My Windows 98 PC Won't Update to Grisoft AVG 8.5?

Infopackets Reader 'katjh' writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I am running 2 Dell computers and they are connected by a router. The newer computer is windows Vista and I have been purchasing the Norton antivirus that came with the computer from Dell. The older computer is Windows 98 and I have been running Grisoft Avg (free antivirus) 7.5 for a long time -- however, it now says I can't update it to AVG 8.5 and my computer will not be protected from new viruses. Is there something else I can do, or do I have to worry about it? I really can't afford to spend any money on it. Thanks much. "

My response:

According to the Grisoft website, the latest free edition of Grisoft AVG (currently version 8.5 at the time of this writing) only works on Windows XP, Vista, And Windows 7. Likely the Grisoft AVG engine you're running (version 7.5) is no longer supported by Grisoft.

At any rate, you can:

a) Try and find another free antivirus solution that is compatible with Windows 98. Refer to my report, "Top 8 Free Antivirus Reviewed" -- but before you click away, please read consider option B.

b) Use another operating system: recommended.

Windows 98 No Longer Supported

Note that Windows 98 is incredibly outdated and no longer supported by Microsoft, which means that security patches are no longer being produced. In other words, Windows 98 has huge gaping security holes that can allow malicious web sites to deposit (and run) malicious programs (Spyware, viruses, etc) without your antivirus detecting or preventing it, or you ever knowing about it.

A *much* better solution to your Windows 98 + antivirus dilemma would be to ditch Windows 98 entirely and run another operating system that is up to date.

Alternatives to Windows 98: For Old, Slow PCs

If your computer is too old for Windows XP (or too slow), consider using Puppy Linux: it's not Windows, but it's free, updated regularly, and can run fairly quick on older PCs.

You can download Puppy Linux, write it to CD, boot from the CD and try it out without having to install it first. If you like it, you can install Puppy Linux to your harddrive. Puppy Linux comes with everything you need (web browser, word pad, etc).

Note that Puppy Linux does *not* run MS Windows programs because it's a Linux-based operating system.

http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads/official-releases