Best thing to use to keep Vista secure?

Cammygirl192

Cammy White FTW
Member
Hi,

I recently found my account again. (I did register with an alt but that was banned because I forgot to remove the site advertising from my intro.) Thought I'd lost my account here, that's why I did that.

Still, I have a Dell XPS M1530 running Vista, what's the best AV to use to keep the computer secure? I don't know whether to use MSE or not because support drop for it will probably be next year but if that's the best choice, I'll go for it!

Looking for free AV of course.

Thanks.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Packard Bell imedia s3210
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(tm) 7450 Dual Core Processor (2.40GHz)
    Memory
    2.00GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200
Welcome back Cammygitl192! I now seem to be almost the only advocate of using MSE 4.9 on Vista. Many Vista users reported "black screen after login" after installing http://www.vistax64.com/windows-upd...-security-essentials-4-9-218-0-kb3140527.html, but I am now using MSE 4.9 without any such issue, and I'm certainly not the only one. It might be the last client version that supports Vista, or there might perhaps be one more before April 11. Even if Microsoft promptly cuts off the definition updates, XP diehards have found that definition updates can be manually downloaded and still work with older client versions; so April 11 isn't necessarily the end of MSE's usefulness.

As I recall, when we last communicated you were running SP1. (I certainly wouldn't recommend that - especially now that a solution may exist for Windows Update taking a very long time to check for updates; see http://www.vistax64.com/windows-updates/304544-current-tips-updates.html - but if that is what you are running, then I will tailor my advice accordingly.) If you check the System Requirements for MSE 4.9 at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5201, you will find that it still explicitly supports both SP1 and SP2. Avast is one popular alternative among Vista users, but their system requirements specify "Windows Vista SP2 or higher, except Starter Edition (32 or 64-bit)" (see https://www.avast.com/faq.php?article=AVKB44#idt_100). Do not attempt to install anything without checking system requirements! I had years of experience with AVG and months of experience with Panda, and my advice is to avoid them both: They are what drove me to MSE more than a year ago. I was once on the verge of trying Avira Free, until I learned that they ended support for Vista years ago.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Use Vista with both service packs and try Avast Free.
I just go with basic cover and don't bother with a lot of what they offer.
I also use private Firewall (a free 2 way firewall) and Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit.
Once a week or so I scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
I have both service packs, my ISO included them.
Thanks the info!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Packard Bell imedia s3210
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(tm) 7450 Dual Core Processor (2.40GHz)
    Memory
    2.00GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200
Use Vista with both service packs and try Avast Free.
I just go with basic cover and don't bother with a lot of what they offer.
I also use private Firewall (a free 2 way firewall) and Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit.
Once a week or so I scan with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Free.
Avast is certainly high on the list of third-party antivirus solutions I might try if I become dissatisfied with MSE.

A third-party firewall is not essential. Before installing one, read Why You Don?t Need to Install a Third-Party Firewall (And When You Do).

Malewarebytes Anti-Exploit only supports certain major browsers, whereas Cammygirl192 prefers minor browsers as I recall. (Coming to think of it, I don't really know how well MSE works with anything except Firefox and IE 9.) The best defense against Java exploits is not to use Java plugins at all (I don't). It isn't clear to me whether the free version protects against Flash exploits. In any case, Flash Player is best kept on a short leash (use ActiveX Filtering in IE, Ask to Activate in Firefox, etc.), and of course it must be updated promptly.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Operating System
    Vista Home Premium x86 SP2
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Pavilion Elite m9150f
    CPU
    Intel Q6600
    Memory
    3 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
@Vistaar Yes, I use Pale Moon 25.2.2.

I don't have Java installed, which is good, and I don't want to install it, although I have Flash because something one of my online friends made for my site requires Flash. Plus Flash has some cool web apps that don't support HTML5/etc, even my own YouTube videos won't buffer in the HTML5 player.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Packard Bell imedia s3210
    CPU
    AMD Athlon(tm) 7450 Dual Core Processor (2.40GHz)
    Memory
    2.00GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8200
I use Pale Moon 26.2.2
Private Firewall I find much simpler to use than Windows Firewall
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinkpad T400
    CPU
    Intel Mobile Core 2 Duo P8700 @ 2.53GHz
    Motherboard
    LENOVO 64734VM
    Memory
    2.00GB Single-Channel DDR3 @ 531MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Mobile Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
    Sound Card
    Conexant 20561 SmartAudio HD
    Monitor(s) Displays
    15 inch
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    1x 180GB Intel 530 series SSD
    1 x 120GB Hitachi 5400rmp
    1 x 650GB Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    1x 1Tb Western Digital Elements 5400rpm
    Internet Speed
    Medium for New Zealand
    Other Info
    Weakest part of my computer is the graphics chipset.
    Only ever used a laptop.
    Also use USB Freeview TV Card
    Lenovo Docking Station
    External Speakers
    Other bits a pieces as needed
I actually only have Vista running in a virtual machine these days,(for helping clients), which is the ultimate security as if I have a serious issue I can just start again

For the last few years I have used the same set-up on any of my "real" systems - Comodo Internet Security backed up by Malwarebytes, ( I use the Premium but regular manual use of the free version is almost as good), I also practice safe surfing ;) Think twice click once

https://www.comodo.com/#comodoonecta

https://www.malwarebytes.com/

It takes a bit of learning but has kept me "clean" for years
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro x64 Latest Release Preview
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer G276HL 27", (DVi) + Samsung 39" HDTV (HDMI)
    Screen Resolution
    2 x 1920x1080 @50Hz
  • Manufacturer/Model
    Real World Computers (Custom by Me)
    CPU
    AMD FX8350 Vishera 8 Core @4GHz
    Motherboard
    Asus M5A78L-M USB3
    Memory
    32GB [4x8GB] DDR3 1600 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Asus nVidia GTX750TI-OC-2GD5 (2GB DDR5)
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xoner DG + SPDIF to 5.1 System + HDMI
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung 32" TV
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Internal
    Crucial CT256MX100SSD1 256GB SSD,
    Seagate ST2000DM001-1CH1 2TB,

    External (USB3)
    Seagate Backup+ Hub BK SCSI Disk 8TB
    2.5/3.5 Hot Swap Cradle, USB3 + eSata (client HDDs)
    NAS 4TB
    PSU
    Aerocool Templarius Imperator 750W 80+ Silver
    Case
    AeroCool X-Warrior Red Devil Tower
    Cooling
    Hyper103 CPU, Rear 120mm, Front 2x120mm, Side 2x120mm
    Internet Speed
    68 MB Down 18.5 MB Up
    Other Info
    Six Sensor Auto / Manual Digital cooling (Fan) control with Touch control Panel
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