[Waste of Space]

My Windows 10 PC has had to go back to the supplier for a problem to be rectified  -  and because of COVID, their turnaround time on repair jobs is currently 14 days.  This leaves me with only an old HP laptop running Vista, which for obvious reasons I'm extremely cautious about using connected to the Web.  I'm assuming that Vista must be wide open to infiltration by everything under the sun when support for it has long since been discontinued  -  right?

 

For a start, I'd need a good third-party firewall, but where on Earth could I hope to download one which could be used with Vista?

 

As for antivirus etc., I've nominally transferred my Malwarebytes Premium to the laptop temporarily, but probably you'll tell me that it can't actually work properly with Vista....or can it?

 

Okay, so I realise that if I ask for advice about this, almost everyone's going to retort  "Our advice is that you DON'T try using Vista to go online, because it would be insane."  But hey, I can't afford a new laptop, nor is the old laptop fit and healthy enough to have Windows 10 loaded onto it, so I'm in a bit of an uncomfortable situation here.

 

Does anyone have any non-negative advice they can offer?  Is there anything, anywhere which I can safely download to improve the security of the laptop?  It'd have to be free, that's for sure, because I ain't such a bonehead as to make a card payment over the Web using Vista.

 

Thanks.

 

Edited by Waste of Space, 13 November 2020 - 09:26 AM.

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From what I can find Malwarebytes premium will work on Vista. See this article: https://support.malw...-for-Windows-v3

MS says that Vista has an excellent built in firewall but you can also look at this article: https://answers.micr...09-9add56887550

[123Runner]

From what I can find Malwarebytes premium will work on Vista. See this article: https://support.malw...-for-Windows-v3

MS says that Vista has an excellent built in firewall but you can also look at this article: https://answers.micr...09-9add56887550

[Waste of Space]

Thanks for the reassurance re. Malwarebytes and Vista.  The article reads as though there's a separate version for Windows/XP, so let's hope that that version was what installed itself when I transferred my licence from my Windows 10 PC to my Vista laptop.  Certainly it all went seamlessly, with no announcements about incompatibility, so I guess Malwarebytes recognised my laptop for what it is.  What a relief.

 

But as for Vista's own firewall, Microsoft's (2008) claim that Windows Vista comes with an excellent "out of the box" firewall doesn't inspire much confidence, I'd say.  I'm guessing that a firewall designed for use in 2007/2008 would by definition be unable to cope with what today's cyberspace can throw at it.  Or am I wrong?

 

Google is automatically warning me off many of the websites I try to visit using Vista, telling me they're not secure and that I'm risking my privacy/passwords//bank balance if I proceed, which is unsettling when I don't know just how much protection my laptop has.  How far can I stick my neck out, do we suppose?

 

And can anyone think of any third-party firewall I might be able to download without having to travel back in time to obtain it?

Edited by Waste of Space, 13 November 2020 - 09:32 AM.

[123Runner]

For firewalls I would just go with the built in Vista one. If you did enough searching you MIGHT find one that works but how good will it be because it would handle Vista. Newer programs, and firewalls, are built for newer OS's and usually only go back 1 or 2 OS builds.

I hear what you are saying about wanted to be protected but I don't believe it is worth the aggravation for 2 weeks. Just be careful of what sites you go to. As for added protection disconnect the laptop from the internet when not being used.

[Waste of Space]

123Runner, thanks for your responses, it was kind of you to take the time.

 

So is making a card payment via XP/Vista as inadvisable as I imagine?  Or should I be okay as long as I have Malwarebytes Premium and a functioning firewall?

 

I just don't know how far I can stick my neck out without risking something diabolical happening, see.

Edited by Waste of Space, 15 November 2020 - 03:55 AM.