Tubadave's PC Security Suggestions

[Estonut]

Hello, All!

When Bixby was having PC problems, Tubadave made 3 suggestions for free software for PC Security. I intended to research them over the next weekend, but we all know how that turned out.

Does anyone recall his suggestions?

TIA

[tubadave]

That post was, what, two weeks ago, and I'm struggling to remember what was in it. Didn't think I was old enough for senility to set in yet.

It might have gone a little something like this:

1. For spyware, download Ad-aware and Spybot Search & Destroy. These two programs are free, and do a reasonably good job of cleaning out spyware. A non-free option that I'm familiar with is Spy Sweeper. Bear in mind that no one program is ever going to find or prevent 100% of all spam, but using a combination of them is usually pretty effective.

2. You must use an anti-virus program. In this day and age, you're crazy not to. I am currently using Norton Antivirus 2007. Some would suggest using the full Norton Internet Security suite, but I think that's overkill for the average home user. For the last several months, Fry's Electronics (for those of you that have them nearby) has often been marking 3-user-license copies of NA 2K7 down to $45, and then offering a $45 mail-in rebate. I currently own 6 licenses of NA 2K7, and it cost me about $6 in sales tax. If you despise Norton, or don't want to spend anything at all, I recommend AVG Anti-virus, which is surprisingly effective for a free download.

3. You should also get yourself behind a firewall, which protects you from numerous forms of outside intrusion. I personally prefer to use a hardware firewall (i.e. a router) which is usually quite effective and completely unobtrusive. A router is a device that connects directly to your internet connection (i.e. cable, DSL) and then shares that connection with multiple computers, all the while providing that protection from the outside. If you don't have a router, the Windows Firewall that is a part of Windows XP and Vista can also be effective.


That's as much as I can remember at this hour of the morning. Feel free to ask more questions, and the tech savvy may feel free to chime in with their own ideas as well.

[goongas]

More importantly IMO, use either Firefox or IE 7 in Protected Mode for Web browsing, don't open e-mail attachments unless it is something you are expecting, and don't use peer to peer file sharing services, which often contain harmful files.

[tubadave]

More importantly IMO, use either Firefox or IE 7 in Protected Mode for Web browsing

Firefox > *

imho

don't open e-mail attachments unless it is something you are expecting, and don't use peer to peer file sharing services, which often contain harmful files.

Yes, and YES. Back in the day (2000-2003) when I worked in a computer shop, some of the most infected computers I ever saw belonged to kids who went crazy with programs like Kazaa and Limewire.

[Estonut]

Thanks for the info, guys! Tubadave's original post was about a 3-liner, but I couldn't remember his anti-spyware rec's. I thought the free AV software was AVG, but then a friend mentioned that a lot of our friends are very happy with Avast (a similar free AV product), so I thought I'd ask. I am at Norton renewal time and am considering going the free route. Not because of the money, as it's all free (or nearly free) from Fry's anyway, but because of Norton's increasing bloatedness. I do have a router, so I'm not worried about the FW issue.

I do have an additional question about the peer-to-peer sharing warnings, though (not that I do any of that). When you download one of these files, isn't your AV supposed to scan it before allowing the download?

[cindy.wellman]

I really like the recommendations over at MajorGeek.com for security issues and suggestions, as well as malware removal, speeding up your computer, etc. Plus, if you have problems, you can follow their guides and then they are very quick in their responses should you need additional help.

http://forums.majorgeeks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20