hello all
just thought i should share some usefull tools for dealing with the baddies that we all inevitably pick up from time to time on the net.
I do a hell of a lot of PC repairs for clients family and friends and the dreaded friends of friends
anyhow some simple and easy to use tools some you may have herd of others may not so ill give a brief description of each and there ease of use without using to much PC jargon. ???
So lets start with the most fundermental piece of computer protection a firewall.
some that run windows xp proffessional or home may just have the xp built in firewall running.
This is not good enough and you really need to get something with a little more poke to it.
Many people think firewalls are either expensive or hard to use well stand corrected ;D
stay away from norton and mcaffee if you can as these firewalls are not only 99% targeted by hackers etc they are also system resource hogs!
zonelarm is a totally free firewall that is among one of the best, easy to use and easy to set up
you can download it directly from here
http://www.download.com/3000-2092-10039884.htmlon the designers website there is a very good tutorial to learn all the functions of zonelarm.
which is here
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/tutorial/1.jspNext up we have another vital piece of software in the arsenal against hackers and viruses, this is called antivirus software.
Again i see so many people that could have avoided loosing so much data if they had installed an antivirus programme.
I would like to note here that you should never have more than one antivirus software running on your machine at the same time as this can cause terrible problems.
Again avoid norton and macaffe like the plague ( you may have guessed i dont like these by now i have seen to many peoples machines cripped by this bloatware )
For a very good antivirus I would recommend AVG
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1This is a brilliant antivirus stops most things in its tracks however like all antiviruses its not 100% but its one of the better ones out there
extremely easy to use with almost daily antivirus database updates(it updates itself automatically so you dont have to remember).
once you have installed the programme update it immediately.
on your taskbar where the little clock is you will see an icon that is a square with 4 different colour quarters (yellow black green and blue) this is the easiest way to access your newly installed antivirus software. if that box goes grey it means your antivirus database is out of date and needs to update itself so if you are not connected to the net allot its an good idea too do this weekly.
clicking on the square avg icon it brings up a easy to use control panel from there you can access all its functions including email scanner for those that use outlook for your mail client.
you can select to scan any part or the whole of the PC from withing the various sub menus that are available.
To scan an individual file on your computer say a zip file you have downloaded from the net, just right click on the file and select the scan with avg option that will be listed.
this is a good habit to get into as it stops allot of nasties getting onto your system from downloaded files *always scan before you open*.
now in conjunction with this ewido is the perfect partner
http://www.ewido.net/en/download/ (aha i hear you cry earlier you said not to run to antiviruses together) well you are right ewedo is usefull as what is referred to as an on demand scanner and as a backup scanner in case it all goes wrong and you do get a real nasty on your PC.
download and install the ewido package and immediately update it.
when you install do not install the ewedo guard as its a little to effective!
there is an option to turn ewido off at startup select this also.
again it is a very simple to use menu system to preform a variety of tasks.
remember to update this about once every couple of weeks.
again as this is an on demand scanner if you want a secon opinion on a file you ahve donloaded or just wish to preform a secondary scan of your PC this is ideal
you can select the single file scan the say wasy as you do with avg.
ok so now we have the ability to stop people getting into your PC and to stop it leaking information about you out.
we can stop and hopefully remove any viruses that come our way. so what else may you be needing on your comp
well some of you may have heard of spyware.
spyware is nasty stuff that can do many things they can track your surfing habits track your keystrokes which means that they can gain masses of information from you and do terrible things get into your emails .ebay accounts etc and even worse bank account for those that do online banking ( not trying to scare anyone here just making you realise what your facing) however with a little good computing skills we can sort it out :)
so what do we need for spyware well firstthings first STOP USEING INTERNET EXPLORER unless you have to some sites will only work on IE 99% now work on other browsers.
this is the one i use and have converted nearly all of my clients to use
http://www.firefox.org.uk/?gclid=CO6lybn9mYYCFSidEAodbhU2tAi seriously recommend it: ;D loads more secure , tabbed browsing , download manager all so much better than IE and easier to use i think.
ok so thats your new internet browser sorted out.
Now we need something to remove any nasty spyware, there are 3 tools that are by far the best for this again they are all free and all very simple to use reaso n we have 3 like with the antivirus is that none of them is 100% nothing is in life ( the golden rule is to keep them updated)
ok first off we have spybot search and destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html donload and install this excellent programme and update straight away then get a scan going you'll be amazed at what it finds.
next up we have adware
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5again install and update and set scanning.
then something slightly different
spyware blaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.htmlinstall this one then update if needed once installed open the programme up where it says QUICK TASKS click enable all protection.
you do not need to have them running every time you turn the PC on they are there to protect silently as in spyware blaster and then to remove as in adware and spybot as and when needed.
ok so now we have the 3 basics installed firewall, antivirus and antispyware and hoefully you have installed firefoz as well.
these tips should help make your web surfing a happier and safer experience.
a usefull tool if you wish to know more about your computer such as what bits are in it how hot it runs etc is everest
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.htmlalso handy for finding out what drivers are needed etc.
any other bits anyone would like to see here let me know and i will elaborate/add as needed
any help needed with any of the programs above just yell and ill be happy to help.
kind regards iggy
