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Free internet security for Vista ?

modern_hermitmodern_hermit
in Chit chat
Which free package or combination of programs (antivirus/antispyware + firewall) for Vista should I use ?
Will someone kindly tell me , please ?

Comments

  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    Avast.
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
    Thanked by 1modern_hermit
  • SokurahSokurah
    No super helpful, I know ... but you should probably upgrade from Vista ;)
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  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    Sokurah wrote: »
    No super helpful, I know ... but you should probably upgrade from Vista ;)
    Agreed.Windows 7 was a vast improvement.
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • moggymoggy
    rich_chandler wrote: »
    Sokurah wrote: »
    No super helpful, I know ... but you should probably upgrade from Vista ;)
    Agreed.Windows 7 was a vast improvement.

    AVAST improvement I saw what you did there.
    :))
    Thanked by 11024MAK
  • rich_chandlerrich_chandler
    moggy wrote: »
    rich_chandler wrote: »
    Sokurah wrote: »
    No super helpful, I know ... but you should probably upgrade from Vista ;)
    Agreed.Windows 7 was a vast improvement.
    AVAST improvement I saw what you did there.
    :))
    Nothing gets past you...

    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • zx1zx1
    I loved W7 and didn't want to upgrade but was forced to when i bought my new PC last year. Now i love W10 but i suspect it takes up a lot of resources.
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  • modern_hermitmodern_hermit
    I am only using Vista for a simple Internet access and playing Spectrum games under Spin .
    It works fine for me .
  • guesserguesser
    You were asking about making it secure though, the proper answer is to switch to a supported operating system.

    When you say "simple internet access" do you mean web browsing? cause all the major browsers dropped Vista support a while ago.
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • zxbrunozxbruno
    edited October 2019
    Maybe he just uses it to download Spectrum games once in a while? K-Meleon may be a good browser for someone who still needs to keep a Vista machine going.

    Buying a Windows 7 product key is much more affordable these days. And if you do a clean install of Windows 7 or upgrade to Windows 7, you can then upgrade to Windows 10 with the Windows Media Creation tool and it'll activate Windows 10 for free, permanently. Don't believe the idea that free upgrades to Windows 10 ended. I upgrade computers from 7 and 8.1 to 10 every few days.

    I've upgraded XP and Vista machines many times, sometimes all the way to Windows 10. Some upgrades included maxing out RAM and upgrading to solid state drive. But why? Because it's fun and it's a way of reusing computers that have nothing wrong with them besides being older. If someone really likes their computer, doesn't want to purchase a new one, and the cost of upgrading is one third of the cost of replacing it, I say it's worth it. It's great to see an older machine working again, rather than being thrown away or recycled. Some users don't need to play games with the latest dedicated graphics card and processor. They use their PCs for simple things. Those are the ones who can benefit the most from upgrading and maintaining their older computers.

    The latest computers I upgraded with great results were a Dell Inspiron laptop and a Fujitsu laptop from 2006. Both were originally XP machines, and both are now running fast and with the latest build of Windows 10.
    Post edited by zxbruno on
  • modern_hermitmodern_hermit
    @guesser
    Yes , I mean simple web browsing , downloading files (mainly Spectrum games) ,
    entering my email accounts - all under Firefox .
    I always guessed a security software takes care of the safety gaps , no matter
    how actual the operating system or the browser is . Is it not so ?
  • Scottie_ukScottie_uk
    Asking how to secure vista is like asking how to secure a sieve. I think a machine built for Windows Vista, will run Windows 7 or Windows 10 well. Better still if you are browsing and downloading files you could give Linux a go. Ubuntu Linux is very accessible these days. Maybe if your hard drive capacity permits it you cold dual boot.
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  • zxbrunozxbruno
    modern_hermit wrote: »
    I always guessed a security software takes care of the safety gaps , no matter
    how actual the operating system or the browser is . Is it not so ?

    Not quite. Once in a while the bad guys find ways to exploit operating systems. When these vulnerabilities are found, the operating systems receive patches to fix them via automatic updates. Once the extended support ends (Vista extended support ended more than 2 years ago), the vulnerabilities do not get patched. This makes older operating systems highly attractive targets. Antivirus programs and Antispyware programs rely on virus definitions and heuristics, firewalls (hardware and/or software ones) attempt to keep an eye on internet traffic, and there are antivirus programs that rely on some kind of software AI, but none of that can make an outdated, unpatched operating system safe.

  • ZupZup
    Maybe you should install a Linux on that computer.
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  • guesserguesser
    edited October 2019
    zxbruno wrote: »
    Not quite. Once in a while the bad guys find ways to exploit operating systems. When these vulnerabilities are found, the operating systems receive patches to fix them via automatic updates.

    Possibly even more importantly, people find security flaws in browsers.
    The browser downloads data from the internet and processes it, so is on the front lines when it comes to security.
    The more out of date your browser is, the larger the number of unpatched critical security issues to be exploited gets.
    Post edited by guesser on
    My rubbish website including the redrawn Amstrad schematics and the Sinclair Wiki.
  • modern_hermitmodern_hermit
    Thank you all for the answers and pointing out the dangers I was not aware of .
    I will upgrade the operating system as soon as I will be able to .
    Meanwhile , I will install the older versions of ZoneAlarm Firewall and Avast Antivirus , to decrease
    the probability of hacking or an infection .
    I am interested in the dual-booting and Linux option . Is Linux safe ?
  • 1024MAK1024MAK
    modern_hermit wrote: »
    Is Linux safe ?
    As long as you update your OS and browser when updates are made available, yes.

    A lot of the internet infrastructure runs on Linux.

    Mark
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  • dm_boozefreekdm_boozefreek
    edited October 2019
    Speaking of the Linux thing, I'm curious now, and I'm sure I've said I'd considered setting it up before, and weither it was hard to do or not? But after the last Windows 10 update I just got I'm really considering it.

    Seriously I've been getting hounded for 2 days with Windoze update messages even though I've been setting it to reschedule when I want to do it. Tonight I get in from work, get the same b*llocks again even though I clicked and said "no later". Half way through a vid I'm watching on youtube screen goes blue windoze is shutting down.

    After almost 2 hours of it updating saying it was almost done, and then restarting and changing it's mind that it was only 25% done I finally get back on there, and it's reset all my global, and location settings to "On" which I always have off, it's re-enabled Cortana, and my VPN is switched to off.....and half the options for disabling Cortana from earlier versions are missing so it's extra deceptive, and awkward to turn her off. I really think I'm done with everything conventional when it comes to being online, it's just a data mining hellfest these days.....and I don't even do anything really sketchy online, I just don't want somebody turning everything I do into personalized ads or trying to sell me something they've eaves dropped on through some sh*tty f*cking life stealing pseudo-friendly service robot I didn't want in the first place X(
    Post edited by dm_boozefreek on
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  • TimmyTimmy
    dm_boozefreek wrote: »
    Speaking of the Linux thing, I'm curious now, and I'm sure I've said I'd considered setting it up before, and weither it was hard to do or not? But after the last Windows 10 update I just got I'm really considering it.

    You might want to make a new thread here, but let's answer this question anyway. :)

    I must say I haven't done much Linux thing lately, but I feel it is still a bit hard compared to Windows. But, you could probably skip that 'setting up' part and use a LiveCD edition instead, which means you can boot it using an USB drive or CD/DVD and keep windows in case of emergencies. At least, that's what I did with my very old laptop.

    The other advantages is obviously that you can update your Linux whenever you want, and almost all software you use are on Linux anyway. Web browsers, Word Processors, Emulators (well, Spin isn't on Linux but Fuse is just as good). The only thing that you might be missing is some Steam games, but you probably save more headaches this way with no unstoppable updates and no more data mining programs in your "OS".

    It that still seems hard to you, get a Raspberry Pi and try Linux out that way first. But I think you'll find a LiveCD version to be easy as well. :)
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  • dm_boozefreekdm_boozefreek
    Yeah sorry didn’t mean to Bogarde the thread, but since Linux was being talked about I just offloaded here. Didn’t really seem worth starting it’s own thread. But that’s some pretty sound advice there, and as I mentioned in another thread I recently made friends with a guy who owns a tech company, and he said he’d give me a pi for free. So maybe I could experiment with that if I actually get it.
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  • Scottie_ukScottie_uk
    edited October 2019
    Linux is only hard when you want to do hard things with/to it. Ubuntu Linux for most people is plug and play. I'd say Boozie, get an iso (Bootable CD image) for Ubuntu Linux, and use the install disk to dual boot your PC.
    For Ubuntu, download the 18.04 LTS (long term support) version if you do not plan on updating every six months, or Ubuntu 19.10 if you do not mind doing an in place update very six months to a new version.
    https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop

    Before you do this though, make a backup of your Windows 10 hard disk using a bootable CD containing FileZilla. Providing you have somewhere to store the resulting large disk image file.That way if you mess things up, or change your mind you can put your hard disk back in to it's prior state.
    https://www.clonezilla.org/downloads.php
    Post edited by Scottie_uk on
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