Ultimate guide

[LinkTheGameFreak]

I know there is a list of anti stuff stickied at the top of the tech annex but I think this goes a step further - tips from my buddy Falken :)

ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FREE PROTECTON OF YOUR COMP

Step 1: The very first thing to be done when (Or if you haven't) you have formatted your PC, is, before you do anything else, browse any other sites or even scratch your balls, go to www.getfirefox.com. Get Firefox. (Clue is in the name)
Step 2: No, I don't care if you're one of those annoying people who cannot accept Firefox is BETTER than IE. Look through www.stopie.com to be told why with cold hard computer knowledge facts. Get it anyway and get used to it. Put a new skin on it or three. Rotate them around a little maybe. But just remember that IE has horrible security, no free popup blocker (Without installing some damned toolbar that clutters up your screen), spyware friendly problems aplenty etc etc. Also, refer to the following links for some tips to increase browsing speed and improve the inbuilt popup blocker.
http://www.totalidea.com/freestuff4.htm - Speed increase. A simple to use program called firetune. Automatically optimizes, and can easily create backups if you notice anything wrong.
http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/007860.html - Improved popup blocking. (Popups must die! extension)
As for adverts in the pages themselves (Annoying flashy banners etc), download the Adblock extension. It enables you to block adverts (Including Flash and iFrames) completely from webpages (I.E, they may as well have never existed.) Also download the filterset.G updater, to make it even easier to avoid adverts.

Step 3: Using ONLY trusted sites (I.e. Google it for the homepage (Do NOT go anywhere except the homepage), search download.com for it, etc.), download and install the following programs. You can also go to the homepage through clicking the name of each program.
#1: AVAST! Antivirus software (http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html) (Better than AVG, and is completely free for non-commercial use. REGISTER IT. It's free and it gets you updates for a whole year. And you can just renew it at the end of that time anyway. Comes with automatic real time protection (P2P shield, web shield etc.)
#2: Spybot Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html) (Don't bullshit me on this, it is a very good program. I KNOW what the fuck I am talking about.)
#3: Lavasoft Ad-aware SE Personal edition (http://www.lavasoft.de/) (Picks up some things Spybot doesn't, and vice versa, due to running in different ways.)
#4: Spywareblaster (http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html) (Run it constantly and update it regularly)
#5: CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com) Erases temporary files. Very useful for keeping your disc from being cluttered. Also helps with a myriad of other things, indirectly.
#6: Zonealarm free firewall. (http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=GB&lang=en) (Free firewall. Very very helpful. Ignore the spyware scanner on the link page and just download the program. If you use bittorrent, remember to set the firewall to medium level on the internet zone, otherwise the security will give you a NAT problem and you won't be able to torrent anything)
#7: Get Microsoft antispyware. Can be found on the microsoft site, or for those who don't have legal copies of Windows, use www.Filemirrors.com to search for 'Contains' 'Antispyware', and download the microsoft intaller from there.

Step 4: Get into the habit of scanning ALL downloaded files with Avast! before you open them. Right clicking should bring up a context menu. With Avast! intalled there will be an option to do so.

Step 5: Enable Spyware blaster and ZoneAlarm permanently. Also enable the Avast! protection. (It has a conflict with ZoneAlarm firewall and will tell you so. Just click yes, ZoneAlarm is more suited for the task it refers to anyway.)

Step 6: Scan your computer with ALL applicable programs every two weeks, regardless of your computers apparent health. Often things only end up problematic due to badly written spyware code interfering with other badly written spyware code.



I personally endorse each and every last piece of this advice. I have used it all myself. Below is a list of software which can be bought legally (Or cracked, for the pirates among us) to aid with a myriad of things, not just spyware related but also to do with such things as registry cleaning, program intergrity checks etc.



Falkens list of commercial softwares to improve and help maintain your PC.

All the programs below are commercial, and must be paid for, if you choose to crack or otherwise pirate any software in this list, I accept no responsibility. With the legal stuff over with, I present the list!
#1 - Tuneuputilities - This is a program similar in function to Norton utilities, with several differences, the most notable of which being, it's actually good. It's more reliable than norton, performs most tasks faster and more efficiently than Norton, and comes with several features norton does not. The only thing it doesn't have is a disk defrag tool, instead opting only to defrag the registry.
#2 - Norton utilities - An honorable mention to Norton for having the best Disk defrag program I've found. Everything else is done better elsewhere however.
This list is a work in progress, it currently contains the two best programs I know of. I don't plan to update it unless I find programs that can outdo a function contained in the above.




Moving on, here is a list of useful firefox extensions. I'll leave themes at your disgression, But I personally reccomend silver skin.
Useful Firefox Extensions

AdBlock (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=10) - Self explanatory. Blocks Ads. (NOT a popup blocker, popups must die!, listed above is a popup blocker.)
AdBlock Filterset.G updater (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=1136) - A regularly updated (Automatically once the plugin is installed) list of Adblock filters, that pre-emptively blocks ads without you having to manually block them. Very useful.
FoxyTunes (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=219) - Allows you to control media players from within the browser, very useful if you don't like clicking outside the window. Also renders the WMP toolbar useless, since it hides the entire program from the taskbar, rather than providing a space consuming toolbar. (You must have the toolbar disabled for this to happen, to do this, right click your taskbar at an ampty point, go to toolbars, and deselect the WMP bar.)
StumbleBar (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=138) - Adds an optional toolbar in firefox that, once set up, can be clicked and will send you to a random site, according to your interests. Toolbar can be turned off and on with CTRL + F9.


Misc. Useful programs for a variety of things.
This is merely another list of programs, not related to firefox or computer protection, but also superior replacements to a number of programs, or just some useful little things.

The Core Media Player (http://www.corecoded.com) - A free media player that will play any filetype known to man, including DivX video. Uses less memory than Windows Media Player AND Winamp, and has several other useful features. Highly Reccomended. Also plays ogg vorbis files.
UTorrent (http://www.utorrent.com) - This is a free bittorrent client with just as much functionality as Azureus and similar, but with a far lower system load. EG, Azureus uses 50 meg of RAM on my setup and slowed a number of things down. THis in comparison uses only 6 megs with no side effects on system performance.
Flashget (http://www.amazesoft.com/) A download manager and accellerator. Works very well with large files. TO use this program with firefox you should download and configure the Flashgot (https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/moreinfo.php?id=220) plugin to use it. You can still download files normally if you want.



Ladies and gentlemen, this has been Falken, updating your personal guide to having a bulletproof computer system, with some cool little tweaks, add-ons and programs to ensure you get the most out of your computer, at the least risk. Tune in next time for more update madness!

[xodkrm]

/cheer
/dance
/train

[IceFlare]

pretty nice guide except I would just say lose IE and choose anything but IE eg opera. Also im not sure how reliable utorrent is

[Neo]

Uhm no offense, but first off:

IE for XP is actually pretty secure, has its own pop up blocker and works fine. I don't use it myself, but thought I would mention that.

Second:

Zonealarm IS BULLSHIT. NEVER USE IT.

ZA used to be the best free firewall -- NOT ANYMORE.

Get Kerio's Firewall (Download from here (http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Kerio-Download.cfm) Its much better.

Media Player Classic (Klite Codec Pack) Clicky (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Codec_Pack.htm)

MPC is the best A/V player I have ever used, though I still use Winamp for audio. MPC will play anything from Quicktime files, to Real files, even Shockwave and Flash stuff. Plays OGG Vorbis audio (whether its a music file, or Ogg'd video file). -- It also uses very little memory and it has very intuitive controls. IE: Double Click the video and it goes fullscreen, click once, pause it, etc...

The Firefox Extensions mentioned are alright, adblock is good as is the filterset, but the Foxytunes is kind of worthless (seriously, just have winamp sit ontop of everything lol...)

I find that these are really useful to;

Dictionary Search (Select -> Right-Click search for the meaning of words... I use it sometimes)
Linkification (Turns plain text addresses into full urls so no need to copy and paste)
PDF Download (Whenever you click on a PDF file it will give you choices to Open in a new Tab, Open in a new Window, or save it -- this is really useful since PDFs can slow you down a bit when opening)
FireFTP is firefox's ftp proggy... I dont use it myself, but have it installed. Its somewhat useful if you dont have a good ftper.

I also use an extension called "Web Developer" it allows you full control -- disable cache, disable cookies, etc... Has options for images, css, etc... Its really powerful.

Almost anything of nortons is bloatware, upto and including Norton Utilities (use at your own risk).

I still prefer AVG. Its more basic. And it updates itself without the need for me do anything. And its caught anything thats a problem.

Good note about microsoft's antispyware though, Totally forgot about that filemirror place.

Next time I torrent some stuff, Ill use uTorrent and see how it goes.

Azureus does bug me because its java based and uses a ton of resources, but it is pretty damned good.

This person seems mostly like hes just pushing his own favorites on you. The fact that he says Zonealarm is a good firewall pretty much negates everything else =P

I am thinking about trying to put together a list of my own like this. Ill try to work on it a little later, and i think I will host all the files myself (when I can, baring stuff like AVG/Kerio where they ask for an email address -- =P)

-Neo

[CODEZERO]

i use bitcomet if you need another one for torrents click below and nice list
http://www.bitcomet.com/

[IceFlare]

i personally think zone alarm is really good. it works wonders especially when i have a special copy of ZA security suite =D. im not sure how good the freeware one is though

[TimP]

IE for XP is actually pretty secure, has its own pop up blocker and works fine. I don't use it myself, but thought I would mention that.
Agreed. I've used IE on XP for over three years and have not had a problem. StopIE.com is mostly propaganda with faulty arguments like "it feels faster" or "it feels more intuitive".

Second:
Zonealarm IS BULLSHIT. NEVER USE IT.

I definitely second this. I haven't used what Neo suggested, but the Windows Firewall in SP2 is more than adequate, too.

I also want to put in a good word about VLC media player (http://www.videolan.org/vlc/). It'll play just about anything (including Quicktime) without having to get any additional codecs. It's also a great DVD player. It's very portable, too. It can be run off a CD or a USB flash drive.

[Neo]

VLC seems laggy though, and its not very intuitive.

Something else;; Software firewalls are usually used more to stop outgoing stuff then stopping incoming (especially if your behind a Router/hardware based firewall). To rely solely on the Windows Firewall is alright, but you will be hurting when you run into something that gets through it youll be hurting.

Besides its far to easy for programs to disable the windows firewall.

-Neo

[TimP]

Besides its far to easy for programs to disable the windows firewall.

That's an issue with all software firewalls.

[IceFlare]

ZA prompts you when it realizes its getting commands to be disabled

[Neo]

ZA prompts you when it realizes its getting commands to be disabled
So does Kerio.

Kerio also allows far more control over things then ZA does.

Windows Firewall is fine and all for those of us who are tech savvy and stuff, but for the average person, its better for them to use something like Kerio to help protect them.

EDIT: Though I will admit that Windows Firewall + Micro's AntiSpyware is a great team. While the firewall maybe a tad weak, MAS makes up for it but being hard on suspicious stuff, while allowing legit stuff through without screaming... Instead of other programs who ask "Is Microsoft Office ok to change?" or whatever.

-Neo

[Basan]

I saw the AdBlock Filterset.G updater extension and am using/testing it. It looks rather useful and although I've already got an extensive AdBlock list (that Feng' showed around here in past times) it still added a few things in my last update for it (read, this morning). :)

Still, I'm just a tad confused since it's looks are quite similar to AdBlock itself making me wonder about the needless duplicating capabillities over at my 'extension central' when concerning these two. :o

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And since this is a suggestion thread, may I also advise the Secret Maker (http://www.secretmaker.com/) multi-task app? It covers a lot of stuff, including some nifty cleaning sub-apps for Windows OS's and a spam mail checker (that after the training process is quite good). For those renitent that still are using IE is a must, 'cause it cleans it like a mop after each browsing (if ya want, even customizing which cookies to keep during the Net surf process).