) for Windows 3.5.1.2522. It still receives definition updates. but no more program updates, of course. Truth be told, I had problems with installing Malwarebytes (Premium) for Windows 3.5.1.2522. On my Windows XP computer, I finally couldn't properly run this version in the past, but others didn't seem to have such problems. Anyway, all a bit strange! Maybe, there was an incompatibility with Avast! I might try it one last time as I have removed Avast! completely in the meanwhile. Edited November 5, 2022 by AstroSkipper Update of content 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPerceniol Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 2 hours ago, msfntor said: Ah oh...thank you @AstroSkipper! ...but I've the old Windows version, so I fear the old viruses...? .....................:D 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msfntor Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 9 hours ago, AstroSkipper said: Maybe, there was an incompatibility with Avast! I might try it one last time as I have removed Avast! completely in the meanwhile. Sure, look here: https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/236112-cannot-open-malwarebytes-3512522-premium/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, msfntor said: Sure, look here: https://forums.malwarebytes.com/topic/236112-cannot-open-malwarebytes-3512522-premium/ Thank you for the link! I had also read this forum post at the time, but sadly its solution was ineffective for me. At that time, I really tested everything! Malwarebytes' support was also involved. There was nothing I hadn't tried. And, I have read all the articles that have ever been published. Therefore, my hope is not very high that the problem can still be solved. But as my Latin teacher always liked to say: "Neues Stück, neues Glück". Translated: "New piece (of text), new luck". Edited November 5, 2022 by AstroSkipper 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msfntor Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 But M. Premium is not free, it's trial... This is not important for me, with my healthy attitude on the net. No visits to dubious sites! In any case, if the virus comes, I'll rebuild Windows...which has not happened for more than a decade... Or use SterJo NetStalker?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted November 5, 2022 Share Posted November 5, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, msfntor said: But M. Premium is not free, it's trial... This is not important for me, with my healthy attitude on the net. No visits to dubious sites! In any case, if the virus comes, I'll rebuild Windows...which has not happened for more than a decade... Or use SterJo NetStalker?. As far as I know, you need a license only for the premium features like real-time protection and so on. Without a licence, Malwarebytes should be able to be used as an offline scanner. Try it and you will see! I own a lifetime license, therefore I never used the free version. Edited November 5, 2022 by AstroSkipper Update of content 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroSkipper Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 (edited) Why I switched from Avast! to WiseVector StopX There is a very specific reason why I have recently started recommending WiseVector StopX. Until now, I have always used products from Avast! and was also satisfied. On my old computer, which is low on resources and performance, I actually had Avast! Premier installed on my Windows XP partition and had been using it for many years. This year, unfortunately, I had several negative experiences. More and more often, the GUI shut down completely and showed only an empty, white window. Only a repair installation could revive it. In addition, programmes that were reported as false positives were not ignored as offered and excluded from further monitoring. Instead, their access was completely blocked and no longer released. Furthermore, again and again, almost periodically, the Avast! service caused a very high and prolonged CPU load. All these problems prompted me to uninstall the entire Avast program package. And then came the next set of difficulties. The uninstall routine is an imposition. An uninstallation had not really taken place. Whoever programmed this routine should be fired! All files and program folders were not deleted. Thus, completely useless! Even the special Avast uninstaller "Avast! Clear" could not remove everything. So I had to do it manually. The main program folder could not be deleted. Not even with administrator rights. Same with a booted Linux and Mini Windows XP from outside. Both could not delete anything from the locked files and folders. So I was thinking about a proper solution how to delete the locked folders and files. By the way, I am writing this to spare others similar problems. Anyway, the solution is either one tries to delete it under the user account System, whose rights can be obtained with suitable tools (for example RunAsSystem), or one falls back on good old DOS. And this is how I did it. I booted my computer into a real DOS mode and used Volkov Commander to delete all the locked files and folders. DOS doesn't give a damn about accounts and permissions. What needs to be deleted, gets deleted. DOS was my first OS on an IBM compatible PC, and it is an endless love. In any case, this approach was the right way to get rid of all remnants of Avast! Premier. BTW, before uninstalling, I measured the amount of disk space which was consumed by Avast!. And I was stunned. It was about 1.5 GB in many different folders. Unbelievable! After that torture, I installed WiseVector StopX at last. I configured it as well as possible and tested it deeply. WiseVector StopX is very light-weight and consumes approximately 100 MB of disk space in only one program folder. It has less RAM usage, very low CPU load and is easy to handle via its tray icon. On my old computer, it's simply perfect. The performance of my system has been increased, all actions are much faster than before. In short, I am impressed and very happy with my switch to this antivirus program. Cheers, AstroSkipper Edited November 9, 2022 by AstroSkipper Update of content 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msfntor Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 (edited) 53 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said: less RAM usage, very low CPU load - because you get rid of horrible Avast. My congratulations! 53 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said: WiseVector StopX Is it portable? Link to it, please? Thank you @AstroSkipper ! Edited November 6, 2022 by msfntor 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SC7601 Posted November 6, 2022 Share Posted November 6, 2022 I'm using Common-Sense Total Protection for a long time. Definition updates are real-time, every second! It can analyze the downloaded file and decide whether it's a virus or not very well! But it's not free. You need to run it for years to make it learn the viruses. You can get infected few times, though. But after it gets experienced, it will work better than most "AV" software! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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