Post by {KHH}darwin's joke on Aug 28, 2005 2:41:47 GMT -6
alright, gather around peps and i will happily help you make your computer more secure. i've been using these same methods and i've yet to have a virus or even a piece of spyware make it on to my new rig.
1. stop using internet explorer!!!! it's full of holes and it is the #1 browser in use so most attacks come through IE. download firefox. it's much more user friendly and more secure and it has all kinds of cool little add ons so you can customize it to your personal tastes.
2. get a good internet security suite. i use pc-cillin from trend micro. also recommended is norton internet security. shop around a bit and you can find better prices than at the links i posted, i would recommend you try looking at pricegrabber for better prices. also avoid mcafee, it sucks don't waste your time or money on it. these security suites include a personal firewall (so you can disable the default windows xp firewall) along with excellent virus scanners and real time virus protection.
3. download and install the following programs to keep spyware/malware off of your computer: spyware blaster, spybot, ad-aware, and microsoft antispy beta. all are free and each catches programs that the others might miss. after you install them, update and run at least once a week to keep you system clean.
4. for those of us who are used to running ms office at work but don't want to pay for it at home i would recommend you download and install mozilla's thunderbird to replace outlook and open office.org's suite to replace the rest of ms office. thunderbird is compatable with any POP mail service which is pretty much any non-web site mail provider (such as mail provided by your ISP instead of yahoo, aol, or msn) and it also allows you to set up rss feeds for news or pretty much anything else to keep you informed about what is going on in the world with out having to visit each individual site.
5. if you're really paranoid about people tracking your computer you can also change your ip address on a regular basis to help hide your tracks on the web. you can do so by clicking on your start button, clicking on run, then typing in cmd, then you type ipconfig release to ditch your old ip address, and then type ipconfig renew to get a new ip address.
everything else here either falls under the heading of good ideas to keep you computer running smooth or it's just some cool *poopie* i found and wanted to share with the rest of you:
6. run disk clean-up and defrag your hard drive at least once a month, you can do so by clicking on start, all programs, accessories, and then system tools to access both.
7. also for those of you with better rigs, i would recommend you check out google earth for a cool map program using real time satellite feeds of the earth.
that's all for now, if you have any questions about any of this just give me a holler and i will be glad to help you out with it.
1. stop using internet explorer!!!! it's full of holes and it is the #1 browser in use so most attacks come through IE. download firefox. it's much more user friendly and more secure and it has all kinds of cool little add ons so you can customize it to your personal tastes.
2. get a good internet security suite. i use pc-cillin from trend micro. also recommended is norton internet security. shop around a bit and you can find better prices than at the links i posted, i would recommend you try looking at pricegrabber for better prices. also avoid mcafee, it sucks don't waste your time or money on it. these security suites include a personal firewall (so you can disable the default windows xp firewall) along with excellent virus scanners and real time virus protection.
3. download and install the following programs to keep spyware/malware off of your computer: spyware blaster, spybot, ad-aware, and microsoft antispy beta. all are free and each catches programs that the others might miss. after you install them, update and run at least once a week to keep you system clean.
4. for those of us who are used to running ms office at work but don't want to pay for it at home i would recommend you download and install mozilla's thunderbird to replace outlook and open office.org's suite to replace the rest of ms office. thunderbird is compatable with any POP mail service which is pretty much any non-web site mail provider (such as mail provided by your ISP instead of yahoo, aol, or msn) and it also allows you to set up rss feeds for news or pretty much anything else to keep you informed about what is going on in the world with out having to visit each individual site.
5. if you're really paranoid about people tracking your computer you can also change your ip address on a regular basis to help hide your tracks on the web. you can do so by clicking on your start button, clicking on run, then typing in cmd, then you type ipconfig release to ditch your old ip address, and then type ipconfig renew to get a new ip address.
everything else here either falls under the heading of good ideas to keep you computer running smooth or it's just some cool *poopie* i found and wanted to share with the rest of you:
6. run disk clean-up and defrag your hard drive at least once a month, you can do so by clicking on start, all programs, accessories, and then system tools to access both.
7. also for those of you with better rigs, i would recommend you check out google earth for a cool map program using real time satellite feeds of the earth.
that's all for now, if you have any questions about any of this just give me a holler and i will be glad to help you out with it.