Security

First off, go to www.zonelabs.com and download zonealarm. It's a free firewall. You'll need to configure it, but it's pretty simple to do, and they have a tutorial to help.

Then go to www.grisoft.com and download the AVG virus protection. I use both, both are free, and both are easy to use.

Next, go to www.webattack.com and find the file 'Spybot Search and Destroy' and run it. It is under their freeware/Anti-Spyware stuff. Again, another good freeware product to keep your computer safe. Not only do you want to run this one regularlu, but you'll also want to click on 'Immunize' and turn on the immunization for bad d/ls. And block them too.

And fer Pete's sake, if you don't have a firewall and don't want people to find out what's on your computer, at least turn the cable modem off when you're not using it! Basically, right now you have an open door to your computer. It would be much like leaving the front door of your home open for anyone to come in and browse around.

And questions, post them here or PM me. . .

Security
thank you for the reply Turner. Appreciated. I will try this tonight when i have the time to run & install. In the mean time , your advice is well taken, Modem OFF! I'll post how everything went including ease of use.

You're welcome. Please do tell us how it worked out. If nothing else, I'll be able to give the next person better help.

Good luck.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend Zone Alarm. It used to be a decent Firewall but it's become bloated and has to many quirks.

Do you have a cable router between your PC and Cable Modem? If so turn on the firewall in the router. That'll kill 90% of the stuff Zone Alarm would pick up on to begin with..

If you are using WinXP use it's built-in firewall too. Then you can skip any additional firewall software.

The AVG Anti-virus software Turner recommended is great and Spybot is wonderful - just be careful that you understand what it is telling you when you run it. You can end up deleting things that you really shouldn't be deleting.

Security
First and foremost, thank you Turner & Fishin'. First thing i did was download the programs from the links and ran Spybot. I read all the tutorials to become familiar with the file types and their purposes. Many crazy things pop-up on Spybot including, but not limited to Gator, some other file types listed as "tracking cookies" ( many of those TRACKING COOKIES!!!)

I now turn off my modem when i am not working on line and make sure my girl does the same. The programs themselves are fairly simple to understand and with my basic computer knowledge i was able to run the setup and configure the settings.

I took your advice fishin' and turned on my own firewall, since i do have WinXP. So i don't need Zone Alarm, 9i still grabbed it, just in case.

Now, more questions... I saved the programs on my cpu since they are trial versions. After the trial period is over, can i just run setup.exe again for each one that i want to keep. What can I do with financial 010101 :wink: ?

Re: Security


99% of the "tracking cookies" are innocuous and the programs get them just because they are easy and because it helps beef up their definitions count.