pc protection for novice

virgin_moneysaver

the last couple of days my pc says anti-virus out of date/unprotected (it was AVG free ) so all I've got is the windows firewall that was already installed with my machine - its a 16mth old Dell windows XP - can anyone advice on the best free downloads & how I go about doing it

many thanx

intel

Right click the AVG Icon and choose update.

Get a Firewall Kerio or Sygate.

Get AdAware and Microsoft AntiSpywareBeta.

Links here http://www.intels.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

Wombat

Might be worth reading the first sticky thread on this board:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=36497

virgin_moneysaver

Wombat wrote:

Might be worth reading the first sticky thread on this board:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=36497

since reading the thread on & off for the last couple of hours Ive changed my browser to Firefox from Internet Explorer, installed Microsoft Antispyware & reinstalled AVG free edition

Q1: I recall someone saying not to use outlook express to view email- what should I use instead & can I keep my email address that I currently use?

Q2: there's a firewall pre-installed in my computer (Windows XP) - do I need a differnet one

Q3: anything else anyone can think of?

thanks for all replys

wolfman

Q1 - Mozilla Thunderbird (in the same suite as Firefox), yes you can keep it, you just need to know all of the settings to connect/authenticate with your email provider.

Q2 - Yes, the XP one isn't very good. You'll need to open up the Security Centre and disable it. Download Kerio or Sygate as Intel suggested, they're both free.

Q3 - Google for an extension for Firefox called AdBlock. It's good for filtering all those annoying ads/banners when you browse websites.

Get those last bits setup and you should be fine.

Bob_the_Builder_5

Q1: You can use any number of email clients - The Bat!, Eudora, Canine Mail, Pegasus Mail, Becky

I used Eudora for donkey's years, I've now switched to The Bat! because it handles Cyrillic. You can keep your existing email address, no problem.

Q2: The XP firewall is okay

Q3: http://www.getsafeonline.org is worth a look

virgin_moneysaver

intel wrote:

Right click the AVG Icon and choose update.

Get a Firewall Kerio or Sygate.

Get AdAware and Microsoft AntiSpywareBeta.

Links here http://www.intels.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/

I download Kerio ok & rebooted the system but when I went to go on the i/net via Firefox it didn't work, I uninstalled Kerio to see if that was the cause & Firefox was working again - what am I doing wrong?

wolfman

Kerio must have been blocking Firefox.

I have mine set on Advanced Mode (not Simple so can't help there), so it prompts each time a new application (unknown to it) tries to send something in or out. I then just tick to permanently allow it and click ok. Bit annoying at first but once your firewall is "trained" it'll come up less and less.

Having said that, I wouldn't have thought on Simple mode that it'd block Firefox.

To disable Kerio if it is causing a problem, look in the bottom right of the screen (the taksbar) for a blue shield icon. If you right-click on it there's an option to disable the firewall.

If you double-click on it, it'll open up the config screen. There should be a screen within it showing what apps it is blocking. You can manually make any changes there.