Support for Windows 98 withdrawn ...what now?

[suein56]

Users of Windows 98 - I hope there are still some - could I ask what you are doing to protect your computers now that Bill Gates has withdrawn support for Windows 98 and Zonealarm has followed suit?

I ask because a friend of mine is very confused about what to do with her old pc - she would like to continue to use it on the Internet but is terrified it will suddenly become prey to all kinds of nasties now that she cannot update her firewall. She is using Avast for antivirus and that continues to seem fine for Win 98.

I would like to be able to help her so I have had a quick look at all the usual products but support now seems to be exclusively for Win 2000 and XP.

So: the question - Has anyone found any firewall product that is offering to continue protection for Win 98?

Sue

 

[Anton Redman]

I thought Norton and Mcafee were still offering support

[Ianhaycox]

It depends how you connect to the Internet, but if on ADSL you could use a hardware firewall that is built into most broadband routers. However if your considering spending money on hardware it might be a better investment to just buy a new PC and use supported OS'es and apps etc.

The other option, which is a bit more radical, is to keep the old hardware and replace W98 with Linux, e.g. <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a>, it's free and comes with all the apps you'll need and is much more secure on the Internet.

[LaBucherie]

This old version of the Kerio firewall works with Windows 98. It does not need updating like an anti-virus program - make sure that you untick the "automatic update" box.

Link: http://www.sunbelt-software.com/ihs/alex/keriopf215.zip

[suein56]

[quote user="Ianhaycox"]It depends how you connect to the Internet, but if on ADSL you could use a hardware firewall that is built into most broadband routers. However if your considering spending money on hardware it might be a better investment to just buy a new PC and use supported OS'es and apps etc.


The other option, which is a bit more radical, is to keep the old hardware and replace W98 with Linux, e.g. <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu</a>, it's free and comes with all the apps you'll need and is much more secure on the Internet.


[/quote]

Thanks to Ian and to the others who replied - you have certainly given my friend enough options to consider. I forgot to mention she is an internet newbie, with an ancient Pentium 2 machine, buried deep in the countryside with no possibility of ADSL in the [near] future.

I shall pass on your helpful replies and let you know what happens.

Thanks again

Sue

[Anton Redman]

Which ISP (Internet Service Provider) / Email Service is she using? Both Wanadoo/Orange and Hot Mail are still offering virus protection on their services irrespective of operating system/shell

[suein56]

An update:

My friend has more or less decided to buy a [new to her] machine which uses XP as she does not feel she could cope with a different operating system such as Linux as she has only just got used to Windows 98. For this reason, and finance also, she does not feel she could cope with a Mac either. There are plenty of secondhand XP machines about which then means she can continue using all the free protection software such as Zonealarm, Avast, Pop-up Stopper etc.

On her behalf thanks to all for the helpful input.

Sue