Great 'Easy Computer Security and Privacy Tips' Hunt

MikeL28

Jake'sGran wrote: »

I am so impressed with the knowledge you all have. I'm a silver surfer but do try to be security aware. Right now I am running the Spyware Doctor downloaded free from Google and so far it has detected 63infections and it has only scanned 20%. In the past I have used AVG free but have given up trying to install the new version (7.5) as I keep getting an error message. So I will uninstall completely and see if Google will will keep me safe plus a few of the suggestions above.

As an IT Support guy, I've had to deal with several people who've had problems upgrading to AVG 7.5 (1) They don't make clear you should do a Repair Install (2) If you have a problem, UNINSTALL the old AVG (Control Panel > Add & Remove Programs) and then install the new version and do all the updates.
Hope this helps

cragdoo

poorbabe wrote: »

Cragdoo, you such a smooth talker!

sorry , I was a little OTT there in my post.


Just annoys the hell out of me when I get calls from friends who call up with problems on their pc , problems that could have been avoided with a little research, common sense.

I mean it's like "I've got a new laptop , whey-hey internet here I come" next thing I know I get a phone call saying "my new laptop no worky , why ?" , more often than not when I ask what they were doing or trying to do i get :-
Friend "Oh I got a message on my screen so I clicked on ok ! "
Me : "What did the message say ?"
Friend : "Not really sure , it just kind popped up and click on 'ok"
Me: " Oh lord no !"

Or
Me: "What were you trying to do ?"
Friend : "trying to download MP3s/movies"
Me : "Do you have the slightest idea how to do that , what software you require and how illeagle that is "
Friend : "I just searched on Google for 'Free Movie Downloads' and clicked on the 1st link"
Me : "Oh Lord NO !"

or

Me : "Ok , whats the problem ?"
Friend : "MY email number isn't working"
Me : "Email number ??? you mean address"
Friend : "Yes that's what I mean. I've got 2Meg of Ram and a 3.00 Mega Hurts DVD and wireless, so it should work"
Me : " ! "
Friend : "So what's wrong ?"
Me : "Where the hell do I start !"
Friend : " IT was working then I moved into another room then it stopped"
Me : "Oh so you have a wireless access point/router ?"
Friend : "Wassat ? I thought once I unplug my network cable thingy the wireless woudl take over "
Me : "!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


Like I said , you wouldn't hand the keys of a brand new car to a 17year and say "here take it for spin down the motorway"

djhworld

The 'get a mac' line is a load of old rubbish.

The only reason Macs are 'safer' is because Windows based PCs have a much higher market share therefore virus writers/hackers use that as they're more likely to get results.

dan_jf

ClearMyMail offers guaranteed 100% no spam and also blocks all virus emails before they reach your computer.

Its free to try.

https://www.ClearMyMail.com

Yamayz

As mentioned above winpatrol is great, not a virus checker but, among other things, warns you when things change. e.g. when you install something and it inserts an entry to run everytime you switch on PC which will slow things down. For example auto checking for newer versions.

Spybot is another good one for finding spyware, looking at what runs at startup and can immunize certain aspects of your system against malicious programs (malware), not necessarily viruses.

prj668958

As an IT consultant/maintainance/repair guy I think this thread is a good start.
Generally I recommend a spread of products as no one product will give 100% protection (the exception being wire cutters!) plus getting into good habits and carrying out regular "house cleaning".

IMHO AVG (I even sweep my Linux installs with this), CCleaner, Spybot Search & Destroy, SpywareBlaster and Spyware Doctor all work well in combination with Windows own Defender and regular updates.

If you can afford it the paid for versions might save you money in the long run with extra features that keep on top of problems without too much hands on intervention - important for the non-techie!
(If you are a techie then you obviously know enough already and never get any problems;) )

Personnally I avoid Windows when possible and certainly don't use it for online banking or anything important!

I can't afford a Mac so I run SuSE Linux. FREE download or £50 approx on DVD with manuals. Tons of FREE software included. Easier to install than Windows (in most cases). My kids (3, 6, 9 & 13yrs) use it! My dad (71 yrs) uses it - and even installed his own.
Other distros of Linux also well recommended such as Ubuntu/Kubuntu and to just see what it's all about Knoppix which will run just off the CD or DVD. All free of course.

Safe surfing to all - remember most problems have already been had by someone else before so use forums and searches to help you.

merdekaorang1125

Here’s an idea I discovered years ago, with Win98 and no firewall option at the time. I now have XP OS2 and auto update checker working.

Using Outlook Express one day I received an email which was Subject titled with a meaningless phrase. Not being sure what it was or where from and having just discovered the delights of the right-mouse-click pop-up menus I tried doing that on the message header before opening it further. I got a pop-up which offered ‘Properties’ option among others so I clicked on that and another window came up with two tabs, ‘General’ and ‘Details’ so I went to Details and saw a pane headed ‘Internet headers for this message’. More important than that was an option at the bottom which offered Message Source and I clicked on this. By maximising the pane that came up I was able to read the unformatted message and see who sent it and loads of other stuff. As it was mostly gibberish/extracts from a book etc and from an unknown email address I immediately decided that it was something that I didn’t ask for or want and so I cancelled my way out and deleted the message header without opening it in OE, opened deleted items box and permanently deleted it. I understand that by doing this I was reading the text on the hdd rather than downloading the message into the OE reading folder and I have OE set to not use the preview pane so messages are not automatically downloaded and opened as soon as I check the account.

Be interested to know what the experts think of this from a safety point of view (I now have a firewall and AVG Free - daily updates checked and auto installed and a schedual set for a scan early in the day after the time I usually start the computer) and Adaware installed and find them perfectly effective – so far - and have stopped spending money on Norton).

singletracker

I use a few techniques for keeping secure and keeping the OS running smoothly.
Start with a router, it gives you a hardware firewall.
I run AVG anti-Virus and have just un-installed Norton, will be seeking a free Internet Security suite. I run Adaware SE,Diskeeper, CC Cleaner, Registry Fix and ToniArts Easycleaner. Adaware for keeping the system secure, the others keep the OS clean and running smoothly. (Cleaning the registry is in my view, essential to OS integrity and system performance).
I go into services.msc and edit service settings, some are disabled, some run manually. The purpose of this is both security and freeing up sysyem resources, resulting in smoother more stable running.
I go into msconfig and clear out unneccessary start-up items, again, it allows you to keep a close eye on anything running on your PC, so a good check for unwanted programs. It also means a faster smoother running PC again.
Cookies, I go into Tools in IE and set cookie handling to custom, blocking 3rd party and prompting 1st party. I only allow what I absolutely require. If a site won't work without a cookie, I will allow if I'm happy to, otherwise I'll not use the site.
I have a work around that does away with the need for pop up blockers and cancels out some ads and dodgy websites. I go into Windows/system32/drivers/etc/hosts and enter 127.0.0.1 then address of site to block, there are lists online, try google with ad block hosts. Do not enter http at start or / at end of listing. This allows me to browse faster, with less ads and much more secure as I cannot be monitored by tracking sites or accidentally enter any dodgy sites once I've added them to my list.
I have a few other tricks for speedier OS running, the easiest of these are to right click recycle bin and reduce from 10% (I run 1% on a 160GB drive, so 1.6GB recycle bin). This frees up system space. I also reduce System restore to 1000MB (my computer/properties/system restore/settings). There are a few others I use (display settings, boot settings)
Update frequently, run the programs regularly and security will be much improved and system integrity and performance will be improved too. If you are not sure about a site, don't go there. Don't open junk mail (mine is filtered online - so spam deleted before reaching Outlook) and don't download anything you are not absolutely certain of.

Moneymaker

djhworld wrote: »

The 'get a mac' line is a load of old rubbish.

The only reason Macs are 'safer' is because Windows based PCs have a much higher market share therefore virus writers/hackers use that as they're more likely to get results.

I can't argue with that. In fact as a Mac user since 1987 I would PLEAD with everyone NOT TO BUY A MAC! I love the security and exclusivity that it gives me. I have seven in fact. I run my business on two Mac towers, plus a laptop. My family uses the rest. We have never had any security problems whatsoever and crashes are rare. I also love the ease of use.

With several million Mac users, Apple has a large enough customer base to survive for the foreseeable future so they don't really need more Mac users.

So I repeat PLEASE DON'T BUY A MAC and put us all at risk! It might only take another 50 million Mac users to gain the interest of the hackers so stick to your Windows PCs. I've never seen a virus and I'm in no hurry to do so. Thanks. :cool:

(Thankfully, I guess that most people reading this can't afford even one Mac and are too busy fighting security problems to earn the money anyway).

superscaper

Moneymaker wrote: »

I would PLEAD with everyone NOT TO BUY A MAC! I love the security and exclusivity that it gives me.

:rotfl: I sometimes also feel that way when I buy something that looks cool (to me) and very different and then it suddenly becomes popular and to me it doesn't seem so cool any more. I like the exclusivity of things and deliberately being different. I agree with you that if the market share of apple were large enough it would shift the attentions of the hackers. I know some people argue that the number of Mac viruses is disproportianate to the number of macs but I don't think it's statistically linear. I don't think it's realistic to say that if you have 10% macs then 10% of hackers would concentrate on them. The reason I agree with Moneymaker is that it is much more likely that almost all hackers will concentrate on the largest possible propogation devices (ie the largest market share devices), in this case PC/Windows. It will be a "critical mass" of number of macs that would induce a sudden swing of hackers in my opinion.