Hey guys!

[Arski18]

How's yall day going? i wasn't here for a while (i logged last time on the nov last year) i hope you guys are surviving covid 19 and everything, anyways is there any anti virus for windows vista sp2 that still gets updates? thanks for any answers!

 

[wither 3]

Norton 360 and Malwarebytes, to name a few.

 

[Vistaar]

...is there any anti virus for windows vista sp2 that still gets updates?

If you mean program updates, Vista is now supported only by a few Chinese companies and Panda (which is Spanish). But if you would be content with definition updates for a “legacy” antivirus, then Avast Free 18.8 (released in November 2018) is probably the best free option.

 

[ilikefree]

Avast just got bought by Norton so things might change there.

 

[ilikefree]

I don't use any anti-virus software and haven't done so for years.
I read an article by a security expert years ago that made me uninstall it. Just tried to find that article but couldn't.
I did find this though

It might be time to stop using antivirus

Update your software and OS regularly instead, practice skeptical computing.

arstechnica.com

And I did read where one anti-virus software flagged itself as a virus.
They all have total access to your whole system and have been hacked before.
Virus writers send their viruses to sites like Virus Total and have it scanned, they then make the changes needed to get them to pass .
I'm not saying I don't have security on my system, I do, just not anti-virus

 

[Vistaar]

I did find this though

It might be time to stop using antivirus

Update your software and OS regularly instead, practice skeptical computing.

arstechnica.com

I am familiar with that article - in fact I posted it as a Vista News item Feb 2, 2017 (and was the last person other than Brink to post something there). Unfortunately, the article’s subtitle advises “Update your software and OS regularly instead,” which is hardly practicable for those who are still running Vista. I used to get a kick out of Norton users who paid for this mighty antivirus, then resorted to browsers that Norton did not support because “Firefox is using too much memory” (largely because Norton was “supporting” Firefox). These days it seems almost absurd to discuss security and Vista at the same time, but I will not go so far as to suggest abandoning their preferred security blanket, which is hopefully better than nothing.

 

[ilikefree]

I am familiar with that article - in fact I posted it as a Vista News item Feb 2, 2017 (and was the last pers hereon other than Brink to post something there). Unfortunately, the article’s subtitle advises “Update your software and OS regularly instead,” which is hardly practicable for those who are still running Vista. I used to get a kick out of Norton users who paid for this mighty antivirus, then resorted to browsers that Norton did not support because “Firefox is using too much memory” (largely because Norton was “supporting” Firefox). These days it seems almost absurd to discuss security and Vista at the same time, but I will not go so far as to suggest abandoning their preferred security blanket, which is hopefully better than nothing.

This was not the article I read that made me choose to uninstall my anti-virus, the article was by Jeremiah Grossman and is mentioned here ( not the actual article. just a mention and some details, it was years ago I read it, unable to find it now)

Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?

Many security pros don't use antivirus software. And they believe that many businesses are spending too much money on AV software and other security tools. The fact is that most criminals are smart enough to test their attacks against popular antivirus products. There's even a free website...

www.wired.com

Part of what I use are a key scrambler and two way firewall, other software I will keep to myself.
Regular scans with MalwareBytes help.

 

[wither 3]

I'm using Norton 360 with no issues. I am also using the paid version of Malwarebytes. I feel pretty secure. Using Vista for the last 13 years, I've only had one real issue and that was a rootkit 8 or 9 years ago that I was able to uninstall.

 

[Vistaar]

I'm using Norton 360 with no issues. I am also using the paid version of Malwarebytes. I feel pretty secure...

Just last month you complained that Firefox 52.9 uses too much RAM. I suggested disabling Norton, which you probably dismissed as a stab in the dark. (Imacri assumed you had malware, perhaps because she always used both Firefox and Norton back in the day.) But I’m sure you can prevent that issue from becoming acute by figuring out which tabs cannot be left open, and I’m glad you feel secure.

 

[ilikefree]

Just last month you complained that Firefox 52.9 uses too much RAM. I suggested disabling Norton, which you probably dismissed as a stab in the dark. (Imacri assumed you had malware, perhaps because she always used both Firefox and Norton back in the day.) But I’m sure you can prevent that issue from becoming acute by figuring out which tabs cannot be left open, and I’m glad you feel secure.

Firefox using too much ram was an old issue caused mainly by leaving tabs with adverts open in the background

 

[wither 3]

Vistaar- If you look at my thread on the Firefox issue, I identified that the high use of memory appeared to be due to leaving websites, which have constantly changing pictorial advertisements, open the same as what ilikefree just mentioned. I have no idea why that is since the Firefox cache doesn't seem to be increasing proportionately to the use of memory.

 

[Vistaar]

I wonder if OP @Arski18 has any further questions?

 

[AfTaStEr]

you can use eset still , version 12.2.30 is the last one released for vista works like a charm and still get definitions updates

 

[Vistaar]

you can use eset still , version 12.2.30 is the last one released for vista works like a charm and still get definitions updates

You mean someone is actually using ESET 12.2.30 on Vista in September 2021!? That is fascinating, although I never used ESET myself because they have no free version. Can you confirm or deny that SHA-2 support must be installed in order to receive definitions now? There was an interesting question about that at the ESET forum: ESET 12.x on Vista after April 15, 2021?

 

[AfTaStEr]

No dont need the sha 2 installed for it , if you install version 9 on xp the updates for definitions still works as well , only need to have root certificates installed