Security.

[helloimtim]

I am always hearing this huge debate about which is more secure. Generally speaking most of the hijackers and virus come from 2 places. p2p and "free ware" Most users will never admit there security problems MAY come from the p2p programs they have on there computer. I have herd warez is the worst of the worst. So in a test drive I took IE with a firewall and pop up blocker and had to see for myself. NO problems here. That was a month ago. I hit every site I could find. Instead of blaming the browser you use blame the programs. I even did the warez sites with IE on default. Used zone alarm and avast. Want to be secure. Quit using p2p. Quit using add supported "freeware". I am sure there are exceptions to this rule. But generally speaking I believe thats it in a nutshell. Have a nice day. Pleas use whatever browser you wish. If you continue to do unsafe things no browser is going to protect you. Have a nice day.

[Statica]

The other day I drove home without my seatbelt, I arrived alive. I guess it's important to just lock the doors tightly and roll up the windows - the safety of a seatbelt is just a myth.

You see how it works? Just because you lucked out without bugs doesnt mean that it is the norm - not to mention that you ran your test on a random day. And no it doesnt matter what browser you use what popup blocker you use. Sooner or later you are going to be faced with a nasty.

The idea here is not to stop P2P and using ad supported freeware - the idea is the
(a) use common sense
(b) Stop looking for illegal downloads, stop looking for download sites, for P2P programs, for FTP sites, for anything that you think are getting for free. The rule of thumb is that if you use something then you need it, so BUY it! If not have the skills to learn and use alternative and legitimate freeware.
I know it is a bit of a shocker, but we are in the digital age now - which means that slowly and surely, software MUST become part of your budgetting process.

[helloimtim]

You dont think that generally speaking most virus and spayware and such dont come from p2p and free ware? Again I say generally. It just seems of late with security and such allot of people dont stop to think maybey its the freeware and p2p programs that they use. I am not trying to start an argument or slam anyone. I am just intrested in a friendly debate. If I am wrong then I will admit I am wrong. Maybey I am? I am just simply saying you use illeagle software and or add supported freeware it matters not what browser you use. Like you said common sense. Dont surf nasty sites if possible. Generally speaking it matters not what browser you use. Dont download things your unsure of from sites that you doubt. Common sense is the best security you can have. I just thnk personally to many software companys are useing fear to sell a product. Just my 2 cents.

[rightcoast]

Your plan is good plan and will help to keep the PC clean. But you don't need to go as far as to "quit" using P2P, just be smart about it.

As for browser security. It's OK if you like IE a lot of people do. But to compare the security offered by IE to say, Firefox, at the moment, is just not fair...it's not even a contest. I'm not a fanboy, but, Firefox stomps it. Taking ActiveX out of the equation alone gives it the edge.

[Strider]

I used to use P2P programs, but have uninstalled all of them for the simple reason I don't want to take a chance in infecting my computer. I don't visit warez sites for the simple fact that it is ILLEGAL and that most of them are just billboards for Porn sites. An before I download any Free or Shareware programs I try to get information on them to see if they contain any spyware, if I find they do I don't download the program(s). I have gone to fix a computer for a few people and shake my head when I see "Weatherbug" installed on their computer and tell them that is one of the biggest spyware programs that they could have installed and go on my way to use spybot/ad-aware on the computer after I uninstall it.

Even after all those measures the simple fact is if I don't have a firewall and an anti-virus program installed my computer would get infected (An sometimes even with those measures it still does). If I didn't run spybot, ad-aware, or some other form of anti-spyware program my computer would most likely get bloated with spyware. The simple fact is no matter how secure you make a computer it still is vunerable to attacks. The best you can do is to make it secure as possible and to update windows at a timely matter.