brand new pc, now to choose protection

[clyde1]

I know there are many opinions on this, and many existing threads, so I appreciate the patience and participation in this thread.

I'm preparing a brand new laptop PC for a relative. Based on some nasty experiences with malware on my desktop, I figure prevention is the best medicine going forward.

Laptop: xp home edition, I've just updated it to SP2, amd xp-m 2800. And they'll probably sign up for road-runner.

This is what I am currently planning to do for protection.

NAV, AdawareSE, Spybot, probably Spy Sweeper, Windows XP SP2 firewall. But please read on.


AV:
As much as I despise NAV (just because it's aggressively placed in new PCs and sometimes hard to uninstall) I plan on sticking with NAV since it's already on the machine and I've updated it once.

The other option I was considering for AV is E-Trust, because if they do sign up for RR, then this is available to them (and what I use on my desktop now).


ANTI-SPYWARE: All of the following simultaneously
AdawareSE
Spybot, latest
?? I'm thinking about purchasing Spy Sweeper. Is it worth it???
?? Or instead of Spy Sweeper, considering purchasing Pest Patrol instead ???
I've looked at the trial versions, and there are trade-offs it seems like.


Firewall:
Windows XP SP2 already has a firewall.
However I've been using McAfee's EZ Firewall on my desktop and like it pretty well, but can't use both XP SP2 and EX Firewall at the same time. So for this brand new laptop, is XP SP2 firewall sufficient?

Also, since the laptop has a wireless card built in, I may put them on a router at home so they'll have that physical firewall too.

Your advice is greatly appreciated.

[Paul Komski]

Personally I would use avast as my antivirus if only because it almost seamlessly updates itself all the time.

I would also use a 3rdParty Firewall till "the jury" comes out in favour of the XPsp2 firewall. It's still not an easy choice for non-techies since the alerts are both worrying and can be screwed up by making wrong choices. A very early version of Zone Alarm, with the alerts turned off, is probably the least confusing firewall that I install for non-techie friends.

Would install spywareblaster and configure it - but wouldnt bother with the other stuff unless infection thought to have occured - in which case I would download the latest versions to deal with spyware and the like.

I would definitely install Firefox or Opera, make it the default browser and hide the IE icon on the desktop or start menu. Then go into the IE options and turn-off all ActiveX and associated Scripting in the internet zone but add microsoft.com and macromedia.com to the trusted sites so that you can use the Windows Update Site and Flash.

Install a non-MS mail client if POP or IMAP mail is going to be used. Thunderbird and Foxmail are my two favorites in this area. Whatever client is used - set it up so that incoming mail is always read as plain text first by default.

PS If you have made it hard to use IE then create a link to the WindowsUpdate program (if one doesnt exist already in the start menu) or just type %SystemRoot%\system32\wupdmgr.exe into the run box. This will open IE and go to Windows Update.

[Budfred]

I agree about the firewall... I would not rely on the MS firewall until there is more info about whether it is any good... I would go with Sygate or Kerio over ZoneAlarm, but they do take a little effort to configure...

For an AV, if you are going to pay for one I suggest NOD32... Otherwise it you have already paid for NAV, I would stay with that for now and switch when the subscription runs out...

I advocate running Spybot and/or Ad-Aware preventively and they now have options for protection built in.... Spysweeper is supposed to be a very good product and more powerful than the free ones. I wouldn't install Pest Patrol if they paid me to do so... If they do use IE, IE-Spyads is pretty essential...

[classicsoftware]

The biggest thing you can do to protect your system:

DON'T USE INTERNET EXPLORER OR OUTLOOK EXPRESS

Other than that I concur with what was said above:

1) Dump NAV in favor of Avast or NOD32

2) Dump the XP firewall for Sygate or Kerio

3) Keep an updated copy of Adaware and Spybot and scan regularly.

4) Download and keep updated a copy of SpywareBlaster.

And did I mention:

DON'T USE INTERNET EXPLORER OR OUTLOOK EXPRESS

[PrntRhd]

I agree with the idea of getting a router, (I recommend either Linksys) because properly configured NAT hardware firewalls are quite resistant to be turned off by malware. If you can get one with Stateful Packet Inspection, even better.
A Linksys with wireless would be even better, turn off SSID broadcast, and go with WAP to encript the connection.

[Donn]

I just finished trying Nod32 on the 30 day free run. I like the way it updates itself as soon as you get on the net, and let's you know you are updated. That also functions as a sheduler in an indirect way. I also like the way you can scan and clean files, and it memory tests (As does AVAST). However, I didn't care for the skin or the control panel AVAST comes with. The Nod32 control panel is a lot more--what's the word--professional looking. The AVAST control panel looked more like a computer game. AVAST also does not give you a scheduling feature the way AVG free edition does, which is very convenient. I will probably pick up Nod32 and pay for it, but for now I am using AVG free again.

Don't forget MRUBlaster, and the diagnostics at www.GRC.com . I use Leaktest, Discombobulator, and SheildsUp.

RegSeeker is also a good little tool to keep handy. I run it every now and then to keep the registry clean.

[pop pop]

I use Leaktest, Discombobulator, and SheildsUp.

Just a little FYI: I keep TrojanHunter on my machines and it will actually declare LeakTest a real trojan, not a possible trojan.

[PrntRhd]

it will actually declare LeakTest a real trojan, not a possible trojan.
Yes but it is not a malicious one.
:p

[clyde1]

Regarding IE and Outlook Express, I'm hearing the message loud and clear. But I'm a little thick headed on this, because the relatives I'm fixing up with this are >76 yrs old (it's my mom and dad) and they've been using my old PC for about 3yrs with XP (just barely runs XP by the way, 350MHz PII), and they've been using outlook express and IE explorer.

I've never used Firefox or Opera, don't know much about them, but just read a PC mag review. If I go down this path, since it wouldn't be "mainstream", am I setting myself up for a lot of hassle for not being fully assimilated by microsoft (the Microsoft punishment for non-conformists)? How much better is it than say IE with security settings set high? With Firefox, if I add microsoft.com and macromedia.com to trusted sites as suggested, will most "legitamate" websites run ok? I think what I'll do is try Firefox on my PC and decide from there.

Regarding Outlook Express, it's worked fairly well for them up to now on the old PC. They will be using POP mail (possibly Yahoo POP service). Based on that, any suggestion between Foxmail vs Thunderbird? Again, they've been using OE, so something similar in feel would be nice. I send them a lot of jpeg pictures of my kids and digital camera movie clips, so they deal with attachments the best they can.

With Firefox and Foxmail, when doing a Windows Update, is it going to be a time of anxiety wondering if they will work after the update?

Regarding NAV, haven't paid for anything yet, part of the 60day free trial. In the past I had used AVG free version, and more recently using McAffee's EZ-armor (available with road-runner). Does anyone have any complaints about EZ-Armor /EZ trust AV?

I was just reading a little about NOD32 and AVAST, because prior to this thread I hadn't heard of them. Sounds like NOD32 is great but maybe not for a low-tech user, and AVAST is simpler to use but may not protect as well. I'm torn at the moment.

Regarding a firewall, I have a D-Link DI-624. I may get them the same wireless router instead of Linksys. I wish I started with Linksys. And the 802.11g router built into their laptop has broadcomm chipsets, another argument for using Linksys. The problem is I have to give them step-by-step instructions over the phone often, and it helps to use the exact same stuff when possible. Any real complaints about the DI-624? I have not had the classic disconnect problems other folks have reported with the DI-624.

Regarding anti-spyware etc., I'm still digesting everyones input. Any harm in running several things at one time? I'm definetly going to run Adaware and Spybot.

Thanks to all for the input so far.

[FrankSG]

As far as ZoneAlarm is concerned, I first used the free version. I liked it and thought that since the free version is good, the Pro version must be better. So, I bought the Pro version but I had some problems with it. Now, I'm back with the free one and I like it better. Maybe the Pro really is better--that is, it does more stuff. But on the other hand, maybe it tries to do too much and possibly I wasn't using it right. Anyway, I'm plenty satisfied with it--the free one. I don't want to discourage anyone who wants to try the Pro. You might have better luck with it than I did. Just because something doesn't work for me doesn't necessary mean it's no good.
~Frank~

[pave_spectre]

they've been using OE, so something similar in feel would be nice.

Both Foxmail and Thunderbird have a pretty similar look to OE (at least in my experience) so I wouldn't see that as a big issue.

With Firefox and Foxmail, when doing a Windows Update, is it going to be a time of anxiety wondering if they will work after the update?

Not really. Both Firefox and Thunderbird can be run from any directory of your choice, so windows update shouldn't affect any of their components.
Foxmail shouldn't be a problem in that regard either.

[Budfred]

NOD32 doesn't seem any more complex than other AV programs I have used once it is set up... I like to know what is going on, so I do the downloads of updates after it notifies me, but I could easily set it to update in the background so I wouldn't even know.... I can also set it to scan by a schedule and it has regular resident scans going on the time to protect. So far it has worked flawlessly and maintained a low profile...

There is no problem running several anti-malware products at the same time as long as they are not trying to do the same thing. Running two AV would not be good... Running Spybot scans and SpywareBlaster and/or SpywareGuard is fine...

I also found ZoneAlarm Pro to be worse than the free version and now I use Sygate which works well and is easy to set up. It is far less bloated.... Kerio is a bit harder to set up, but I have put it on a friend's computer and he is able to run it even though he is clueless about how these things work...

[PrntRhd]

For D-Link questions I would go to:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/dlink
:)