TotalAV Antivirus

bishopsgirl

HereToday said:

Why not install Office on the HP? Radical I know.

Get rid of Norton anyway.. Microsoft Security Essentials is still available for basic protection: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=5201

Yes I may well have to do this but a really nice person, who is a relative of a friend took the time set my laptop up for me and installed Libre office because he didn't want me to have the expense of Microsoft office. I promised I would give it a go for a month. 

I think he would install Microsoft office for me but I don't want him to feel I didn't give it a go or to keep pestering him.

Can you have you have  both Libre and Microsoft Office installed on the same laptop?

HereToday

Neil_Jones said:

Putting anti-virus on a computer that doesn't go on the internet is like putting separate anti-freeze solution in the windscreen washer reservoir of the car at the height of summer - pointless.

Unfortunately a misplaced analogy. What if an infected USB Flash drive is plugged in? Might want to scan something at some point. So not totally useless.

As stated, get rid of Norton. MSE will do.

Neil_Jones

HereToday said:

Neil_Jones said:

Putting anti-virus on a computer that doesn't go on the internet is like putting separate anti-freeze solution in the windscreen washer reservoir of the car at the height of summer - pointless.

Unfortunately a misplaced analogy. What if an infected USB Flash drive is plugged in? Might want to scan something at some point. So not totally useless.

But if its not on the internet, it won't update.  So you'd be scanning with an out of date definition file/package/database.  Which is about as good as not having one at all.

HereToday

Neil_Jones said:

HereToday said:

Neil_Jones said:

Putting anti-virus on a computer that doesn't go on the internet is like putting separate anti-freeze solution in the windscreen washer reservoir of the car at the height of summer - pointless.

Unfortunately a misplaced analogy. What if an infected USB Flash drive is plugged in? Might want to scan something at some point. So not totally useless.

But if its not on the internet, it won't update.  So you'd be scanning with an out of date definition file/package/database.  Which is about as good as not having one at all.

Hmmmm.... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-manually-download-the-latest-definition-updates-for-microsoft-security-essentials-36523b1f-4372-599d-efb0-dbb16b08d990

A_Lert

Windows 7 security updates ended in January 2020, except for businesses paying for ongoing support. Continuing using it is unsafe and should be avoided if possible.

From a security point of view you are probably better off connecting it to your wifi so any antivirus software can update. As mentioned it'll protect against infected files on USB sticks. But don't go on websites on the old laptop. Even sites you trust can run malware adverts or be hacked themselves.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/total-av-antivirus-solutions Techradar don't think much of TotalAV.

Microsoft Security Essentials is still available for Windows 7, and won't advertise paid upgrades to you (because there aren't any!). Alternatively there's Avira or Bitdefender.

HereToday

A_Lert said:

Windows 7 security updates ended in January 2020, except for businesses paying for ongoing support. Continuing using it is unsafe and should be avoided if possible.

From a security point of view you are probably better off connecting it to your wifi so any antivirus software can update. As mentioned it'll protect against infected files on USB sticks. But don't go on websites on the old laptop. Even sites you trust can run malware adverts or be hacked themselves.

https://www.techradar.com/uk/reviews/total-av-antivirus-solutions Techradar don't think much of TotalAV.

Microsoft Security Essentials is still available for Windows 7, and won't advertise paid upgrades to you (because there aren't any!). Alternatively there's Avira or Bitdefender.

You should check the other posts. Already suggested MSE in the post above yours; stating that you don't necessarily need to connect the PC to update it.

One can also avail themselves of updates to Windows 7 until 2023. Easy when you know how.