How can I better protect my computer? (Please see details before answering.)?

I would be very careful and cautious to believe that you actually managed to clean your system after it has been compromised. Even if many people and products will tell you that they know how to get rid of an infection, it's just not true. Those times are definitely over.

Current malware tries everything to hide from you and from virus scanners. Often, they hook themselves so deep inside the system that there's just no way to find or remove them without damaging your system at the same time. Don't believe if someone tells you to download a particular removal tool that will solve the problem.To be safe, you must re-install your system from scratch using clean sources.

Most AV products do their job - scanning for viruses. But they may give you a false feeling of security.As soon as they are telling you that something's wrong, it's often already too late. If you want to run this kind of software, use products that are lightweight and don't eat up all system resources.

More important than using AV software is to have your system updated regularily. Nowadays, the main vector of malware attacks is no longer email. The 'bad guys' exploit unpatched errors in your system or browser.

The safest way to surf the web would be using a virtual machine or using sandboxing techniques. This would be too complicated to explain here. Basically, you would run a whole working environment (an OS or just an application) within a virtual machine which is an isolated duplicate of a real system.

Whatever malware tries to do can only be done inside the virtual machine and it will not affect your system.It's possible to set up your computer in a way that every time you boot it up, you will get a new, clean working environment. Even if you get infected, everything gets flushed after a restart of the system. However, there are some things to consider: you need more RAM and setting up the system can be a hassle.

If you are interested in doing so, I would suggest you ask the community how to set up a virtual machine, how to use steady-state, sandboxing or other techniques. I'm sure there are lots of people who can explain or provide you with useful links. To answer your question how to protect your computer better, I would follow a couple of very simple rules: - don't run as an administrator (a virus can only do what you can do - if you are logged in as an admin, malware can do everything - if you're restricted, so is the malware) - always have your system up-to-date - turn off scripting in your browser (or at least on untrusted pages) if you want to be very safe, use Firefox with the Add-on 'No-Script'.

In my opinion, these measures are more important and effective than using your AV programs.

You can get a lot of advice from a lot of people claiming to have the simple solution. I tend to hear a lot of "download such and such a program" type advice. The following is somewhat lengthy, but essential to every person wanting to safely browse the web on a windows machine.As a professional IT specialist, I've made it a point to do the following: *Use a better web browser.

(IE is buggy an unsafe. ) I use Google Chrome or Firefox. *Be careful about where you click, and what you install.

- This means that when something comes up with an ad and you don't want to see it,... be cautious not to just click what looks like an 'X' "close" button. You might want to just be safe and press ALT+F4 to close the browser window. Another note of particular importance, is: If any site appears to require some kind of plugin, (especially one you already have installed), BEWARE.

If it is anything other than Adobe Flash, you might want to reconsider using that feature or web site. *Uninstall existing software.(Yes crapware is pre-loaded on most systems. ) - If you have any sort of name brand PC (Dell, HP, Compaq, eMachine, the like..) they are known to install tons of crap you don't need, which often subtly includes some type of spyware evilly named "update software".

Get rid of it ASAP! You don't need it, it slows down your system whether it's spyware or not. Believe it or not, this stuff downloads crapware and trojans in the background and is how most typical users get this stuff.

Never install P2P file sharing apps.(Avoid Limewire like the plague! ) Some torrent apps are okay. Also another source of downloading crapware in the background without you knowing or authorizing it.

*Avoid installing any toolbars of any kind unless you are aware that many people you know use and trust it, and you can scan the install files with a malware detection app. *If you MUST use IE, you can install a registry add-on which entirely blocks most known crapware sites without any software running in the background at all. 100% safe and green and effective.It's called Zoned Out with IE SpyAd.

http://tinyurl.com/9uhcsw - be sure to follow the links to download IE SpyAd for Zoned Out. ** Last but not least. Never download any anti-virus, anti-malware/crapware, or ad-blocking software that you don't know about - especially not from a source you've never heard of.

BEWARE of ads claiming you have some kind of infection and need to download software (especially software you pay for, but free software often has crap too). There are a lot of copy-cat fraud sites and apps out there, you need to be really careful and try to get all your software from the official vendor sites, or from Download.com or other trusted freeware/shareware/trialware download station.So prevention is the best medicine as always. Other options like apps running all the time to scan everything has to be updated, and sometimes those require a paid subscription.

Even if they're kept up to date, you might really get something bad anyway. Crapware often targets known anti-crapware, and will attempt to disable it. It will sometimes hide copies of itself in the windows System Restores.

I recommend disabling that feature on XP, as it isn't what it implies anyway. I use a non-installed free anti-virus app called Dr.Web Cure-It. http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit.

I would suggest running WinXP in a virtual machine under VMware and using that for all browsing of questionable sites. You can make a snapshot of the virtual machine and if anything goes wrong simply revert the snapshot to get rid of the infection. This approach will isolate your sensitive data from any potential data collecting virus/trojan and prevent damage to your actual desktop machine.

I would suggest using VMware server: vmware.com/download/server/ This is a free version of vmware that anyone can download and use.

First, and most important, make sure you are not a local administrator. If you are - create an account without admin rights and use that account. If you need higher rights you can use Run As option in Win XP or UAC for Vista (UAC should be turned on anyway - it alone can protect you from 90% of the malware).

Also, if you have to use IE - run it in protected mode (IE 7). If you can, avoid using IE at all - use Firefox, Opera, or Safary instead. In general - be careful.

Don't just confirm any dialog. Avoid downloading and openning of files if you are not sure what they are. I personally prefer Norton - NIS 2009 is quite good and fast software, but Kaspersky is good as well.

NIS 2009 + Spybot S&D should be enough to keep most malware away. I almost forgot - keep your OS up to date. :).

Pebbles don't listen to anyone in here , most Anti-Virus and Firewall vendors are only out to steal your information your cpu power and your time. The best thing you can do is never give out any personal identifiable information about you, the people that use your computer, and/or your computer specification or installed software. I've been a IT Security consultant for counterpane security corp for 10 years now and I don't even use some of the software they put out.

Kind Regards, ~x And When in doubt about a file you know not to have ANY personal identifiable info use VirusTotal.com (Multi Anti-Virus Engine **web based** scanner) to scan it. PS: And if you really want to keep yourself secure run linux via dual boot. Most windows application will run perfectly fine within wine or better yet CrossOver.

CodeWeavers.com/products/cxlinux.

I agree with belleg's comment. He is 100% correct about the user account. If your going to be browsing sites that are likely scammers trying to get a virus on your PC you DO NOT want to be logged into windows with an Administrator account.

Have your IT guys set you up with a "Restricted User" account. If your crafty enough to do this yourself. Just type the following into Start -> Run command prompt control userpasswords "user friendly version" or control userpasswords2 "IT administrator version" Your going to want to create a new account with Limited or Restricted access depending on which way your doing it.

Just remember to logon to the restricted access account, or make it the default account when logging into your PC. This will prevent the vast majority virus/malware from being installed on your PC. However you also have to give up the rights to install most normal software programs.

You will have to log out of your restricted user account and into an administrator account to install programs. Then return back to your restricted user account and continue your web browsing. As for what browser to use.

Pretty much any will do. Firefox and Google Chrome have are a bit better than internet explorer in my opinion. For virus programs... I do not reccomend Norton antivirus at all.It's absolutly horrid.

It is counter productive. I would reccomend something from Etrust Antivirus, but I reccomend you keep the free programs such as Spybot SD and Adaware on your PC. Here is the real winner.

Incase you do get a virus on your PC google this "tman Pro 2" It is by far the best tool for removing virus. No it is not a virus program. This program actually downloads, installs, and runs all the free virus programs out there.

It's all scripted, so all you have to do is say yes a couple of times and check off the box that says "Accept all licences" and it will download install and run like 6-10 virus programs and virus scans. It will pretty much nuke 95% of viruses/malware.It's not a panacea there are the occasional stubborn viruses that require manual work to eliminate. I used tman Pro 2 when I worked for an IT company and had to fix up spyware ridden PC's.

Check my sources for a link to where you can download hitman pro 2.

I would say a hardware firewall (NAS Router or Switch) is your first line of defense. They're about $50.00 and you probably need one anyhow. Connecting a windows machine directly to the internet (even with software firewalls) is asking for trouble.

Other than that, there's better answers above. I kinda like the idea of only browsing from a virtualized machine that you can re-set to a known good point very easily. That's a lot like running off a live Linx CD.(You can save your settings to a local file on your HD or USB attached storage.

).

To dump BitDefender and get that Kaspersky antivirus back. What I use: Ghostwall as a firewall Kaspersky as an antivirus Spybot SD for additional protection Firefox with Java disabled for browsing Kiss principle.

Dump all security software and go look at DeepFreeze from faronics.com just remember to not forget the password or you can never unfreeze your computer, another free alternative from Microsoft is Windows Steady State, works similar to Deepfreeze but has a significany impact on boot time. I am a network admin in a 28 school district with over 2500+ PC's and we use deepfreeze, not once have we had a perminent virus, or malware infection on any machines that are used by hundreds of students a year.

I'm going to keep my answer very straight and to the point. It carries the weight of many years of experience. I used to be a huge fan of ESET NOD32, which had some of the best detection rates and lowest memory usage, but am now a huge fan of SunBelt Software's VIPRE.

But, even better, I switched to Apple from using Windows PC's. It's a god send. No more virus worries since it's built on a secure unix core.

Just keep your software up to date. Really, that's the best advice I can give. Buy a Mac.

I would go for a free version of AVG, Firefox and an addon that warns you about websites. But I use Ubuntu, which is a lot better. What browser do you use?

Here are a few helpful resources for Firefox: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722 https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/938 If you use Explorer, sincerely, switch to Firefox.

I used to fool around with all that stuff, but since I started using Windows Liveonecare, I haven't had 1 problem. EVery once in awhile I run cleanup or adaware...but overall I a happy camper. I have 2 computers on my house network.

You get a free trial at Microsoft.

Use ca anti virus it is the best anti virus. It has anti spyware application also. Before this I was using avg and avast lot of problems now no virus at all no problem.

Try and see you will sure see the change. You can refer some sources for proof anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews... products.howstuffworks.com/ca-anti-virus... discounts of softwares softwarediscountcodes.com/ca-antivirus20... Another tips if you get any problems in operating system after virus attack try this it can undo the changes made to your computer microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsup....

Personal Firewalls with a learning capacity. (I use sygate PF) - (My favorite) A personal ghosting/imaging software like Bart P. E etc.To bring you back when the damage (compromised system, windows corrupted) has already been done.

I image my harddrive once every 1-2 months just so the damage is not catastrophic. - Learn to snapshot+identify the default running tasks on your PC's OS (XP, vista etc). Then using surgical tools like the free jackThis software will be the "if all else fails" fix to get trojans out of your machine.

- Get a free registry-snapshot tool and take a snapshot everytime you install or remove some software (Willingly, of course). That ways, when you feel something's awry, do a diff. Between your current and your backup and you can get some isolation as to what the infestation might be.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.