best antivirus for windows 3.1

edited June 2016 in Software
Hey, I'll be soon putting my windows 3.1 on the internet and I'd hate to have it wrecked by some old viruses that are still crawling around. I searched google for windows 3.1 AV but I didn't get good results. Just about all the sites I found referred to other sites, but every single one of those links were broken! (sigh) So what do you think is the best windows 3.1 anti-virus software that will keep my windows 3.1 alive and happy? Thanks in advance for any replies!

Comments

  • That is because all Windows 3.1 AV programs were DOS-based. Some had secondary Windows UI shells, but they had to do their dirty work in DOS.

    Off hand I recall VShield being pretty good, but there were plenty of others.

    When dealing with vintage DOS/Windows software, it is a good idea to have an AV handy in case you run in to some old DOS viruses. But you won't magically get taken over just by connecting it to the internet. And no browser exploits target Netscape 4.08.

    You will want this system to be behind a hardware NAT firewall (even modern up-to-date systems should always have a hardware firewall) although Windows 3.1 does not normally leave ports open.
  • Windows98 wrote:
    Hey, I'll be soon putting my windows 3.1 on the internet and I'd hate to have it wrecked by some old viruses that are still crawling around. I searched google for windows 3.1 AV but I didn't get good results. Just about all the sites I found referred to other sites, but every single one of those links were broken! (sigh) So what do you think is the best windows 3.1 anti-virus software that will keep my windows 3.1 alive and happy? Thanks in advance for any replies!

    I don't know why you'd need to get an antivirus for Windows 3.1, how many viruses are still out there for an operating system that old? Especially since anything that runs in Windows 3.1 basically has to be DOS compatible, I highly doubt you'd be at any great risk (if at all) with Windows 3.1.

    If you really do need an antivirus for some crazy reason, I'm pretty sure theres an old version of McAffee out there you can use.
  • You would be surprised. I have DECpc 486 that had been used in a business and had some Word macro viruses on it.

    Most newer scanners will still detect old viruses. So if the drive is shared locally or over a network, it is possible to scan for most stuff that way too.
  • SomeGuy wrote:
    You would be surprised. I have DECpc 486 that had been used in a business and had some Word macro viruses on it.

    Most newer scanners will still detect old viruses. So if the drive is shared locally or over a network, it is possible to scan for most stuff that way too.

    I meant new viruses that could be downloaded nowadays.

    I highly doubt you could find a DOS virus online in 2016.

    For such old systems, I really wouldn't take it as much of a threat.
  • sorry for my delay. I expected to get an email when topic was approved but somehow I didn't. My other question is I have a parallel to ethernet converter what driver will I need for that to work?
  • You will need to specify the make and model of your parallel to Ethernet device.

    BTW, mods have a checkbox option to send a message for approval/disapproval. For various reasons, I usually prefer not to, but others may.
  • Unfortunately I do not have the make and model of the cord :(

    Do you know if there is one big universal ethernet to USB driver?
  • Windows98 wrote:
    sorry for my delay. I expected to get an email when topic was approved but somehow I didn't. My other question is I have a parallel to ethernet converter what driver will I need for that to work?

    It depends on the model of the device.

    I've noticed that too, but I generally just keep WinWorld open and refresh it every other day or so to check for new posts. I would prefer a notification, though. Even though the box is checked, it doesn't seem to let me know.
  • I don't know about any parallel to ethernet adapters, but the newest antivirus for Win3.xx I could find is Avast 7.70 for DOS/Windows. The date on the scanner is 2003. If you want it, it's here on Winworld. Hope this helps.
  • edited June 2016
    If using MS-DOS 6.22 it already has antivirus software, to access type at C:\> vsafe for real time scanning, or msav for virus scan... but I think it would be really difficult to get a DOS virus nowadays.
  • BigCJ wrote:
    I don't know about any parallel to ethernet adapters, but the newest antivirus for Win3.xx I could find is Avast 7.70 for DOS/Windows. The date on the scanner is 2003. If you want it, it's here on Winworld. Hope this helps.

    I wonder if there's a way to install newer software on Windows 3.1, like in Windows 2000 there are hacks to get XP and later software to work.
  • AiO_Inc. wrote:
    BigCJ wrote:
    I don't know about any parallel to ethernet adapters, but the newest antivirus for Win3.xx I could find is Avast 7.70 for DOS/Windows. The date on the scanner is 2003. If you want it, it's here on Winworld. Hope this helps.

    I wonder if there's a way to install newer software on Windows 3.1, like in Windows 2000 there are hacks to get XP and later software to work.

    The closest thing I'm aware of is Win32s
  • http://www.vcfed.org/forum/showthread.p ... s-software

    I remember that similar topic exists on vcfed.

    Microsoft Windows Anti Virus (MWAV.EXE) is for Windows 3.x on MS-DOS 6.0/6.2x licensed by Central Point Software.
    Of course I don't know if it is best anti virus or not.
  • sorry i took so long am used to notifications >:C I will try avast and mwav.exe hopefully avast for dos is not like avast for windows xp because I do not like avast for windows xp because it hogs system resources

    Also I just got my windows ME online which was hard enough took a long time to get it working, and it gives me serious doubts if I'll get my 3.1 online at all!

    I would like to experiment and see exactly how many capabilities I can add to 3.1 as I think 3.1 rocks because it is very very fast faster than any other computer I have Linux or Windows and it is only using 8 mb ram
  • I have had a PC with Windows for Workgroups 3.11 online, on a modern router using the TCP/IP add-on. Windows 3.11 can then use DHCP to obtain the IP from router... You can download Windows for Workgroups 3.11 from here https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-3/wfw-311, and the TCIP add-on from here https://winworldpc.com/product/microsoft-tcp-ip-32.
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