GF just bought a new gateway, pentium, 2.8g, 512mb, hooked up to DSL modem, i have some questions.
i need to know what are the best maintenance & safety, apps. three categories in particular:
computer and information restriction, that is, firewall, spyware, etc.
antivirus.
basic disk/software/systems maintenance, repair and performance enhancement (such as, for example, norton disk doctor, speed disk, etc.).
this computer comes with norton something (solutions, systemworks, whatever) preloaded on it, and mcafee antivirus came on it as well. but i suspect those are 70% revenue driven decisions by geteway, and not necessarily indicative of what would be the best applications to take care of her computer system day by day and over the long term.
I would get a subscription to Mcafee or Norton. Be sure to purchase the anti-virus and personal firewall. All components are in the same suite of software. It is critical that the settings automatically download updates and scans are performed daily or weekly.
I don’t think there is any single product that does a good job in combining anti virus, anti spyware and firewall. I recommend a combination of the 3, not necessarely from the same manufacturer.
3-basics handle most needs…use “disk cleanup” and de-frag occasionally. the more advanced stuff is *generally *only needed when loading a ton of programs or applications and then uninstalling them and having junk left over. garbage in…garbage left over.
i would assume that doubling up on parallel apps causes confusion. for example, you either do mcafee or norton as anti-spam, you don’t do both. that would be esp true for firewall software. so, i keep the norton and uninstall the mcafee?
2, spyware: so, i need to make a choice. spybot or antispyware (beta)?
i need to make sure that the firewall doesn’t interrupt internet connectivity, esp because i plan to network her DSL connection, and i think internet routers often have their own firewalls, no? anything i need to be concerned about here?
I’m no geek, and also keep in mind that I confused Kenny’s just yesterday. But I am a big believer in keeping things simple. I have to.
So to answer 1. No doubling up. Norton and Mcaffee do not play well together. You have to choose one or the other. I think both are very comparable in terms of quality and usablity.
I think spyware is a feature of the above mentioned suites. If not be sure to download something that looks credible and supported. Usually software with PC magazine awards are a good bet.
I don’t think you need to worry about having a software based firewall and a router firewall. I think the router firewall can block or allow different kinds of traffic and is a good gatekeeper. The pc firewall will do a good job allowing\denying specific internet requests from whatever software is running on the PC. I would not rely on only a router firewall.
Spyware is a little different, you can run different products. Sometimes one will catch something the other doesn’t, but if you are not surfing fringe sites spyware should not be a big issue. The Microsoft beta (which they bought from another company) is very good and catches more them other seem to.
You didn’t mention which version of Windows you/she is running. XP has a lot of features built in.
That said, the BEST tool against spam and spyware is your brain. Don’t click on random ads, don’t open email from anyone you are absolutely sure you know, don’t go to random porn/hack/crack/free software web sites. Also, remember to install, and keep up to date with, all the updates from windowsupdate.microsoft.com
McAfee and Norton are “smart enough” these days to co-habitate, but kinda like running Campy rear/Shimano front. You’ll get funny looks. I’d recommend bundling…esp Norton’s Internet Security.
Contrary to what other’s have mentioned…only pick one. Running multiple spyware programs will report false negatives/postives. Uninstall all others. MS Beta is a good product. Of course…MS always brings more hackers to the party, but they’ve done a good job combatting it.
Depends if you’re going wireless or not. Upon install, most firewalls will guide you through the “standard” process (which I’d recommend) and then you can customize later. In addition, I’d network everything “wired” and then install your wireless network afterwards. It leaves an easier repair trail. If you do go wireless, then can then determine your own level of security based upon the router you chose. On a side note, there are many security port “test” over the net… https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2
Get an EXTERNAL Firewall…ANY software firewall is about worthless. You can get a Router/Firewall pretty cheap. I suggest Norton, Norman, McAfee or what ever AV you want…turn off the “on access scanner” for better performance.
Part of the IS Dept I work for manages about 800 desktops/laptops. Most of these computers have multiple spyware programs. We recommend MS Antispyware, Lavasoft Ad-Aware, and Spybot Search and Destroy (all of which are free).
I would not put a computer on any kind on an internet connection without a firewall. Latest estimates say that a computer without a firewall on the internet will be infected/hacked in less than 30min.
Routers are great (either wired or wireless) for firewall protection. This is the most user friendly in that there is no setup and no pop-ups asking if it is ok. Most software firewalls will ask if the outgoing connection is ok to establish.
which monitors the system for any attempted changes to startup, boot files, etc etc, as an additional line of defence. It’s free too, always nice - written by one of the founders of AOL, so he doesn’t need the money… Plus I like the little ‘woof’ Scotty gives when he finds something alarming.
McAfee is the company standard at our (software) company, works well. But I like winpatrol as well, since even some installs of legit software are not well-behaved.
i would create a user for yourself with out admin rights, this way when you are surfing the net the spywear won’t be able to load programs cause you don’t have admin rights. Of course you’ll still get it, but it won’t be as much. Also create a user with admin rights so you download and install programs, but that’s all you should do with this user
i would go out and buy a router of some sort that i will help with the firewall
virus… i would get avg… it’s a free virus protection… www.grisoft.com
very easy to use and very up to date.
everyone suggested good spywear stuff sypbot, ad-adware, don’t forget spyblaster… sort of prevents spywear from loading in the first place (install all this stuff with the user with admin rights)
I’ve been really pleased with Spysweeper.
It’s one of the few anti-spyware programs with an active shield and cookie scanning.
I’d been told (by the FBI’s head internet security guy) that most anti-virus programs are the same. (Norton, McAffee, ect…) Just pick one and keep it updated.
