Securing Windows ME as best as possible

Hello everyone. I have a Dell laptop from the early 2000s that I'm hoping to refit into a nostalgia machine. My plan is to install Windows ME with Real DOS mode enabled so that I can play classic games the way they were meant to be played (without emulation.)

Is it possible to reasonably secure this machine? I probably won't be doing extensive/dangerous web surfing with it. It doesn't need to be absolutely bulletproof, just wondering if there's a fairly good free firewall compatible with it.

 

A discontinued yet effective firewall. The perfect complement to a discontinued and archaic OS:

http://www.filehippo.com/download_sygate_personal_firewall/

 

You're really putting yourself at risk by using both ME and Sygate. Neither are supported and whatever holes there may be in both have long been forgotten about. Unless you already have some old games, I'm not sure what to tell you, as I don't know of any recent security apps that will support that OS. If you do already have some games, keep the machine off the net, imho. One other thing you could do is find these games on the net with your newer machine, put them on removable media (scanning them for malware first), and install them on the old machine.

 

Sounds like a fun project.

However...

Why would you plug it into the internet at all? (edit- I see dw426 beat me to that question!)

Is there any way to browse today's web with a legacy browser? Will it even render all the flash and java script out there now? What would be the point of connecting to the internet anyway with this machine?

 

There's quite a bit you can do with WinME. The MSFN forum has an active 98/ME section. Upgrades and security for 9X are discussed there in detail.

The most effective way to protect 98/ME is with a default-deny security policy. The policy editor (on the install CD, not installed by default) is a step in that direction. The free version of System Safety Monitor is the only classic HIPS that's compatible with 98. It will require you to make application rules for everything on your system. Another good firewall for 98/ME is Kerio 2.1.5. It's rule based and very light. You might also consider using 98Lite or IEradicator to remove Internet Explorer. Except for the users, IE5 and 6 were the biggest vulnerability on 9x systems. Contrary to popular opinion, 98 can be made into a difficult system to compromise from the net.

 

With the KernelEx project, more current browsers will run on 98. As for flash, version 11.1.xx also runs on 98 with Kernel Ex. Haven't tried 11.3 yet. On occasion, I do find a site that doesn't render quite right. I'm not sure it's the browser that causes it. This could as easily be the fault of my Proxomitron filters. It's not something I run into very often.