Need WIN89 SE Virus Checker

A good friend of ours, who is 80 years young, recently got connected with cable modem. Sighhhhh. That means hubby and I are teaching him the basics. I'm sure we'll be over there more often than before. Anyhoo. I'm having trouble using a virus checker on his computer. Here are his specs:

WIN98 SE (originally FE, but Comcast says they needed SE to run their program, so it was updated)
128 RAM
AMD K6 3D PROCESSOR
COMPAQ PRESARIO
FAT32
OE & IE 6

I've tried putting NAV 2005 on it, but it won't take it. Errors running LiveUpdate and it won't let me open the control panel for settings. It didn't even run the Wizard after installing. I installed and uninstalled 3 times with no luck. Talking with a few computer techs, it looks like there just isn't enough room on that PC to handle 2005. One person recommended putting 2004 on it, but another says they doubt that would work, either. I WON'T bother with McAfee. I know he needs some kind of protection and am wondering if there is something out there that is free that I can put on his PC. Comcast charges $10 a month to run a firewall and anitvirus. He won't do that because of the cost. I know we could probably put more RAM in it, but this guy is 80, his hands shake all the time, and only wants to use the PC for an occassional email and maybe some surfing. We tried to talk him out of it, but, you know how it is with these 'young' folks! Gotta give him credit for trying, though.

So, anyone have any ideas as to what I can do for him????

Thanks.

 

Hi Panda,

For a firewall, off the top, ZA free.

For a free AV, AVG v7.0 I think - replaces the current v6.0, although don't know exactly when that takes effect.

In the meantime, use one of the on-line scans http://www.windowsbbs.com/links.php RAV & Housecall.

What you might also do is check his startups and see if you can decrease system resources used:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

http://www2.whidbey.com/djdenham/index.htm

Regards - Charles

 

I'll second Zone Alarm. It's really easy and fairly intuitive.

For AV, there is a BETA version of the new AVG. It's really easy to run. It can be set to automatic to download updates and run a scan daily, each at the time of choice, like when he's asleep.

Or, he can use AVAST. I think AVAST would be better. You can set the scan level (quick to thorough). It seems to find things that AVG misses. But he would have to run the scan manually.

A way to trick it would be to set it for scan at boot and get a Windows reboot utility and set the time of the reboot.

 

Awesome! You guys are true life savers. I've read about these two, but never really paid attention since I use NAV and was using Kerio, but now use my XP firewall.

I think I'll go with AVG since it looks pretty easy and he doesn't have to maintain it. We go to his house often enough to help him with things and we can always check to make sure things are running smooth with the AVG. I don't really think AVAST would be good for him.

Now I have to ask a reallllly dumb question ! I know how important a firewall is, but can I just go with the one that Comcast uses normally at their end? I'm just thinking that every time he surfs he's going to have to click away all those pop up windows and he gets confused easily. I know I shouldn't really ask for approval on this, but I just don't want to mess up his mind any more than it already is, especially with this new computer learning . Can we get away with just the basics of Comcast or should I really go ahead and get ZA?

I don't need to check his system resources. I already did that. It used to be MY computer. He has the bare neccessities.

Thanks, again for all the help so far.

 

Hi panda,

I don't need to check his system resources. I already did that. It used to be MY computer. He has the bare neccessities.

Ok, well that takes care of that

I know how important a firewall is, but can I just go with the one that Comcast uses normally at their end? I'm just thinking that every time he surfs he's going to have to click away all those pop up windows and he gets confused easily. I know I shouldn't really ask for approval on this, but I just don't want to mess up his mind any more than it already is, especially with this new computer learning . Can we get away with just the basics of Comcast or should I really go ahead and get ZA?

Given the situation the way you describe it, I think you have the rght idea about using Comcast's firewall. The way I read it, security is really not that important if only surfing and e-mail use is contenplated, and, you will be monitoring the system.

Regards - Charles

 

Thank you, Charles. That was the answer I wanted!

I put AVG on it the other day and it looks like things are running fine. I'm almost thinking that when my NAV expires I may go with AVG. Looks like a pretty neat little program.

Thanks, again, everyone for your valuable input.

 

If you are not going to use a firewall, you should check one thing. Go into Control Panel\Network. Doubleclick the network adaptor, and then click on the Binding tab. If 'File and Printer Sharing' is present and has a checkmark, remove the checkmark, and OK yourself out, and reboot as prompted. Anything else there you can leave alone.
This will prevent someone out on the internet from having full access to the hard drive.

 

THANKS! Didn't think of that. Forgot it existed. Glad you reminded me!!! Will take care of it within next few days!!!