Security worries...

Allexie

Feeling a bit neurotic about computer security these days...having come a cropper in the past ::) I do my computer 'housekeeping' regularly once a week which involves running the following:-

Norton Anti Virus - full system check
AdAware
Spybot
Disc Cleanup
Disc De-Fragmenter
Wipe (empties Re-Cycle Bin, clears cookies, temp internet files, I.E. history)

Anything else I should be doing? Have thought about CW Shredder? Any ideas please.

Thanks in advance

sra

What - No spywareblaster? (Get from download.com as there are a few pretenders)

CWShredder is becoming less and less effective because it is no longer updated. The only place I could find it below - and this site doesn’t always work.
http://www.softpedia.com/public/scripts/downloadhero/10-17-150/

You can test your firewall at shields up
By clicking ‘file sharing‘, ‘common ports’ and ‘All service ports’

There was a good security discussion here

I like to go into spybots startup manager (available in tools when in advanced mode) every week to see what programs have decided they need to be activated at startup.

sra

Forgot to mention. most important things on my computer I encript with ashampoo

Despite what it says, its actually free. You only pay if you want to use long passwords (more secure)

It has a really clumsy menu which I never use - You can much more easily encrypt/decrypt files with an option from the right-click menu

Allexie

Having a look at Spywareblaster right now.....

Another thing....I tend to keep my puter on 24/7 as I use it a lot and feel its better than constantly switching the thing on and off. Is this a good idea or not :-/

sra

Another thing....I tend to keep my puter on 24/7 as I use it a lot and feel its better than constantly switching the thing on and off. Is this a good idea or not :-/

You'll never get an answer for that one. They've been debating it on the net for years. All the experts tend to disagree. I looked this up a while ago but this is the only artilcle I kept in my favorites:
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/feb98/885229238.Cs.r.html

jaybee

I've installed Service Pact 2 but AOL says it doesn't recognise a Firewall. I am also running Kerio Personal Firewall. Am I doing anything wrong? Am I open to problems? Any answers would be gratefully received (preferably in words on one syllable so that I can understand it!). ???
Thanks

Allexie

Thanks sra555, just read the article you recommended...made very interesting reading