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Protecting You Computer

cvm4

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What do you guys use to protect against viruses, pop-ups, etc.? I have Norton on my desktop and am not a fan of it. I need to get some ideas for my laptop. I still need to install ad-aware and other stuff I haven't gotten around to. Just wondering what you guys are using out there?
 
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I use AVG Free Edition; Hasn't failed me yet.
I use Adaware,Spywareblaster,Spybot Search and Destroy,Cleanup!,C(crap)Cleaner, and Diskeeper Lite for Defragmenting.
 
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Those are the only free programs I use/have used. Seem to work pretty well and keep alot of junk off my system. There are those that you have to be weary of, if they get rid of the wrong file or contain spyware themselves then your in trouble.
 

Kingston

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AVG or Avast for antivirus, and firefox for a browser.
Everything else can be taken care of by using some common sense.
Norton is a resource hog, sometimes does more harm than good.
 
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Yea I use Firefox all the time except for those cases when you have to use IE for compatability issues.
I also forgot to mention that I use Sygate Personal firewall. They quit making updates for it, but I think it can be downloaded at http://www.oldversion.com/
 
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Protecting your computer is not simply a matter of putting some brand of Anti Virus software on your computer and then feeling safe. There is way more to it than that.

For windows users, take your mouse and double click on the little clock on the bottom right of your monitor. If the calender and time change box opens, that means you are logged in as an "Administrator", and that means that you have control over everything on that machine.

The problem with that isn't really known to LOTS of users. That means that any bit of malicious code you encounter surfing around on the net can do whatever it was designed to do because........if an administrator tells the machine to run programs, well it must be ok.

Go to your control paneland click on user accounts and set up a user account and USE IT! There are some programs that won't work unless you are running as admin, but for simple web browsing, the user accounts are sufficient. If something tries to install itself on a computer under a limited access account, the computer won't let it because......it's not an administator telling it to do that. That simple step there will stop 90% of malware.

Another step in making a computer safe is UPDATES. Apply them. Especially security updates to the OS. Update your anti-virus software also. Update your ad-ware detection rules.

And one of the biggest security flaws in Windows is Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer is tied into the operating system at the kernel layer. That means that any exploits that IE is vulnerable to can change your compter at the core of the operating system, making it a serious problem to clean up the after effects of visiting a website with some malicious code on it.

Use Opera, Firefox, Mozilla, ANYTHING but IE. Especially if you are not willing to set up a limited access account to mitigate any damage you might do by websurfing as the Root.
 
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The reason for my long winded rant above is sitting right at my feet at this very moment.

My friends computer, which is used at work doing a fairly important job might I add, was completely hosed. It had popups, ad ware and 64 viruses. It is used to record phone calls dealing with the dispensing of materials to various jobsites. Whenever he isn't in the office, some of the other dispatchers use it to check e-mail, listen to music, and look at questionable material on the internet.

I know this because I found tons of porn in the temporary internet files, hidden away where no one thought to look. That kind of stuff found on a company machine could cause all kindsa problems with your career.

There was a program that opened when the computer booted and would run a viruse scan on your machine. It warned you that the reason your machine was running so slowly was becaues of a virus or three, and malware, it then opened a web browser and sent you to the page where you could order your new Anti-Virus software for only $45 bucks. The computer was useless for anything else. It wouldn't close even if you used the task manager.

I spent four hours fixing this fucking computer, and setting it up so that I am the administrator, and it is password protected. I will give this password to my friend.

I set him up a user account which has no admin rights, and I set up a visitor account which has absolutely NO RIGHTS. All the morons can do is look at websites, and listen to streaming music. They have no chance of hurting this machine again.......
 

cvm4

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Damn that's some story there! Reminds me of my sis and everything she would download on the computer to just F it up.

I got Firefox on here now and am loving the tabbed browsing. Anything else special about it? I still need to get a good anti-virus and d/l ad-aware. Time to get to work!
 

caudio51

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