New to XP, need security suggestions

[bball_1523]

I am going to be a new user to windows XP, after upgrading from my gateway pII 450 mhz computer. I will be getting the computer sometime this week, and I need to know what security measures to take.

I have absolutely no clue what to do when it comes to security in Win XP home. I am wondering what steps you guys suggest I take in order to start off with a decently safe system. I don't want to use up a lot of resources because I will be recording music and that takes up a lot of RAM.

I've heard people recommend programs such as Sygate/Zonealarm for firewall, and some free anti-virus programs, but I have no clue what to really get and what to really do with the programs in order to optimize them. Getting them is one thing, but optimizing them is another, and I'd appreciate any help to figure out both (getting the right software and optimizing them).

thanks!

[Randomized]

I've heard that Windows XP has a primitive firewall. (A really basic one) And then, I don't know what firewall/system scan software it comes with. I played around with my sister's laptop. Otherwise, both my comps at home are 2000.

[Ob1]

for antivirus everybody here for the most part will recommend AVG free edition:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

you can get zonealarm if you want a little better firewall. the windows firewall works pretty well for being so basic.
Zonealarm (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp;jsessionid=CRJGwbyIdAW142spygDHy0WlYii0nKPCGZR4kOYr1kjiWAbYLMjY!-2053438536!-1062696903!7551!7552!NONE?lid=nav_za)

you will also want some spyware protection to prevent you pc from being infected with items that can slow down the performance of you machine:

go to download.com
search for::
spybot search and destroy
adaware personal

go to microsoft.com and search for there antispyware program.

download and install these programs

[bball_1523]

thanks for the program suggestions. Now are there any tutorials that I can read where I can learn how to optimize the programs in the best way?

[Ob1]

just read the help files for each program to learn how to use the programs. if you have any questions, just post back here on the forums.

[Cricket]

Start here: Spyware Prevention (http://www.greyknight17.com/spyware.htm#prevent)

Then read these: Internet Security (http://www.pcmech.com/show/network/781/), Your Guide To Spyware (http://www.pcmech.com/show/internal/766/) and Internet Security Overview (http://www.firewallguide.com/overview.htm).

Look through this forum too...lots of good information in many of the threads.

:) Cricket

[bball_1523]

Start here: Spyware Prevention (http://www.greyknight17.com/spyware.htm#prevent)

Then read these: Internet Security (http://www.pcmech.com/show/network/781/), Your Guide To Spyware (http://www.pcmech.com/show/internal/766/) and Internet Security Overview (http://www.firewallguide.com/overview.htm).

Look through this forum too...lots of good information in many of the threads.

:) Cricket

thanks!

How many of you guys bearly ever get viruses or never have had any problems yet, as a result of using these programs?

[Ob1]

im very careful about websites i visit and which emails i open. but when i have had viruses try to infect my pc, avg detected them right away, and when i ran a system scan they detected some on my friends and my sisters pc.

as long as you are careful when browsing the net and with your emails then that really helps mimizing viruses. also be careful with file sharing programs, they are another source of viruses when downloading files.

[Randomized]

Even after I'm careful, I make sure to scan my PC with adaware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/

and the microsoft antispyware beta

[digitalfreedom64]

thanks!

How many of you guys bearly ever get viruses or never have had any problems yet, as a result of using these programs?

Well the last thing i caught was the blaster worm and it came out like the beginig of last year I think. so if that gives you any idea.

[bailey]

also by useing the ntfs file system you will have more features avaible to use.

[Ob1]

Well the last thing i caught was the blaster worm and it came out like the beginig of last year I think. so if that gives you any idea.


you can also do an online scan at anytime to see if your infected. housecall.antivirus.com

only internet explorer is supported for this viruscan. :mad:

[bball_1523]

If I visit any website, is there a chance that I could get infected by viruses without accepting any active x or script dialogues? Because I know there's some websites that pop up a dialogue where they ask for permission, and if you accept, then they load spyware/adware on your computer.

I'm pretty careful to what sites I visit, and using file sharing programs. On my win98se, I don't think I've ever had a virus before, although my PC still crashes from time to time, but not serious crashes, more like blue screens and freeze ups due to cpu overload, etc.

[glc]

XP SP2 is pretty good about alerting you before accepting any ActiveX content or downloading anything in IE as long as you don't disable the information bar. Another method of protection is to use a non-ActiveX aware browser such as Firefox or Opera, but don't let that make you complacent, they both are exploitable in other ways. If you are behind a router, the internal SP2 firewall is considered adequate second line protection and it doesn't use resources. AVG Free does not use excessive resources, but Microsoft Antispyware can slow things down if you have its active protection enabled, I'd use Spyware Blaster for a measure of prevention instead if this slowdown is objectionable. Make sure you have automatic Windows updates enabled.

I'd change the folder view options to show hidden and system files, and to unhide file extensions for known types - this will help you determine exactly what a file is without depending on the icon appearance and to get into your temp files to delete them (these are hidden by default - a BAD move in my opinion). Set IE to delete temporary internet files when the browser is closed, and if you use the Sun java, keep the jar cache cleared.