Security Setup To Prefer For A Personal Computer

[curiouslady 0]

I am new to online activities. Previously, I was using Norton Anivirus Solution alone to prevent my computer from virus infection from the flash drives. But, as I am taking to internet, I am worried if I need to use some other form of security as well.

 

Use of Norton Antivirus makes my computer very slow. Therefore, I am thinking of changing it. I don't have enough money to pay for my anivirus pack. What could be your suggestions regarding setting up the security line up for my personal computer?

 

Thanks

[inea 0]

It depends a bit of the operating program that is used. It seems that linux doesn't have as much safety, virus and trojan horse issues like Windows encounters. The first thing to use is a firewall. This prevents hackers from entering your computer through the internet. The second thing to consider is to use a program that prevents a virus and a trojan horse and a key logger to enter the computer. There are a lot of free programs available on the internet. The third thing to consider is to scan the computer regularly with a virus scanner. There are online virus search websites. And there are virus search programs for free on the internet. The best thing to do is to take care about the links that are found on the internet, on websites, in emails and in chats. Those links can download a virus into the computer. Another way to keep the computer clean is to reinstall the operating program regularly after making a back up of precious files. Window 7 has an inbuilt firewall.It seems Norton builds itself partly in the register. That causes that the computer reacts slow when Norton is installed.Allthough this topic is started some time ago and allthough nobody reacted the topic itself has timeless meaning. The topic is still of interest for computer users and internet surfers today and in the future.

Edited June 15, 2012 by moderator (see edit history)

[rob86 2]

Here are some ways to make your computer more secure.

 

Download a FREE top rated Firewall -

 

http://www.zonealarm.com/?lid=en-us

Download a FREE AntiVirus.

 

http://www.avg.com/de-de/free-antivirus-download

 

If you want to have a more safe experience still, you can download the free Internet Browser Firefox

 

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/?utm_source=firefox-com&utm_medium=referral

 

In addition to it being a good browser, there are easy to download free ADDONS that make the internet browsing experience safer.

 

Here are some optional things:

 

WOT (Web Of Trust) -- People rate websites and websites with viruses will pop up a warning. Easy to use. It just runs in the background warning you of bad websites.

Adblock Plus - It blocks the many annoying advertisements you see on the web. Doesn't improve security but removing all those advertisements everywhere is a GOOD thing in my opinion. Easy to use, runs in the background.

NoScript - Hard to explain, it'd be better to read their instructions. Works great but might be too confusing for someone new to the internet.

 

You can download these easily from within the FireFox browser, it will show you how.

 

More things:

 

AdAware FREE - Works like an AntiVirus, run a scan once in a while to remove Spyware

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

 

Spybot S&D - Same as above, you might not need both, but both are free you can never be too careful.

 

https://www.safer-networking.org/

Edited September 22, 2010 by rob86 (see edit history)

[Quatrux 4]

For an antivirus program, I can recommend a free and good antivirus for home suers, I am using it myself for over a year and it works well, it isn't using a lot of resources and is light, it's microsoft security essentials!You can get it here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/products/windows is some more info about it on Wikipedia: http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ I know, it's good and free.For spyware stuff, you can get Mallwarebytes: https://www.malwarebytes.com/ it seems to catch a lot of spyware and etc. it's free for simple usage, but for more features you need to buy it, I used to use it on some computers, but sometimes it has some conflicts with other anti spyware software..The one which seems to work independently, even though I heard it doesn't find a lot of spyware, but usually find more than Adaware or Spybot Search & Destroy, it's SUPER Anti Spyware, which you can download form here: http://www.superantispyware.com/ You can read more on Wikipedia:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Superantispyware http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ seems that wikipedia is a good source of information in most way, even though it can't always be trusted

[Saint_Michael 3]

I won't beat to death the antivirus software since it all depends what you want, but with other security measures you want to make sure OS is updated with the latest patches, your other software is up to date as well. The best way to do that is download and install File Hippo as it will let you know you the latest updates for all software you have running on your computer. As for security with the internet just be smart about it, do not visit questionable websites, make sure you know the person sending you the email or download, and of course just stay away from torrents as most of them are booby trapped with some sort of nasty program. Used 10-15 digit passwords, do not display any personal information that you don't want everyone to see, this is especially important for you Facebook users and other social networking websites that you might use.

[Vistz 1]

When I was running windows, I had a combination of AVG and Avira. They were usually able to get the job done. Occasionally I would run SpyBot Search and Destroy but most of the time, AVG and Avira would suffice. Now, I'm running Linux and I don't have to worry about viruses.