Hi, I recently picked up an old Pentium II system and plan on using it to run some old DOS and Windows 98 programs. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations to ensure that I don't end up installing any malware on it. I do try to buy copies of the original disks or to download my games from reputable sources, such as GOG and Steam. However, that's not always an option, and a lot of games or software are only available from places like the Internet Archive.

There have been a few posts on here that recommend certain DOS anti-virus tools, but my preference is to download programs on my Windows 10 computer before transferring them to my retro machine. It does seem that some modern anti-malware tools no longer detect older viruses that don't infect modern OSes, so some modern options might not work. For example, I found this thread:

https://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=158854.0

Does anyone have any recommendations? Are there any modern anti-malware programs that still detect older malware? What about running a DOS anti-virus program in DOSBox? Linux would be fine too if there are any options that require it.