How to secure your Windows System

[gxsaurav]

We all hear rants & raves about Windows being insecure, prone to virii & what not, but we don’t even know what we need to secure Windows OS. Most of the people just install anti-virus software either free or paid & think that is all that they will need but this is not the case. A typical secure machine needs

1) Anti-Virus Software installed but not necessarily running.
2) Firewall software
3) Ad & Malware remover
4) Common sense

When it comes to anti-virus, I suggest using any of the free antiviruses available on the net like Avast Antivirus or AVG antivirus. Just install them & disable them as you don’t need them running all the time. Virus comes to a computer either by internet or removable media such as Pen drives or CD/DVD etc. You can very well keep the antivirus disabled along with autorun disabled by which when you plug in a removable media you can first scan it for virus & then use it.

When it comes to a firewall, the inbuilt firewall in Windows Vista is good enough for home usage, however if you still need more control over the firewall then you can either open the firewall setting in Vista & edit as required or use a very good & free firewall solution, Comodo firewall.

For blocking internet Ads, I recommend AdBrick for IE 7 with IE 7 Pro or Ad Muncher. If you use these then you will save yourself from 98% intrusions out there which usually come in the form of malicious links or ads. Windows defender is already there in Windows Vista

Last but not least is common sense, which includes…

1) Don’t open links from unknown senders
2) Don’t download from un-trusted sources.
3) Update Windows regularly.

In most cases using Comodo firewall & Ad muncher will save you from almost any hassle. You can keep the antivirus solution disable & use it only when using some removable drive or un-trusted download.

[ravi_9793]

I will say ..a very effective ,easy ,clean, small tutorial. Covers all basic things you need in windows OS for security purpose.