Where To Go From Here On Vista 32bit SP2 +

[Vistaar]

When I was running Vista, I would occasionally use an antivirus rescue disk as a “third opinion” scanner. (Malwarebytes Free was my second opinion scanner, and of course I always had a good first opinion antivirus with real-time protection.) I was thinking of recommending my former favorite to wither 3 in his present predicament, but unfortunately it appears that ESET SysRescue Live was terminated on September 29, 2023. That’s too bad because it supported operating systems as far back as Windows 2000. I believe Bitdefender’s rescue disk was also discontinued years ago. I also believe you would have to install Avast to get their rescue disk. I never used theirs even when I had Avast installed because I wanted my third opinion to come from a different company than my first opinion.

Your comment on MSE is also a factor in not messing with Vista anymore. I guess I had some fun with it, but it's time to let it go.

Oh no: Have I become an overzealous Microsoft Security Essentials naysayer? I will always remember using MSE on Vista during 2015-2017 as the good old days: so much more relaxing than using third-party antivirus products that often created more problems than they solved. In defense of the idea of using MSE 4.4.304.0 on Vista, it has been argued that it doesn’t matter how old the MSE client is as long as Microsoft updates the engine because it is the engine that does the actual work. That is a good argument, assuming that the latest engine actually works in an old client running on an old OS. That is why I really wish you had visited AMTSO Security Features Check Tools - AMTSO to test MSE 4.4. Sorry for not posting a link when I first mentioned this idea: It was actually harder to find than I expected. My favorite test was for drive-by downloads. MSE does not have anti-phishing so don’t be discouraged by that test. If you see a green system tray notification from MSE and the test file goes to quarantine, then the engine is working. We could then say that MSE meets or exceeds the latest “better than nothing” security standard for Vista gurus. But if the engine cannot prevent the test file from being downloaded, then MSE is no better than no real-time protection at all.

MSE hasn’t been an option for Windows XP for several years. You might think this is only because there is no SHA-2 update for XP, but actually the first thing to go was the engine: Microsoft’s engine updates became incompatible with XP long before they were signed with SHA-2 exclusively. Are they still compatible with Vista? I dunno, you tell me!

 

[wither 3]

I do have a system image from macrium reflect stored on a secondary hard drive. When I think about it, I should probably make a new one.

 

[mdiemer]

When I was running Vista, I would occasionally use an antivirus rescue disk as a “third opinion” scanner. (Malwarebytes Free was my second opinion scanner, and of course I always had a good first opinion antivirus with real-time protection.) I was thinking of recommending my former favorite to wither 3 in his present predicament, but unfortunately it appears that ESET SysRescue Live was terminated on September 29, 2023. That’s too bad because it supported operating systems as far back as Windows 2000. I believe Bitdefender’s rescue disk was also discontinued years ago. I also believe you would have to install Avast to get their rescue disk. I never used theirs even when I had Avast installed because I wanted my third opinion to come from a different company than my first opinion.


Oh no: Have I become an overzealous Microsoft Security Essentials naysayer? I will always remember using MSE on Vista during 2015-2017 as the good old days: so much more relaxing than using third-party antivirus products that often created more problems than they solved. In defense of the idea of using MSE 4.4.304.0 on Vista, it has been argued that it doesn’t matter how old the MSE client is as long as Microsoft updates the engine because it is the engine that does the actual work. That is a good argument, assuming that the latest engine actually works in an old client running on an old OS. That is why I really wish you had visited AMTSO Security Features Check Tools - AMTSO to test MSE 4.4. Sorry for not posting a link when I first mentioned this idea: It was actually harder to find than I expected. My favorite test was for drive-by downloads. MSE does not have anti-phishing so don’t be discouraged by that test. If you see a green system tray notification from MSE and the test file goes to quarantine, then the engine is working. We could then say that MSE meets or exceeds the latest “better than nothing” security standard for Vista gurus. But if the engine cannot prevent the test file from being downloaded, then MSE is no better than no real-time protection at all.

MSE hasn’t been an option for Windows XP for several years. You might think this is only because there is no SHA-2 update for XP, but actually the first thing to go was the engine: Microsoft’s engine updates became incompatible with XP long before they were signed with SHA-2 exclusively. Are they still compatible with Vista? I dunno, you tell me!

I was not able to do the test because, before I got around to it, my Vista install got borked with a BSOD, then went into a startup/shutdown loop.

The SSDs I ordered arrived today. I'll be attempting new, clean installs on both. I am aware of some hacks that may allow me to bypass the need to first install Vista, then W7 as an upgrade. I may then try Vista again. If I do, I will try the test.

 

[Vistaar]

I do have a system image from macrium reflect stored on a secondary hard drive. When I think about it, I should probably make a new one.

If you have an image that was created back in the days when your Norton was still getting definitions, and preferably before you ever installed a certain Chinese browser, then that might be worth hanging on to if you are really too stubborn to stop running Vista. Frankly, such an old image is much less likely to contain malware than a new one that you might create now!

Do you own a smartphone wither 3? I’m actually on an iPhone right now. I know you don’t want to buy a Windows 11 PC, but you don’t particularly need to if you have a smartphone for web browsing. I don’t intend to spend very much time advising someone who never takes advice, so good luck wither 3.

 

[wither 3]

I've taken plenty of advice from you and others in this forum and the Win 7 forum. You guys/girls are much more knowledgeable of computers and software than I am.

I do have smartphones but I primarily use them to make long distance phone calls and to take pictures. I don't frequently go on the internet on them except for the apps I download (I prefer viewing the internet on a 24" monitor). You'll never see me in a restaurant, bar, anyplace with a smartphone in my hand rather than talking with people.

Note that Vista is also installed on my secondary hard drive. I've said before that, if need be, I'd buy a new computer with Win 11.

 

[Vistaar]

The SSDs I ordered arrived today....I may then try Vista again. If I do, I will try the test.

I don’t think any of us still here ever ran Vista on an SSD, but I recall threads about that at MSFN. This one includes replies from expert users who I had much respect for: SSD for Vista

 

[mdiemer]

I don’t think any of us still here ever ran Vista on an SSD, but I recall threads about that at MSFN. This one includes replies from expert users who I had much respect for: SSD for Vista

I have already installed Windows 7 on one of them, activated it, and installed and activated Office also. So I have no need to install Vista in order to install W7. If I do install it, I know I will get hooked on it again, so I'm leaning on not doing that.

Previously, however, I did install Vista on a San Disk SSD, and that seemed to be fine. I overwrote it with Linux, but it worked well up to that point. I was not aware of the potential issues raised on the MSFN forum, but will keep them in mind if I ever do decide to try it again. you never know how bored you might get...