Free Antivirus Suggestion for Windows 2000 pro sp4

[DaveLembke]

I have a Pentium III 550Mhz Toshiba Laptop with 192MB Ram running Windows 2000 Pro SP4 on a 12GB HD. The Antivirus was out of date and I dont want to buy one for this old system which I am giving to my daughter who is in 1st grade to do her homework on and go to PBSkids.org ect

The problem is I am having difficulty finding a good free antivirus that supports Windows 2000 Pro. I tried MS Security Essentials and it only supports Win XP and Vista ect. Any suggestions?

In addition to this I installed Mozilla Firefox as her browser since IE for 2000 has issues supporting the latest websites. I was almost going to install Linux on this system, but decided not to only because I dont want her to get confused, since she already knows her way around Windows, and 192MB Ram might be too tight for Ubuntu which runs best at 512MB Ram or more on my other systems.

[indogo]

Hmm I remove IE so avoiding the need for antivirus ... a neater way is to make an install disk using this http://www.vorck.com/windows/index.html.

As for linux something like Nimblex 2008 or Puppy linux would be more suited to that hardware and if she is used to firefox the difference should be within her grasp...our kids have used linux from the ageof 4.

regards

Mike

[Allan]

Ignore the above post. You can use Avira, Avast, or AVG. Those are the top 3 free av's.

[2x3i5x]

you can also try Panda Cloud AV.

It supports windows 2000 and it's also free too.

[BradDet]

ClamWin is pretty good too.  But I'd try AVG Free first. ClamWin does not have an ondemand scanner, but it is allowed to be used for both commercial and non-commercial purposes

[indogo]

Ignore the above post.

why? A practical approach to his situation....loading up with antivirus will slow it down plus IE is a source of instability in 2000. Using a lightweight linux is also a sensible alternative. I do speak from several years of experience.

mike

[2x3i5x]

why? A practical approach to his situation....loading up with antivirus will slow it down plus IE is a source of instability in 2000. Using a lightweight linux is also a sensible alternative. I do speak from several years of experience.

mike

but then does not having IE mean no more viruses permanently?

[Allan]

why? A practical approach to his situation....loading up with antivirus will slow it down plus IE is a source of instability in 2000. Using a lightweight linux is also a sensible alternative. I do speak from several years of experience.

mike

First of all you cannot "remove"  IE.  Second, telling someone to use a different OS is certainly NOT a good answer to the question. Thanks for participating.

[indogo]

First of all you cannot "remove"  IE.  Second, telling someone to use a different OS is certainly NOT a good answer to the question. Thanks for participating.

Yes you can .....Shane Brooks was the first to do so in 1999 (his work was referenced in the law suit about anti monopolistic practices when Microsoft claimed it was not possible to de-integrate IE and Shane proved otherwise.) I recommend you try it one day...you might be pleasantly surprised as I was. It's also a good move when running windows on an emulator to reduce resource demands.
The original poster had considered Ubuntu so I suggested something lighter....I am considering his needs based on dealing with similar situations...the right tool for the job...I have no bias on the matter.

I would not suggest anything to anyone that I had not thoroughly tested myself. Note also that some antivirus can take as much in the way of memory , cpu and disk usage as the operating system itself.

Nothing like a healthy debate but obviously we don't want to wander off topic so let's leave it there for now as DaveLembke is probably getting a headache by now...

Regards

mike

[BradDet]

I think indogo makes a good point. But I am biased. I only run linux OS's in my home. 

However linux machines can get infected too.  Their may not be as many viri out their but this only makes them safer by coincidence. Though I have also found from personal experiance that they run much nicer on older hardware then Win2K does.

..and my daughter who is just about to start school has been using Ubuntu for the last 2 years, to go on PBS Kids and play games (even Windows games) etc.

Kids are much more robust then us, and I don't think they have a problem switching from one OS to another without even thinking twice.  In fact, I'm beginning to think they are born with the ability to use a keyboard and mouse automatically!

[Allan]

Yes you can .....Shane Brooks was the first to do so in 1999 (his work was referenced in the law suit about anti monopolistic practices when Microsoft claimed it was not possible to de-integrate IE and Shane proved otherwise.) I recommend you try it one day...you might be pleasantly surprised as I was. It's also a good move when running windows on an emulator to reduce resource demands.
The original poster had considered Ubuntu so I suggested something lighter....I am considering his needs based on dealing with similar situations...the right tool for the job...I have no bias on the matter.

I would not suggest anything to anyone that I had not thoroughly tested myself. Note also that some antivirus can take as much in the way of memory , cpu and disk usage as the operating system itself.

Nothing like a healthy debate but obviously we don't want to wander off topic so let's leave it there for now as DaveLembke is probably getting a headache by now...

Regards

mike

Our goal here is to help people, not to provide esoteric, complex, or asinine suggestions. Please, don't help anymore in this thread.

[BradDet]

Our goal here is to help people, not to provide esoteric, complex, or asinine suggestions. Please, don't help anymore in this thread.

Ouch!..harsh man..harsh

Choosing anti-virus software is a wise decision, and shows that you have concern to keep your system healthy and working well.  It is a mistake all to common for people to not consider this when purchasing a computer.

Windows 2000 is now at least 10 years old and is no longer supported by Microsoft.  You cannot get the latest security updates. This means even if you choose really good anti-virus software, if you are connected to the internet, you are at vulnerable not just being infected, but possibly hacked, and your data being stolen, and you machine being used for illegal purposes without your knowledge.

This is *not* saying anything against Microsoft.  I truly believe even if you asked MS directly, they would not recommend the ongoing use of Win2K connected to the internet, if you can avoid it at all.

Good Help, means understanding your options. and just as with any decision it is important to carefully evaluate all the  options pro's and cons before making your final decision.

Good Luck!

[WizardCMD]

After ages, somebody knows one that still works today! It is called clamwin!
It can be found at htpp://www.clamwin.com!
It is safe and I have tested IT! 

Edit - Sorry the think is just clamwin.com!

[DaveLembke]

Welcome to CH and Thanks for sharing this free AV.... also just want to say that its best not to revive old threads that are years old without activity.

Feel free to add suggestions of software though in OTHER or under SOFTWARE sections as long as its not spam advertising etc.

Thanks

[Allan]

Please don't resurrect dead threads. Thank you.