AV 'lite' for old XP laptop wanted (+ added mission creep)

[WD Forte]

I have an old Dell Inspiron 9300 laptop with 17" screen which will
be primarily used for non internet work like playing media
and utils like running oscilloscope software, inspection cams and the like

I tried to install 7 on it but had a shit load of annoyances so eventually gave up and put XP pro SP3 on
and it runs well for what it is.
It has 1.86Ghz M cpu and 1.5Gb ram ( 2GB max) and 80GB IDE HDD so what I'm after is lightweight AV software
for the odd times I go online with it that won't hog and bloat the system.

Bitdefender was suggested, any other suggestions?
TIA
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[CaNsA]

https://www.clamav.net/index.html

[doggone]

MSE maybe
https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=5201

[stinkwheel]

Dual boot [insert preferred linux flavour here] and never, ever connect it to the internet using XP, only linux.

Disable the internet hardware in windows control panel.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Matt B]

[stinkwheel]

[WD Forte]

Thanks for the suggestions
I did consider going the dual boot XP/Ubuntu or mint path
and read up on various avs that might suit and pondered more.
( MSE refuses to install on XP BTW)
Sooo
Picking up me dummy and rinsing it under the tap I decided to have another go at 7.
(I like 7 so shoot me)
First I resized the partition XP was on to 25Gb leaving 50GB free for a possible XP/7 dual boot
so if the 7 install went tits up again I'd still have XP and not have to reinstall that,
the drivers and all the software.

copied the ISO to a bootable USB stick and installed 7
so far so good
Drivers were bit of a chore but I finally remembered compatibilty mode ( dumbass)
and its all working bar the wireless which can wait
Loaded Firefox, VLC and a few other things and MSE in updating as I type
so far so good, I know the other stuff will work as I have it running on my main PC.

I disabled auto updates and will take my time to only install what appear to be critical ones
If 7 works well I'll eventually remove the XP partition and get the 25GB back while reading up
on stripping 7 to the basics.
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[panrider_uk]

Windows 7 generally runs ok on hardware that XP works on - drivers permitting.

Older versions of MSE for XP can be downloaded.

Immunet isn't a bad low footprint AV - based on ClamAV

Also install MalwareBytes for manual scans. Don't install it for real-time use on a low spec pc as it will kill it.
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Current bikes: Honda ST1100 Pan European. Moto Guzzi V85 TT Travel

[CaNsA]

I can try and get you a copy of Win7 Lite" if you want...

Let me know.

[WD Forte]

Right, many dummies under the tap later, 7 is in and working fine
the current snag is updating the feckin thing
Update says it was looking for updates times went by and sfa happened
soooo
Grabbed WSUS on my PC downloaded the files and transferred them to the lappy and said 'av some of that ya bastard' which is technicalese for install updates I' told
It started quite encouragingly but seems stuck on
'listings ids of missing updates ( please be patient, this will take a while)
How long's a while? 10 minutes? a day?
Resource monitor shows the CPU is maxxed out with svchost.exe (netsvcs) having 98% of that and occaisional disc activity.
Offline and MSE disabled BTW

I'll leave it alone while I trot off for a bottle of White lighting or two to console myself
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[WD Forte]

Just to draw a line under this thread and I know you've all been losing sleep with worry
The things running win7 Sp1 with current upgrades, MSE etc pretty damn well considering its
age (2005)and low spec.
WSUS did work it just took feckin ages, you had to set it off and leave it to simmer for a few hours.
not sit in front of it screaming "Do something FFS!"

Net result, useable old lappy I can use on t'interweb with reasonable safety if I need to
____________________
bikers smell of wee

[doggone]

You might get some useful improvement from a flash drive in the USB - windows 7 can use this almost like additional RAM.
I have a Samsung NC10 1GB netbook running like this, it has been running constantly for more three years recording security cameras.
It's on W7 but was originally XP.

[prawny1]

the 2.26 Pentium m is actually not too sluggish if you set windows power management to high performance (things might get a little warm though)

There is a bsel mod available for the 400fsb Pentium m ( & Celeron m) to bump them upto 533fsb provided your chipset and ram support those speeds, it involves removing the cpu from the socket and putting a small wire between two holes in the cpu.

One of the biggest ways to stop xp from getting a virus (and any other browser) is to not install java or flash and block all pop ups so that you have to right click links to open them.

A huge number of windows virus's are delivered via pop ups.
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hellkat wrote:

Some people are only alive cos its against the law to kill them.