Windows 10

Hi FC,

Thanks for the offer of help.

I will continue to use a standard user a/c, a little more keying in on my part, but if it keeps me safer !

Yes I do use CC, and thankfully missed that update that contains that bug !

Also use MBAM and previously used the free AVs like Avast, though doing separate stand alone scans did produce the odd small bug now and then.

Ironically a couple of months ago I decided to give one of the paid for suites a try, partly because as I am finding these days, it all too easy to miss things using your own collection of free programs.

Did look around and finally came down on Norton as for £22 (argos) it covered 5 devices and a plus for me , including the smart phone, which I am rather low on its security needs.
So far MBAM and other SA scanners have not detected anything.

Its good to hear that Eset has work well for you, nothing to beat first hand info rather than some of these reviewer who always make you wonder what they get out of it.

When you say that Eset "that also secures financial transactions." does it actually start something visible to show its running something extra for banking or just that its whole program covers you ?

Perhaps worth mentioning for @pete that Rapport has problems running alongside AV suites like Norton and Kaspersky; do not know about Eset ?[/user]

 

Have recently upgraded our old Toshiba backup laptop to W10 and it does seem to run ok for the basic stuff, but as you are on Vista an upgrade is not possible.

Also agree with @ARMANDII that a new laptop with W10 preinstalled is the best way to go.

However do not discard your old laptop, always a good backup should the new one have any problems.

If you do get an new one, then doing a clean reinstall of Vista on your old laptop should give it a new lease of life as any computer will slowly grind to a halt after so many years as all the software junk etc gets too much for it.

 

Ah what a shame, and so wasteful! Perhaps another option would be to upgrade it to W7? I'm not bothered about having the latest of everything on that one as it's only used for office stuff and printing. Just can't get to grips with the throwaway society

 

Hi ricky101, Thanks for the reply. It's a PC, does that make a difference? I do have one laptop running W8.1 and a recent Acer laptop (absolute rubbish) with W10 so not relying on the old PC but as I mentioned above, I object to scrapping a fairly high spec machine just because Microsoft decide to up their profits every couple of years! Are W7 installation discs available and would that be a feasible upgrade do you think?

 

Thanks again, seems Eset do offer a 30 day trial of that suite some might have a go.


Not looking for a detailed review / argument etc, but if you have a minute free, would be interested to know the main reason/s why you feel Norton is so poor ?
I have avoided it in the past because they were renown for their failure to cancel ongoing payments and that the program was very invasive and bloated, but these days its 'seems' much lighter and can be purchased cheaply from places like Argos so avoiding Nortons gasps.

Re Rapport, I can see the principle of it is sound, providing a secure path to the bank and as our bank 'asks' us to use it, do not want to give them any reason to say we were not secure by not using it, should a fraud etc happen, though as said, some of the time is unusable until they follow the browsers updates.

Although not intending to use it the new 'open banking' coming next year sounds to be a real challenge to security, so think being as safe as possible online is even more important.
Fears grow that 'open banking' will increase fraud threat | Daily Mail Online

 

Thought W7 has been officially withdrawn from sale by Microsoft, but seems some large retailers as still selling it, but at £129 !
Plenty on Ebay etc at lower prices but wonder if they would be accepted and activated properly by Microsoft ?

You say your Desktop PC is high spec but if its y2006 has it been upgraded at all.

Can you let us know what its specs are, eg cpu, memory, hard disk size ?
That will help show if its worth keeping or upgrading it.

“Start” button -> Place mouse cursor on “My Computer” -> Right-Click -> Click “Properties” -> In here, you can check “CPU”, “Memory”, “Windows Version”

 

Here are the details I jotted down some time ago...Acer Aspire X3200. 2.1GHz processor, 32 bit. 2.75Gb memory, 320Gb Storage. NVidia GeForce 9200 graphic card, 800x600 Display. According to latest stats, 44.3 Go used, 98.6 Go free. Never been upgraded....

 

Seems that for 2006 it was a high spec machine as you say.
Even today its AMD Phenom 4core processor ( 9450?) still has a fair speed to it.
Not quiet sure why you are running at such a low screen resolution of 800x600 , though it will give you large icons etc.

Everyones view will be different but as for upgrading any part of it I would say no, with one possible exception and that would be to add in a SSD, solid state drive, to hold your operating system drive C and make your 320gb drive D for data storage etc.
Though the motherboard will not allow the SSD to run at full speed it will still give you a very noticeable speed increase.
Here's one similar to what we use.
Crucial BX300 2.5" 120GB SATA III Solid State Drive - CT120BX300SSD1

However that does not really solve your original question / problem and thats Vista.
With so little security support from Microsoft and even the browsers , I would feel very unsafe for things like online banking and shopping payments etc.

Would moving to W7 be a worthwhile investment, perhaps other can better answer that.

It also depends on what you are doing with the PC, normal home/office/surfing etc , not specialized work like heavy video editing etc ?

My suggestion would be to move straight to W10 rather than W7.

Within a day I'm using it just like any standard desktop, no 'Tiles' to be seen.
You can even get the free program Classic Shell to make the desktop look and run like W7 or W8 if you want to retain the old look.

Whatever you do, ensure you make a system image backup of your Vista system so you can always restore back if you have problems.

If you are not happy about doing it yourself , do you have a good local pc shop who can do it for you ?

hth

 

Ah thanks, @Fat Controller ..that's very kind! And thank you for the advice, too, @ricky101
I don't do anything very demanding on it and don't mind the W10 layout really.., so will have a go, subject to W10 not costing an absolute fortune!