hmmm downloads?

gstar

Hi

I bought a laptop recently without norton anti virus etc. I was just wondering if you could recommend any sort of anti virus/anti hacker /anti badness/whatever ! free online (or perhaps not free but reasonable?!) progs to download from the net to protect myself, before i go online with my laptop. (i have access to my bros pc which can facilitate safe download via usb key). Id be really appreciative of any suggestions

thanks a million

Alanstrainor

Not one for the laptop forum.
Moved.

ActorSeeksJob

Below I have included a number of recommendations for how to protect your computer against malware infections.

• Keep Windows updated by regularly checking their website at :
  http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/
  This will ensure your computer has always the latest security updates available installed on your computer.
  
  
• SpywareBlaster protects against bad ActiveX, it immunizes your PC against them.
  
  
• SpywareGuard offers realtime protection from spyware installation attempts. Make sure you are only running one real-time anti-spyware protection program ( eg : TeaTimer, Windows Defender ) or there will be a conflict.
  
  
• Make Internet Explorer more secure
  • Click Start > Run
  • Type Inetcpl.cpl & click OK
  • Click on the Security tab
  • Click Reset all zones to default level
  • Make sure the Internet Zone is selected & Click Custom level
  • In the ActiveX section, set the first two options ("Download signed and unsigned ActiveX controls) to "Prompt", and ("Initialize and Script ActiveX controls not marked as safe") to "Disable".
  • Next Click OK, then Apply button and then OK to exit the Internet Properties page.
• TFC - Cleans temporary files from IE and Windows, empties the recycle bin and more. Great tool to help speed up your computer and knock out those nasties that like to reside in the temp folders.
  
  
• MVPS Hosts file replaces your current HOSTS file with one containing well known ad sites and other bad sites. Basically, this prevents your computer from connecting to those sites by redirecting them to 127.0.0.1 which is your local computer, meaning it will be difficult to infect yourself in the future.
  
  
• Please consider using an alternate browser. Mozilla's Firefox browser is fantastic; it is much more
  secure than Internet Explorer, immune to almost all known browser hijackers, and also has the best built-in pop up
  blocker (as an added benefit!) that I have ever seen. If you are interested, Firefox may be downloaded from
  Here
  
  
  If you choose to use Firefox, I highly recommend these add-ons to keep your PC even more secure.
  • NoScript - for blocking ads and other potential website attacks
  • McAfee SiteAdvisor - this tells you whether the sites you are about to visit are safe or not. A must if you do a lot of Googling
  
  
• Keep a backup of your important files - Now, more than ever, it's especially important to protect your digital files and memories. This article is full of good information on alternatives for home backup solutions.
  
  
• ERUNT (Emergency Recovery Utility NT) allows you to keep a complete backup of your registry and restore it when needed. The standard registry backup options that come with Windows back up most of the registry but not all of it. ERUNT however creates a complete backup set, including the Security hive and user related sections. ERUNT is easy to use and since it creates a full backup, there are no options or choices other than to select the location of the backup files. The backup set includes a small executable that will launch the registry restore if needed.
  
  
• FileHippo Update Checker is an extremely helpful program that will tell you which of your programs need to be updated. Its important to keep programs up to date so that malware doesn't exploit any old security flaws.
  
  
• Recovery Console - Recent trends appear to indicate that future infections will include attacks to the boot sector of the computer. The installation of the Recovery Console in the computer will be our only defense against this threat. For more information and steps to install the Recovery Console see This Article. Should you need assistance in installing the Recovery Console, please do not hesitate to ask.
  
  
• Please read my guide on how to prevent malware and about safe computing here

Thank you for your patience, and performing all of the procedures requested.

random.stranger

My preference is Avast Antivirus, Spybot Search & Destroy (Anti Spyware) & I use PeerGuardian 2 as an extra layer of protection for privacy.

All of the programs above are free to download.

Configure them to update automatically (also set up windows to do this).

Highly advisable to use an alternative to Internet Explorer.

Just reading ActorSeeksJob's post above- ASJ is probably far better qualified to answer your question than me (I just feel like exercising my fingers).

P.S.
One thing to be careful about is doing a google search for antivirus/antispyware downloads. Only download software from sites you trust, if you did a google search for "Spybot Search & Destroy", google might point you to a site that claims to offer you this program, but you may inadvertantly be installing spyware on your machine. I usually look up the software package on wikipedia & go to the site from the wikipedia link (this method isn't bulletproof either, as anybody could edit wikipedia's site, but I find it more trustworthy than just a straight google search)