new PC, what protection for roaming & browsing?

[rans6andrew]

I just acquired a new Netbook with the express intention of using it for browsing when away from home. Justified it on the grounds that the MET and NOTAMs ought to be consulted when committing aviation and touring abroad.

It has Win7 home starter installed and a load of freebee stuff and games, which I am busy removing.

What is the best form of defence against attack of unwanted virii etc that I should install?

If it would help, I would be happy to install Ubuntu but it would need to be on the internal hard drive and be the first boot option. I assume this could be done but I have no idea of the hassle it might be to achieve.

I have FF as my preferred browser and will use Hotmail and Skype on the machine.

What would you do? Free anti virus and firewall preferred.

Rans6andrew.

[Lancelot37]

Spend a few coppers and get Kasperski Internet Security. It will block everything that can do you harm.

Search for a good price as it varies from place to place and there are often special offers. I've had it on three computers for years and never a problem.

With freebies you usually need several different applications to protect fully.

[A A Gruntpuddock]

Tried the free av/ firewall route and regretted it. Ended up with Kaspersky Internet Security. Expensive but worth it imho.

I also have the operating system its own partition and keep the data on the rest of the drive. C: partition gets cloned regularly to the second partition just in case. Second partition gets backed up to second (external drive) - if travelling would probably get backed up to DropBox or similar.

Having caught a virus once I do NOT want to get caught again. After several wasted days the only way to get rid of it was to restore a previous copy of the c: drive. Fortunately, because I keep my data on the second partition it was not affected.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

I also have the operating system its own partition
On one machine my main OS was on D:.

One day I was looking at C: and noticed that a virus had installed itself there ... and done absolutely no damage at all, the author obviously having hard coded C:, being unaware of how to find out on which drive the operating system was really installed!

[Mac the Knife]

Microsoft Security Essentials - http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ - is free, has a small footprint, is reasonably quick and is arguably as good as many of the paid offerings.

There, I've said something good about Microsoft, must go and lie down...

Mac

:ok:

[Lancelot37]

I paid £44 to use Kaspersky Internet Security on 3 computers. It was £19 for a single usage.

Well worth the cost for peace of mind. Beats many other AV packages in magazine tests.

[Tarq57]

Tried the freeware route. Got bitten once.

Learned a bit, tried some different stuff, experimented heaps, read lots of forums.

Got it right, now. Malware free for 3 years, round about.

One of the more effective things you can do to prevent "drive by downloads" is to install the NoScript add-on for Firefox. Hidden malware code buried in a (usually hacked) web page just can not download nor install. Doesn't take too long to get the hang of using, and will also very nicely block some ads and banners, thus allowing pages to load faster. Adblock Plus is another good add-on.

I use Avast (free) 5. (And 4.8 before that.) I haven't had a virus get through while using it. No antivirus is foolproof, though. All of them (Avast included; Kaspersky included) should be treated as though a virus might not be detected by them. Which basically means using NoScript, block lists (below) and not clicking on any old thing or attachment, nor trusting any USB drive someone has loaned you.

MVPS Hosts file is a useful block list to install, and an application called Hostsman to easily manage/update it. This will block known bad URL's. It needs to be updated periodically, about once a week. SpywareBlaster, by Javacool, achieves a similar result.

Keeping all software up to date is important, including Java and Flash players.

MBAM (MalwareBytes anti malware) is an excellent demand scanner that will provide a good second opinion for scans, plus very good removal abilities. It works in a similar manner to old Spybot (which is still supported, BTW) and there is a free version.

All the above are free, or have a free version. Minimal system impact. Reliable.

[oldbeefer]

MSE and Malwarebytes. No probs since installing a year ago.

[le Pingouin]

rans6andrew, if you want to go the Ubuntu route (it would certainly avoid the vast majority of malware problems) it's best to do a little research first - Googling your particular netbook & Ubuntu should reveal any specific hardware issues.

You could try it on a USB flash drive first as an experiment/proof of concept.

It's not hard to install it alongside Windows if you want to keep that & set Ubuntu as the first boot option.

Have a read here: Download | Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntu.com/netbook/get-ubuntu/download)

[mad_jock]

I have an Aspire 1 with Fedora on it for exactly what you are using it for.

Basically I would download a few linux flavours and run them as a live OS and see which one takes your fancy.

Its quite simple to set up the linux flavours as well to play DVD images and also music if you so wish.

I have managed to get BBCi running on mine and if you want PM me and I will give you details on how to con the server into thinking you are in the UK for downloading programs to watch.

[Keef]

I'd be inclined to run your chosen Linux in parallel until you're sure it does what you want. I've played with a wide range of them, and like Fedora and Slackware - the latter appealing to my geeky side. Some of the others were too painful for words (but that was a couple of years ago, and it may all be different now).

I've tried many anti-virus packages over the years, and found the hard way that expensive does not equal good. It also takes a long time to fumigate McAfee out of your computer once it gets in.

Now, I use Avast Free, which has caught many a nasty trying to sneak in via e-mail and the web. It may not be 100% (can any of them be?) but it's not failed me yet.

More important, as mentioned above, is something that spots the stuff you have unwittingly invited in via your browser - for that NoScript and WOT (Web of Trust) are the two main ones. I would never run Firefox without both of those.

I also have MBAM (doesn't everyone?) and Adblock Plus. Both highly recommended.

[call100]

Comodo Firewall, Avast (free) AV, Malwarebytes, Add block plus, No Script, Have all kept me Virus free (5 years) without having to fork out silly money for the same thing....I surf some pretty murky places as well!!:O
One thing that defeats all AV's eventually is a lack of common sense.....:ugh:;):ok:

[Simonta]

No-one has mentioned the most important step to keep yourself safe.

Do not log on using an administrator account! Same goes for Linux or Mac logging on as root. Just don't do it.

Windows 7, keeping up to date with patches and not running as admin will protect you from most nasties without even lifting a finger. Add in call100s' recommendations, sprinkle a little common sense on top and you're safe.

Been doing this for years and don't have any of the problems this forum is so often adorned with - often I think because folks are just too lazy to log on using normal user accounts or are, sadly, ignorant of the risks.

[TerminalTrotter]

Simonta

I know I am running as administrator. I am functionally illiterate as a computer user. What do I do to not run as admin. and what effect does this have on my use? I am running XP svc. pack three. Would I still be able to download stuff? I have Ad-Aware, Zone Alarm,Spybot, Avira, and this seems to have protected me so far. I also connect via a wired router. Any advice would be appreciated, but would need to be along the lines of "press this key, then that one". any assumption of knowledge of the internal workings of computers would be wrong.
Sorry for the thread hi-jack, but this has worried me for a while.

TT

[Simonta]

Hi TT

The best piece of advice would be to upgrade to Windows 7. It is intrinsically more secure than Windows XP but that said, XP SP3 is a very good OS, in fact it's Windows 7 greatest competitor. In my opinion, the best improvement in this regards is to be able to log in as a restricted user and run anything as the administrator simply by supplying the password. In Windows XP, it's a little more complex.

I'll assume that you cannot or do not want to upgrade to Windows 7.

In general, you won't be able to install software or hardware drivers as a non admin and will not be able to run Windows update.

1. Installing software. Download it using your restricted account and save it somewhere common to everyone, for example Public Documents. Log on as the administrator account and install it. Log off and back onto your normal account (fast user switching might be helpful here).
2. Installing hardware. As above.
3. Running Windows update. You could do the same as 1 and 2 but it is possible, although quite technical, to run Windows update from your normal account as a "scheduled task", for example once a week - usually on a Wednesday so that you pick up the updates from Microsoft's "patch Tuesday". If you take the plunge, and would like details of how to do this step, let me know.

You will face problems with some software. Some developers are too lazy or not sufficiently skilled to write software that works correctly under non-admin accounts. Meaning, you might find some software that doesn't work. All of the major "usual" software like Office (Microsoft or Open Office) will work fine as will Firefox, Internet Explorer, Thunderbird, Windows Live Mail etc. My approach is that if the software doesn't work, I find an alternative. Occasionally, I email the developers and berate them but it's like peeing in my wetsuit. Gives me a warm feeling but nobody notices.

My advice is to give it a go, and stick with it. At first, it's a bit painful but like most things, it gets easier. A few minutes here and there but compared to the hours of pain some suffer (as evidenced in this very forum), it's well worth the trouble. I've done this for some people who, like trying to quit smoking, revert to the old ways because it's the easy route - until something goes wrong!

Finally, to answer your question about "how", I found this page which gives a good description, more eloquently than I could, and saves me from wearing out my fingers ;-)

How to simulate User Account Control in XP (http://www.windowssecrets.com/comp/070802)

Good luck. If you do hit any problems not covered here, do pop back and ask for help. I ran XP this way for, oh I guess about 5 or 6 years and it really pays back. A bit like Domestos, doing the 4 things above kills 99% of all known germs.

[Stu666]

I run a PC repair shop and we get virus ridden computers day-in day-out.

In my experience it does not matter what OS, antivirus or concoction of security apps you use, nothing out there offers 100% protection, and there is always something that can get past the latest updates.

The bottom line is browsing habits. If you are frequenting dodgy websites (and that means most adult sites unfortunately), or opening every email attachment under the sun and have teenagers installing every toolbar going, you WILL get a virus.

If you have a decent up-to-date security suite and browse sensibly and intelligently, you will afford yourself a level of protection.

Fellas, do yourselves a favour and stick to the good, clean adult sites like y*up*rn.com and don't click any adverts.

Ladies, ignore the vain "You have been tagged in 25 photos" emails from Faceb**k and verify this by logging in directly instead.

Yes there are tricks like not using administrator accounts, but this is not foolproof and can be a PITA.