Anti-Virus/Firewall Software for 32MB memory?

I'm trying to purchase a refurbished IBM laptop, which is I guess older than what can handle the latest kind of anti-virus software download requirements.

I found Vcatch with 1.9MB for a free anti-virus download and Primedius Firewall Lite (again Free download here at MajorGeeks) with 654KB. Now, that seems to be a fairly low amount of memory needed, but as the laptop is old (IBM THINKPAD 760) I'm wondering how it will affect download time on the net, or is this not a factor? I don't need to store much else on this laptop, other than the basic WIN98 and WORD97(?) that comes already installed on it, so the downloading of the security programs are my primary concern.

The guys I keep talking to at the website offering this are trying to get me to buy something more expensive, but I don't know if they are giving me the runaround about how the low 32MB memory will make it hard to find and download anti-virus and firewall software progams.

Forgive me, as I'm really new at all of this, but I have little money, which is why if I can get this laptop and find a way to make it safe, I need to act as quickly as possible before it's gone.

I'd appreciated any advice you can give on this
Thank you, Maggie

 

My first suggestion would be to find out how much ram it can take.
If you could add ram, it wouldn't be too expensive and it could
make a huge difference on what you can run on the notebook.

 

I did manage to find a vendor link that shows a 128mb memory
stick available for that laptop. Worth looking into.
But be sure to look into this carefully. The link I spotted
could be incorrect.....

 

Here are all the specs for it.

(Which one tell me the RAM???)

Pentium 166 MHz, 32Mb (min), 2 Gb, CD/floppy, 12" TFT, Windows 98, Office 97. Upgrade the hard disk to 5Gb
Processor type - Pentium 166 MMX
Memory - 32 Mb (min)
Hard Disk - 2 Gb (Upgrade to 5Gb add £10)
Drives - Swappable CD-ROM and floppy disk drives
12" TFT Full Colour Screen
Infra red, sound ports and speakers
2 x PCMCIA ports, 1 x serial port, 1 x parallel printer port, 1 x monitor out port

Will this be way too slow, especially after I need to download at least 1.9MB for an anti-virus program, and 654KB for a firewall????

*** I just read your latest post. If the above info seems to indicate I should think about getting this, but with the added RAM you wrote about, could you tell me what the vendor is? In the UK, I hope! (Also, not having a clue about this stuff, is this something I can attach/install by myself?

Thanks-M

 

The cpu is a 166mhz Pentium. Not bad for internet surfing.
It will be somewhat slow running apps and such, but you'll do fine.

It has 32mb of ram now. A Tiger Direct link here in the states showed
a 128mb stick available, but make sure with IBM if you can.

The price of the ram/memory stick at Tiger Direct was only @30 dollars
U.S., so even installed it wouldn't cost too much.
Installing it yourself would probably not be hard. There are people here
in the hardware section who would walk you through that. I've never done
memory on a laptop, so I can't help here. But it wouldn't be complicated.

It has a 2gb hard drive. Not bad really, but for the 10 pounds extra, I would go with the 5gb.

*IF* it will take a 128mb ram stick, or even just a 64mb strip, it would help
quite a bit on how well the computer runs.

But finally. One word of advice. Is it important enough to you that this be
a laptop? Even a refurbished IBM has to cost close to 250-300 dollars U.S.,
no? For just a bit more money you could get a decent desktop that would
run circles around that IBM. And everything would run on it.
Just something to think about.
If the laptop issue is important to you, then you will do fine with the IBM.

 

One other thing Maggie, what will run on your computer
is not about the download size, by the way. It's about the system
specifications. The Pentium 166 and the 32mb of ram mostly.
Even if you change the ram/memory to a larger stick, the processor
speed will have a hard time running some newer applications.
The computer would be plenty competent to surf the internet.
A Pentium 166 can keep up with the fastest internet connection.
But if you want to be able to run a variety of programs,
it might be slow going.

 

Thanks so much for all your advice and explanations. It's very helpful.

Yesterday, I received a message from a friend who is going to give me her old (very old) but still workable desktop.

This is what I know about it from her e-mail note:

"I have just dug out some literature on the Viglen computer. I see it dates from 1996. The Pentium processor runs at 133MHz and the hard disc says it is 1620 with no units specified so it could be 1.6 Gigabytes, not very much though it does have Windows 95 and the equivalent Office suite on it. "

So here's my new question-

If I keep this computer clean of any other programs other than to download an anti-virus and firewall (I found some here at Majorgeeks: Vcatch which uses 1.9MB of space, and Primedius Firewall Lite using 654KB of space) do you think this will meet my needs (reduced from what I've been used to, but enough to access my online e-mails and slowly troll the internet??)

If I can't use this at all, I think I'll wait a bit before proceeding to absorb all I've been told. But if there is any chance you think I can get away with using this, at least for a while...please advise me.


Thanks again...Maggie

PS-As it has been working alright up to now, but without any anti-virus or firewall programs..that's my chief concern-can I download what will keep it safe and not slow down the computer even more? (I know you tried to explain this to me in your last post, but I'm a little slow on the uptake about this. So if you'd try again as it applies to this computer, I'd appreciate it.)

 

Alot of the speed of your computer depends on your ram.
I like this analogy:
Your hard drive is like long term memory. Its stores things for long-term keeping. To use this information, it has to be loaded into RAM for quicker access. When using your computer, the more RAM you have, the more info you can load into it for easy access, and therefore your programs will run faster.
This should have hardly any affect on your internet/e-mail speed. Main factor there would be your connection.

 

OK, I'm being very dense about this.

The anti-virus program and the firewall program will be stored in my Hard Drive, which has a certain amount of space (Memory or RAM, yes?)

But because these are programs that aren't just stored, but will be ACTIVE each time I go online, will the fact that these programs are running at the same time that I might be trying to download a webpage mean that it will make it slower?

Like I said, maybe I'm being thick as a brick here, but do you get my point?

(The reason I'm being so leary about this is because I had an old Compac Presario with a WIN98 program, and when I tried to download "Spywareblaster" it completely crashed on me and I haven't been able to get the computer up since. So needless to say, I'm trying to be very sure that if I download some anti-virus and firewall software, it's not going to crash my system first and foremost.)

Anyway, if you can bear with me and just say-Yes or No to whether I can download the anti-virus and firewall programs (both fairly small) without hopefully crashing this old computer I'm getting...and Yes or No to whether their running their progams while I'm online will affect its slowness.

THANK you so much!
-Maggie

 

No, they should not affect the speed of your internet. I use AVG Free edition for an antivirus program. I've not noticed any decrease in connection speed. A firewall will simply allow or deny information coming in on certain ports from certain ips...assuming you are not blocking access to the ports you use (most firewalls will come preconfigured not to), there should be no decrease in connection speed.

 

Bless your heart! That's just what I wanted to know!!!

-Maggie

PS-Any idea why my computer crashed in the middle of trying to download Spywareblaster??

 

Heh...why your computer crashed...that's another story altogether.
I would imagine that it is unrelated to the download of spywareblaster. You haven't been able to get the computer "up" since then?
My immediate impression is that would be a hardware issue.

 

I imagine you're right. When I've tried to start it up I get a "Disk Error, insert and press any key" and with no disk, I've had no luck. I tried tapping F8 and got as far as the boxes coming up which say "Boot" and "Computer Set Up" I couldn't get on to either one...pressing the F's just brought me back to "Disk Error, insert and press any key" !!! Most annoying.

I don't suppose you have a brilliant idea or two about what else I might try. I opened up the back but didn't have a clue what to do next!

-Maggie

 

Hmmm...alright...go to www.bootdisk.com and download the files for your operating system windows 98 in this case...the custom, no ramdrive one should work. Run the .exe file, with a blank, formatted floppy disk in the drive.

Stick the new boot disk in the "dead" computer, start it up, and tell us what happens.

 

Thanks so much for trying to help. I've been to this website before, but I have no idea WHICH one of these I'm supposed to be downloading!

I don't see a listing for Booting WIN98, (there's one about getting the mouse to work, and about installing WIN98) but I don't know which is the correct one.

Can you tell me which one of those I copied off the webpage is the one I'm supposed to be downloading??

-Maggie





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You are running windows 98...this is often referred to as Windows 9x (umbrella term covering win95 & 98) that's what you would be looking for. It's the first link. Then the Win98 Custom, no ramdrive is the link I was referring you to on that page!

 

Gotcha! I had no idea that 9x referred to WIN95&98. Much obliged for your help on this. I'll try to get to it soon (I've just brought home the very old computer I mentioned earlier. I tried to download VCatch but for some reason I wasn't able to register, and it won't actually activate until I can. Kind of in limbo about that. Now I need to go find a firewall that isn't huge. I tried primedius lite, but they won't allow installation on WIN95.

The computer is so slow that my entire way of using the net is about to change drastically! I tried to download one webpage (My Yahoo, where I store all kinds of things like online bookmarks, news headlines, etc etc, and it took FOUR MINUTES to download!

Anyway, I'm about to re-enter the middle ages when I loose this laptop, so your help on getting the other one running (still old but slightly newer and faster than this one) I am very grateful.

I'll report back (if you don't mind) with the results.
Thanks again!
Maggie

 

Me again,

No luck. I put in the disk and the same thing came up..

"Non System Disk or Disk Error Replace and strike any key."

So, does this mean I'm stuffed?

-Maggie

 

Oh man, I'm bad at troubleshooting remotely.
Sounds like we may have got the wrong file from bootdisk.com...I would experiment with a few of the win98 files.

But first, can you list all the files on that disk, so we can be sure it worked properly?

 

Well now you're going to think I'm a complete doofus, but how do I check the files? I opened the floppy and it started to run, which isn't what I wanted, so I cancelled that. There has to be a way to check the files, but I don't know how!! Please forgive me for being so stupid, as you're doing your best to help.

I won't be online for much longer since my ISP is only until 6pm and it's almost that now. I'll have to continue on Monday, if you'll bear with me.

If you are getting frustrated, I'll understand. I really thought I had a better handle on how to follow your instructions, but I keep hitting walls in my ignorance!

Again (and again) thank you for all this help!
-Maggie

 

The floppy started to run? What do you mean by this? Did you copy the .exe file directly to the floppy?

You should be able to see what files are on it by inserting it, opening My Computer, right clicking on the FDD, and clicking explore.

 

I'm just about to go offline until Monday...I'll follow your instructions and get back to you then.

Yes, I did copy right to the floppy. Wrong, eh? I'll do it again if I can't get the info off the disk, and give it to you when I'm back online..

THANK YOU!!!!
-M

 

Heheh...gotta read a little more carefully, m'dear!

 

Ok I can see why you think we're talking at cross purposes.

When I first downloaded the Boot disk from that website (from my friend's computer), I did then put it in the OLD DEAD computer and nothing happened. I got the same old reply of "Disk Error" as I stated in a previous post.

THEN when you told me to get the programs on the disk, I inserted it into my friend's computer and tried to open it. This is where I got struck, because it seemed to be downloading the boot disk, instead of opening a program file, and I was worried I might be somehow hurting the WINME program installed in my friend's laptop, so I stopped the download.

Herein lies the mystery. Perhaps I'm completely wrong here and when I click OPEN, the disk is SUPPOSED to download the info onto the laptop from the disk first, and THEN I'll be able to look for the programs as you asked for.

Is this the case?

Am I making any sense here now?

I hope so!...Maggie

 

I hope I have gotten what you need (I don't seem to be able to copy and paste this info from the Floppy Box which showed me this info, so I'm opening two windows and just typing what it says)..Maggie




CD4 41 KB System file
CHKDSK 28 KB Application
COMMAND 92 KB MS-DOS Application
CONFIG 1 KB System file
DELTREE 19 KB Application
DISKCOPY 22 kb MS-DOS Appication
DRVSPACE 68 KB BIN File
EDIT 69 KB MS-DOS Application
EDIT 11 KB Help File
FDISK 63 KB Application
FORMAT 49 KB MS-DOS Application
HIMEM 33 KB System File
IO 218 KB System File
LABEL 10 KB Application
MEM 32 KB Application
MOVE 27 KN Application
MSCDEX 25 KB Application
MSDOS 1 KB System File
MTMCDAI 17 KB System File
SCANDISK 141 KB Application
SCANDISK 8 KB Configuration Settings
SCANREG 162 KB Application
SMARTDRV 45 KB Application
SYS 19 KB MS-DOS Application
XCOPY 4 KB Application
XCOPY32 4 KB Application
XCOPY32.MOX 41 KB MOD File

 

More info!!

I just made a new disk just to see if the other one might have been faulty, and when I put it into the old computer...something came up!!

Here's what it said,

CD-ROM DEUICE Drive for IDE
Drive Version: V340
Device Name: BANANA
Transfer Mode" Programmed I/0
Drive ) Port 170 (Secondary Channel) Master IRQ=15
Firmware Version: 0.91
MSCDCX Version 2.25
Drive R=(can't read my own writing!) BANANA Unit 0

and then it had one of these:

A:\>_

I tried typing in SCANREG/RESTORE but then another screen came up (Blue) which said

Microsoft Registry Check

and another of those A:\>_

And that's where I left it!!! I don't know if I need to have the registry info, but I don't, so I'm hoping you can talk me through what needs to be typed in next, etc. To get me in, and when I'm in (if I'm able to get in) what to do next to restore it back to a good setting.

Hope you haven't given up on me through all of this! I think we're getting somewhere, yes??

Thanks so much, Maggie

 

Sorry, I just reread this last post. One big mistake... In the specs that came up from the boot disk it should read:

Drive 0

Does this mean it can't detect a hard drive?

I hope not!

I tried rebooting again from the disc but still can't get any further without knowing what to type into the A:\>_

I tried sys C: but also no luck.

 

I have an older HP 166MHZ, 128 MB, Win98SE computer, that I play with once in a while. Without anti-virus or firewall software installed, the system runs reasonablly well (fast enough). After installing McAfee VirusScan and Zone Labs Firewall, the system has slowed way down. Not just for web surfing but everything has slow down, i.e. opening files, starting programs.

I find it hard to believe that is possible to run an anti-virus and firewall on a system with just 32 MB of ram and have acceptable performance.

My 2 cents.

Doug

 

You need to type SCANDISK after the command prompt A:\> and let it scan your disk for errors. If you want to see a list of whats on the disk type DIR after the command prompt.

 

I tried typing in SCANDISK but with no luck. Any other ideas what I can type in which might get me back into the system? (sys C: didn' work either, by the way)


As for the even older computer, the one I'm trying to find an anti-virus for, how much of a chance would I be taking to not install any kind of anti-virus or firewall, if I use it ONLY to read and write my e-mails at Yahoo (which apparently has it's own anti-virus program working within it)?

Thanks, Maggie

 

Okay, am I correct in assuming these are the files on the floppy disk?
If so, insert this floppy disk into the drive and power on the computer.
If you're at a command prompt (as your posts seem to indicate) we're headed in the right direction.
Now, when you type these commands, are we at the A:\> prompt? If so, what error messages appear?

 

Hello,

Things have become more complicated since I last posted here. I went to the cybertech forum and posted there as well.

Starting at my 11th post (I had started the thread months ago, and then dropped it from frustration. I posted there again after your instructions about the bootable disk) From there on, you can see what was suggested and what I did, and where it finally ended.

So unless you can think of anything else I might try (I haven't tryed to re-boot on the WIN98 disk again since yesterday) I guess I'll have to give it up until or unless I'm more competent.

Again, thank you so much for all your help and suggestions..maggiethecat

http://www.cybertechhelp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68761&page=1&pp=15