Windows ME upgrade to XP path

[dave]

One of the computers here has Windows ME on it. It is used for a few
Windows tasks, and needs an anti-virus program. Unfortunately, it seems
all the anti-virus programs need a later model of Windows. So my
question is what is the cheapest path to Windows XP? Windows 7 takes
too many resources, so it needs to be XP. Since all the computer needs
to do is run some 98/ME vintage programs and work on the LAN (other
computers with XP & Linux) and share a printer, I guess that the home
edition will work, if that saves money.

Thanks,
Dave

[Rockytsquirrel]

AVAST anti-virus still works on my old ME machine.. (updates once or
twice a day)
RTS

Post by dave
One of the computers here has Windows ME on it. It is used for a few
Windows tasks, and needs an anti-virus program. Unfortunately, it seems
all the anti-virus programs need a later model of Windows. So my question
is what is the cheapest path to Windows XP? Windows 7 takes too many
resources, so it needs to be XP. Since all the computer needs to do is
run some 98/ME vintage programs and work on the LAN (other computers with
XP & Linux) and share a printer, I guess that the home edition will work,
if that saves money.
Thanks,
Dave

[98 Guy]

Post by dave
One of the computers here has Windows ME on it. It is used for a
few Windows tasks, and needs an anti-virus program.

You're a fool for thinking that you need to move to XP simply because
there is no AV program for ME.

Generally speaking, Windows 9x/ME systems don't really need to be
running AV software, and haven't needed to for about the past 3 to 5
years. This is because most malware doesn't run or install itself
properly on the 9X/ME line of operating systems (for the past few years,
malware expects to find itself on NT-based OS's like XP, Vista, etc).

If you are running win-98/me and you're so paranoid that you need to run
an AV program, Norton Antivirus 2002 works well and can still be updated
with a current scan engine and virus definitions.

Norton Antivirus 2002 is part of Norton SystemWorks 2002, which can be
downloaded from these links:

http://www.fileden. com/files/2008/7/19/2010382/NSW02-A.ZIP
http://www.fileden. com/files/2008/7/19/2010382/NSW02-B.ZIP
http://www.fileden. com/files/2008/7/19/2010382/NSW02-C.ZIP
http://www.fileden. com/files/2008/7/19/2010382/NSW02-D.ZIP

The password to unzip each of them is "a". Each file is close to 50 mb
in size.

When unzipped, you'll get

NSW02-1.piz
NSW02-2.piz
NSW02-3.piz
NSW02-4.piz

Rename them each to .zip. They are not password protected.

Create a directory (name doesn't matter) and move files 1, 2 and 3 into
that directory and unzip them into that directory. There should be no
conflicts or warnings to over-write any existing files.

For file 4, move it to the \SUPPORT\IE5 directory and unzip it's
contents into that directory.

When you're done all that, you should have an exact copy of the
directory structure of the NSW 2002 CD. There should be 10 files and 13
folders in the root directory. 590 files, 41 folders, 207 mb.

To install NSW-2002, just run setup.exe in the root.

Notes:

1) Before installing, you should go to add/remove programs in control
panel and check to see if you have any Symantec or Norton products
already there, including LiveUpdate, LiveReg, Norton AntiVirus, Norton
Utilities, or Norton SystemWorks. You will probably have to remove some
or most of them, and then re-boot your computer, for NSW2002 to install
itself correctly. You should also make sure your PC's clock/calendar is
set to the correct date.

If your system has ever had NAV installed on it before, you might have
to do a complete search for all old remnants and remove them. From your
registry too.

See here for NAV removal tool:

http://service1.symantec.com/Support/tsgeninfo.nsf/docid/2005033108162039

2) Once you complete step 1, perform a file-find on your system and look
for a file called "catalog.livesubscribe" or just "catalog.*". If you
find that file (it will be in a norton or symantec directory) then it
must be deleted before you install this software. It's best to check
your system for this file even if you don't think that NAV is or has
ever been installed on your system. The presence of that file will
affect your ability to perform virus-definition updates once you
install NAV 2002.

3) After installing NSW2002, let it restart your system. There are
several settings in NAV that I turn off - like automatically check for
updates, and warn if virus def's are old. If it gives you the option of
registering the software - don't. It's not necessary for it to
function.

4) Your win-98 system will probably need to have it's "Root
Certificates" updated, and update your Windows Scripting Host to 5.6

I *believe* that this file will update the root certificates of a win-98
system:

http://download.windowsupdate.com/msdownload/update/v3/static/trustedr/en/rootsupd.exe

Windows Scripting host (Windows9x-Script56-KB917344-x86-enu.exe) can be
downloaded from here:

http://www.macropool.com/en/download/scripting/Windows9x-Script56-KB917344-x86-enu.exe

5) If you click on "Check for Updates" you will probably be told that
there is an update to Symantec Redirector, which can be downloaded but
may not install. In any case, it's my experience that both auto and
manual updating (liveupdate button) doesn't work, and hasn't worked
since maybe 2007. But that's ok, because you can download all program
updates and virus definitions from here (Symantec Intelligent Updater):

ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/antivirus_definitions/norton_antivirus/static/symcdefsi32.exe

That file always contains the most recent virus definition update. So
download and run it as often as you want (even once a day if you're
paranoid).

When trying to run that update, if you get the following error message:

"This package is not signed with a valid Symantec signature.
This Intelligent Updater package cannot continue installing."

Then you need to update your root certificates.