Like most people, I don't have lots of money to
go throwing around at software to safe guard my machine and my data from
threats that I shouldn't have to deal with in the first place. Now some
people might say, “Throwing money at software?! Why I can just borrow software
from a friend!” And to that I say “No! No you cannot! Its illegal and its
wrong and... ummm... why risk thousands of dollars in fines and jail time
when you don't need to!” Everything you need is out there and is free! So
I am going to compile a quick list of the software you need, where to get
it and how to set it up.
How to stop Spyware:
Here is what you want to get rid of it:
Spybot: Search and
Destroy (Free)
Ad-Aware SE (Free)
SpySweeper (30 day trial)
Microsoft Anti-Spyware (Free for a time, 2000/XP only)
Now that you have some programs, the first thing you want to do is update
them. Remember new spyware comes out all the time, just like viruses. Check
your spyware updates frequently and if anything fishy is going on, run full
system scans.Here is what you need to STOP doing:
1) Stop downloading freebees off the net (file sharing, screen savers, etc)
2) Online gambling is bad and usually involves said free programs
3) If your browser asks you to install something, just say NO
These are generalizations, but they are accurate generalizations.
Windows Specific:
Windows XP: Get Service pack 2
and keep up with Microsoft updates!
Windows 95/98/Me/2000: Ditch Internet Explorer and get
Firefox. Microsoft is no longer really
supporting these operating systems.
Free Virus Scanner:
Get AVG! Go to http://free.grisoft.com/
download the free edition of AVG, install it, update it and you are set.
Its great protection with frequent updates at $0.00 cost to you.
Stopping Spam:
I am sorry to say, You cant stop spam. You can get an new
email address, just like you could move houses to stop getting phone solicitations
and junk mail. All you can really do is automate the process of weeding
out spam from your inbox. so...
Install Thunderbird! Go to www.mozilla.org
and get their email client called thunderbird. Its just like outlook express,
but has junk mail filters. Its free, and you can even get it for Mac or
Linux.
Getting a firewall:
Windows XP comes
with a built in firewall. Service pack 2 turns it on automatiacally. If
youreally don't want to make the switch to XP you can find some free software
that does the jobl.
Now, alot of people like
Zone Alarm, but I must admit I have had problems with zone alarm in
the past, mostly when improperly installing or uninstalling it. A bad removal
can leave your system unable to surf the net, but other than that its a
good product.
I would recomend
SPF (Sygate Personal Firewall). It doesnt look as fancy as Zone Alarm,
but in my experiance Fancy many times means Inefficient.
Stopping Pop-Ups:
Once again Windows XP Service Pack 2 will contain a Pop-Up blocker in
Internet Explorer... for those of you without XP, either install the
Google Toolbar for
Internet Explorer, or use Mozilla Firefox
Browser instead of IE.
Clearing out Temp files and cookies and Misc Internet
things:
Get CCleaner, its a temporary file
eraser as well as it can help clean the system registry (Windows Settings).
Before a vvirus scan or spyware scan, run this program, it can remove thousands
of useless files that those scanners have to weed through, taking valuable
time. Make note of the selectable list of items that CCleaner removes though!
If you are the kind of person that can't remember things like his/her hotmail
account name and password you might find yourself having to dig through
your subconcious to remember it after CCleaner cleans them out of the system. |
