Computers and the Internet - Protection

[dhdove]

Dear All

Having sat here for a little while and re-secured my computer against all those threats that are out there (or not), I wondered how much or little protection everyone else is using aginst the dreaded "blue screen of death".

I have had it a couple of times and it ended by me buying a new computer on one occasion. having said that, when I took the error message into PC World for a fix the young lady asked me how old the computer was, and I replied "four and a half years", she looked at me in amazement and said " No computer lasts that long!!!"

I must admit that I now seem to have a plethora of cyber guardians watching my PC - but - Do I need them all?

Here's my troops........

System Mechanic 7
AdAware SE personal
XSoft Spy SE
Norton 360
Spybot Search and Destroy
AntiVir Personal Edition Classic
McAffee Personal Firewall

I know there are computer experts out there.....so what is your opinion? Or more to the point, what troops have you got on guard?

So far the walls seem to be holding

Regards

DH Dove

PS I update my system protection manually, I like to watch the bars go across the screen.................................

[Mark_B]

i use windows 98 on all mine, except one that has windoze me on it
one of them has spybot search and d on it
5 computers in all, networked and on internet

Oh, and a firewall in the router, apart from that and the SS&D above, no other protection!

PS, I use automated backup on dvd every 6 month, and incremental autobackup on QIC tape. if i get a virus, i remove it manually.

I also (this is only my opinion!) believe that the more 'blind faith' security you have, the more at risk you are, for instance the best place to hide a trojan is in an anti-trojan or a virus in anti-virus software!

I'm so old school, that my idea of robust system is the one with "@ 1982 Sinclair Research Ltd."!! I wrote my first COBOL program in 1978!

[almcl]

dh dove

Don't claim to be an expert but there's a certain amount of hysteria out there at the moment about viruses, trojans, malware, spyware, identity theft, spam, phishing &c.

As a minimum, I think you need antivirus (there are some good free ones and some of the pay-for ones are hopeless) a firewall (I don't personally care for the windows one and again use a free one) and, possibly, some anti spyware. It also helps to have a nasty, cynical, suspicious mind when unsolicited mail arrives or when visiting strange web sites. I can't imagine how anyone gets caught by a phishing email, but very obviously they do, all the time. Maybe other people are more trusting?

With those 3 items, my PC, whose motherboard was last upgraded in 2001 seems to have survived. An outbreak of BSOD two years ago was cured by a reinstall - automatic upgrades/badly designed install programs had trashed the registry.

My daughter, on the other hand, who had no AV, used windows firewall and had no parental control over the sites her son visited has just shelled out £25 to have her machine disinfected of over 200 spyware/ malware infections and have some AV put on.

[ptjs1]

dh,

I agree with some of the sentiments expressed by Al. It's not just about the AV software that you have, it's as much about how you use your machine, your email environment and your internet usage.

I'm sure that everyone has differing views about the proprietary Windows & aftermarket firewall and AV packages. From a personal viewpoint, I don't like Norton - I find it invasive and a sod to remove fully from the machine. I also don't really like some of the Windows utilities & firewall. I tend to use a comprehensive McAfee suite (I have a couple of brand-new unused official suites which you can buy from me very cheaply if you like!) I also have my wireless network setup with good security and no unauthorised remote access for internet usage etc.

However, one of the most important things for me is having good backup routines. I almost learnt the hard way back in 2002 when a hard disk crashed and it was only through the intervention of a very specialist company that I eventually recovered the bulk of my data. I now approach contingency from 4 angles:

- I partition my hard disks to segregate operating system, programs & data files

- I have two hard disks running in my desktop machine and have a second copy of the Windows XP operating system loaded on the second disk. In the event of a system crash on the first disk, I can then run Windows from the second disk and hopefully still access my data on the first disk (this has been necessary twice in the last two years).

- I run real-time backups of key data areas from the first disk to the second disk just in case the first disk irrecoverably crashes again. Partition Magic is a great program for partitioning hard disks and configuring real-time backup routines.

- I do backups of my data files from my desktop and my laptop onto mini remote hard disks every two week and then store them at a colleagues house. Therefore even if my house burnt down or got burgled, I would still have 99% of my data available

Does all this sound over the top? I don't think so. As I said, I nearly lost everything 5 years ago and I don't intend that to happen ever again. Also, increasingly more and more of the important things in my life are on my PCs. Not just my business material, accounts, tax returns etc but also the very important emotional aspects such as all my music, photographs, letters, emails, scanned images of key documents of my daughter's life etc etc. With the increasing use of technology to support our lives, I don't think you can be too careful. I think that I actually care less about viruses than I do about losing all my data through whatever means.

Regards,

Paranoid of Kent

[Hosier77]

Some very good points there.
I have 3 PCs, the oldest runs windows95 and is ten years old! It still does what it allways did, it has my business accounts and email on. I dont use it for web browsing though.
The one i use for web stuff, including managing my website, runs Linux and so far hasnt had any issues in its 4 years of opperation. Although i had to get a freind to set up the internet gubbins because I am not that good at the detailed bits of Linux.
The third on runs windows xp and has all the windows only applications that i get with things like my camera and phone. It has AVG free anti virus and seems fine except it is getting slower for no apparent reason. I defrag it every few months which helps a bit. Its 2 years old.
Personally i am very worried about how much we all depend on PCs and the internet, both are deeply flawed, no good will come of it, bah humbug!!!!

[Gordon@1962]

My first PC had a Windows 98 running system and to be honest trying to evade the blue screen 'of death' was quite a feat!
It's wasn’t the viruses or spyware that was the problem, it just has a canny way of locking up if you asked it to do too many things at once.
My next PC had a Windows XP running system and this was a major improvement. No more blue screens! Hurrah!

With running XP there was no need for a firewall as XP came with its own and all I've ever used is a FREE anti-virus downloaded off the net and Microsoft’s spy ware defender.

That’s all you need in the way of programmes to be honest.
There’s a lot of hype about viruses and spyware but all you need to do is follow a few simple rules.

1. Always been on your guard. You don't have to become paranoid just be wary.
2. Never open an email if you don't know who it is from.
3. Avoid the Adult sites they are renowned for viruses!
4. Be especially careful when you download programmes and games off the net. A lot have spyware, (that’s why they are free!) So when you’ve installed any, scan your PC with a spyware programme just to make sure.
5. Regularly scan your PC for spyware and viruses. Catch them early and you will save loads of trouble later.

I've spent more hours on-line than in front of the TV and never been caught out. (touch wood)

Here’s a few links...................
Windows XP has its own Firewall but if you have Windows 98 give the FREE version of Zone Alarm a go.
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/ ... US&lang=en

I’ve tried quite a few anti-virus but most of them slow your PC down like mad!
Give the FREE version of AVG a go. I’ve used it for 3 years now and it hasn’t let me down.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

I’m not sure if Microsoft Windows Defender works on Windows 98 but if you’ve got Windows XP it’s a good FREE option..
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/securit ... fault.mspx
Theres also Adware and Spybot as previously mentioned which works on 98.

Happy surfing. Lol

Regards
Gordon

[dhdove]

Dear All

Thanks for those many and varied contributions, it would seem that we are all running a variety of operating systems and software, generally without problems.

Mark B - We must be of an age, in 1978 I was using a machine as big as a Fiesta to produce punch cards for an IBM PDP-11 in Fortran IV. If ONE card had an error it spat the whole lot back at you and you had to check every single card by hand.........(space in the wrong place, full-stop instead of comma etc. etc. etc!.........Happy Days, NOT)

Paul - I agree with your comments about Norton/Symantec, it can be a real pain, however I am committted for a while yet NB Norton 360 doesn't seem as good as the former more basic Internet Security 2007 etc. it gives much less information as to what it is actually doing!
Your back-up arrangements are outstanding! I just have my photos,Word files etc backed up on my hard-drive.
Over the top? Well, erm..........

Gordon - At least someone else has experienced the "Blue Screen of Death"!
Re Point 3. - Aw shucks - I guess that's "Adult Fun on your Bonnet" and "XXX-XJS Back-Seat Chiropractrics" out then

Thanks for the feedback,
Best Regards
Dh Dove