Need an AV for Win 98 system

[David C]

I have an old (year 2000) Win 98 OS computer that cannot be updated to newer versions due to processor speed and memory limits. But it houses some vintage cards driving specialty equipment that I need to maintain for another year at least. The old equipment serves its functions well for me and my contract clients, but replacement expense for the complete system is not feasible for the expected duration of my contracts.

Lately, all the AV programs I have found will no longer run on Win 98 so I am now finding I do not dare allow connection to the internet for related process interactions. Have been using Avast for past five years.

Do you have any knowledge of a current AV program that will work with Win 98? Otherwise I have to keep this computer disconnected from the internet, reducing production and adding labor.

I appreciate any info you can supply.

 

[lxskllr]

AFAIK Win98 is virtually unsupported by anything. You could try ClamWin...

http://www.clamwin.com/

There's no active scanning, but you could create a scheduled task to update and scan the system every night. I have no idea how effective it is. I've never seen a test benching it's performance. Going on hearsay, I've heard they cover new threats pretty well at the expense of old threats. I really have no idea.

You could also firewall the boxes, and blacklist everything but essential processes. That should help some. Also, it's getting to the point where age is working in your favor. A lot of newer malware probably doesn't even work on that system.

 

[limer]

You may also be able to routinely run an online scanner, like F-Secure once every couple of weeks.

 

[David C]

Thanks for the feedback.
Since posting, I've been looking and Google searching once again. Time to stop worrying about it now. No Win 98 AV software seems to exist now. I have taken the unit and related equipment offline where they will remain. When current contracts run their course, I will not attempt renewal and drop that part of my business. There is newer equipment available now for these tasks (for $$$$$), but I would also have to write massive code for a new system... All in all I now plan to phase out - more profitable uses for my time... Nice while it lasted...

 

[RebateMonger]

Until a year ago, I had a 1997-2000-era PC that was running XP. It was an Abit BH6 with a Celeron 466 processor and probably 384 MB of memory. Yeah, it was a bit slow, but worked perfectly. I imagine that most PCs from 2000 could be upgraded to XP. I certainly upgraded all of mine of that era to XP, mostly doing in-place upgrades from Windows 98.

 

[lxskllr]

Maybe you could attack it from a different angle. Does Linux support the cards? How about DOS? With some minor scripting, you might be able to get them to work that way, and be fairly safe.