Antimalware, firewall, and other security programs for Windows XP working in 2023 and hopefully beyond

[NotHereToPlayGames]

15 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

You want to pay for an antivirus? Why? There are enough programs for free.

I kind of see both sides.  There is the saying "you get what you pay for".

And we are talking about XP.  XP is a paid-for Operating System.

But clearly a thread like this can't go out and buy twenty different antivirus programs just for the sake of MSFN Assistance.  

Edited May 11, 2023 by NotHereToPlayGames

[AstroSkipper]

24 minutes ago, AstroSkipper said:

54 minutes ago, shelby said:

So what antivirus is vfm so far

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.

Edited May 11, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[shelby]

I see. Free antivirus is 1-2 programs that is why i ask for vfm antivirus 

[AstroSkipper]

2 hours ago, shelby said:

I see. Free antivirus is 1-2 programs that is why i ask for vfm antivirus 

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.

Edited May 12, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[AstroSkipper]

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

Edited July 6 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[Dušan Vićić]

3 hours ago, AstroSkipper said:

eScanAV Anti-Virus Tool
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. Their commercial products were tested with very good results. I can definitely recommend this tool without any concerns.

Finally, something that i was searching for a loooooong time. I don't mind it it's offline, but i think it is not a demanding one.

It seems that i can't find any system requirements on their website, for some reason.

For the layout of the antivirus i sincerely hope that it can run on the non SSE processors cuz it feels like those old antivirus programs from 9x/ME.

[AstroSkipper]

3 hours ago, Dušan Vićić said:

It seems that i can't find any system requirements on their website, for some reason.

For the layout of the antivirus i sincerely hope that it can run on the non SSE processors cuz it feels like those old antivirus programs from 9x/ME.

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. 

 

[AstroSkipper]

On 5/12/2023 at 11:17 AM, AstroSkipper said:

On 5/12/2023 at 7:56 AM, Dušan Vićić said:

It seems that i can't find any system requirements on their website, for some reason.

For the layout of the antivirus i sincerely hope that it can run on the non SSE processors cuz it feels like those old antivirus programs from 9x/ME.

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 

Edited May 14, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[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.

Edited May 14, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[AstroSkipper]

Ultra Adware Killer

Ultra Adware Killer is a simple but powerful adware remover for Windows by Carifred. It removes browser toolbars, add-ons, plugins, unwanted search providers, hijacked homepages, and potentially unwanted programs (PUP's). It also allows resetting Chrome and Firefox preferences optionally. Ultra Adware Killer 10.7.7.0 from 09.05.2023 is the last XP-compatible version. It is fully portable, so no installation is needed, and it's free of charge. Every time Ultra Adware Killer is started, it briefly checks for updates.

Homepage: https://www.carifred.com/ultra_adware_killer/

Quotation from UAK's homepage:

Quote

Ultra Adware Killer overview

Ultra Adware Killer is a powerful adware and malware remover for Windows, which has the ability to scan all the users in a system. This can save you lots of time logging in to other user accounts and performing the scan again.

Ultra Adware Killer is also the only application of this type that supports nearly all Internet browsers, not just the main ones.it removes browser toolbars, ad-ons, plugins, unwanted search providers and hijacked home pages, potentially unwanted programs (PUP's), and also rogues, trojans, rootkits, ransomware and all other forms of malware.

Most well known browsers are supported (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, IE). Support for other Chromium and Firefox based browsers was added in version 10.4 and 10.5. Opera, Avast Secure Browser, cCleaner Browser, Brave, Chromium, Tor Browser, Waterfox, Netscape and Thunderbird and many others are now supported, at least partially.

This application also lets you easily reset the browsers configuration, allowing them to run as smoothly as when they were installed.

Version number: 10.7.7.0

Date of release: 09.05.2023

System requirements:

Windows XP 32/64 bit
Windows Vista 32/64 bit
Windows 7 32/64 bit
Windows 8 32/64 bit
Windows 10 32/64 bit
Windows 11

Review: https://www.thewindowsclub.com/ultra-adware-killer-remover-cleaner

Download link: Ultra Adware Killer 10.7.7.0

Screenshots:









I did a scan, and it worked as advertised. To do so, you only need to press the Start scan button, wait until the scan ends, and remove the items found. Typically, the whole operation takes only a few minutes. Additionally, a custom scan to check files or single folders can be performed at any time  But you have to read carefully not to delete entries which are actually belonging to harmless programs. On the homepage https://www.carifred.com/ultra_adware_killer/, you will find much more detailed  instructions, help and information about this program. I think it is an interesting alternative to for example the depreciated Malwarebytes AdwCleaner.

Greetings, AstroSkipper

Edited July 28, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[Vistapocalypse]

Based in the south of France. Wonder why they still support XP?

https://www.carifred.com/about_us/

[AstroSkipper]

20 minutes ago, Vistapocalypse said:

Based in the south of France. Wonder why they still support XP?

https://www.carifred.com/about_us/

Yep, I thought we also need here software coming from Europe.  So that no one gets the idea that I would only favour countries here that still use Windows XP more often, such as China.  And in terms of your question, there is an old song in Germany called "Wunder gibt es immer wieder", translated "Miracles happen all the time". 

Edited May 13, 2023 by AstroSkipper
Update of content

[AstroSkipper]

On 5/1/2023 at 3:46 PM, AstroSkipper said:

Malware Hunter

Malware Hunter is an antimalware program from Glarysoft and is still XP-compatible. It comes in two versions, the free version Malware Hunter and the commercial version Malware Hunter Pro. It detects and removes stubborn malware that can cause potential danger. Its malware database is constantly updated either automatically or manually depending on the installed version. Additionally, it is supposed to clean disks and speed up your PC. It is even equipped with the Avira scan engine.

Features:

• Malware Scan - Scan your computer quickly and thoroughly. Detect and remove stubborn malware to prevent potential danger. Support scheduled scan to save your time
• Speed Up - Help you optimize your system to speed up and boost your computer performance.
• Disk Cleaner - Clean up temporary & unnecessary files. Remove unneeded documents to save computer storage space.
• Process Protection - Protect your PC from malware, such as Trojan, worms, spyware, and other online threats.
• 3 Scan modes
• Avira engine
• Hyper scan for a faster scanning speed
• Malware removal
• Real-time protection and automatic updates (only in Malware Hunter Pro)

Homepage: https://www.glarysoft.com/malware-hunter/

Version number: 1.165.0.782

Date of release: 17.04.2023

System requirements:

Runs on Microsoft Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP and Vista. Including both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Release notes:

Reviews:

https://onlinecloudsecurity.com/malware-hunter-review-is-it-safe-to-download/

https://tweaklibrary.com/glarysoft-malware-hunter-pro-review/

Download page: https://www.glarysoft.com/downloads/?p=mh-page

Direct download link: https://download.glarysoft.com/mhsetup.exe

Screenshots:







Although I personally don't prefer features like cleanup or optimization inside an antimalware program, the fact that this program is still compatible with Windows XP and has an Avira scan engine does not make it uninteresting. In any case, it can be used as an offline scanner in the free version and can also be set up as a portable version. You have full control over Malware Hunter via its systray icon. It is definitely an option for Windows XP.

Cheers, AstroSkipper

Update notification! 

Malware Hunter has been updated on 08.05.2023 and is now available in version 1.166.0.784.

Cheers, AstroSkipper 

Edited May 15, 2023 by AstroSkipper

[tekkaman]

Do you know if malware hunter works on XP 64  ?

[AstroSkipper]

1 hour ago, tekkaman said:

Do you know if malware hunter works on XP 64  ?

All information about Malware Hunter is here:

There you can see:

System requirements:

Runs on Microsoft Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP and Vista. Including both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Conclusion: it should run under XP 64.

Cheers, AstroSkipper

Edited May 16, 2023 by AstroSkipper