Public Forums > Feedback & Discussion
General smack talk
gb_remake:
Windows users; how do you keep your system malware free? I have to reinstall for the second time within 6 months because I was hit by a worm (Ukash). It's easy to zero the partition and reinstall, but I'd like to save the effort in the future. I am already using the auto-update stuff, the firewall AND a cloud-based antivirus app and use an auto-updated Firefox for browsing. I do not use any filesharing or cracking related shit. And this stuff STILL gets through.
I must have gotten this latest pest by web browsing (drive-by infection), since this XP system is only ever used for gaming and the occasional web surfing. And I'm tempted to restrict that to "DVD-installed games only".
Grrr.
mh:
Firefox with adblock plus, automatic updates, firewall, Microsoft Security Essentials, and a whole heap of not installing crap freeware. I'm on Windows 7 though so I'd guess the additional security and protection in that OS is also helping.
ijed:
Yeah, 7 helps. I'd recommend BitDefender as well - never had anything get through it.
Be careful of animated gifs, and don't install free stuff without virus checking it - I know that sounds obvious, but I remember when everyone was telling me to check out that DM game we took a few ideas from (can't remember the name) and when I checked it it turned out to have a whole suite of adware bundled inside... no thanks.
RickyT23:
What MH said. Microsoft Security Essentials and updates. I'm using Chrome though. Which is great! When it's not occasionally freezing. Restarting Chrome fixes that though. But yeah - Firefox at work always seemed fine. I just prefer the chrome UI.
Spiney:
Using Windows7 with one 'Admin' account which I rarely use, and one regular account with UAC set to highest security level.
This means every time you install something, or move files in system directories, UAC will lock up your system and ask for your Admin password.
A lot of people find that annoying and disable it, but that's really the single biggest security risk you can take.
If you use other OS such as OSX or Linux this is the usual way of doing things.
I also run startup monitor.
http://www.mlin.net/StartupMonitor.shtml
I browse using Chrome and Adblock, and I use MS security essentials which meshes nicely and is unobtrusive.
I do not use MSN, it attracts all kinds of crap, you can use an alternative such as Pidgin if you want to avoid using it.
I also remove useless software from time to time, rather than letting it bloat up.
I'm pretty happy with Win7, way more secure than XP, in my experience.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version