Secureing Windows.

[apc]

As it is my first post on this forum so: Hello everybody :).

In the foreseeable future I'm going to install Windows XP on my box. It's been a few years since I used any Windows (don't remember what was the version of it) and really, I'm not sophisicated with this OS. And here comes my question: What should I do after installation of XP to protect it against viruses, worms and any other intruders? Do I need any patches at the beginning (before connecting it to the Internet) ? Can you recommend me any good and free software which would support security of the system ? Of course, I'm going to use Firefox and Thunderbird instead of IE and OE. Any advices are welcome.

Best regards,

apc.

[trackrat]

You can get plenty of free software to protect your computer, my favourites for firewall are Zone Alarm & Commodo.

For antivirus software (the free versions again) I use AVG or Avast.

Another program I use to keep the registry clean and get rid of the general dross is Crap cleaner.

There are various programs that check for spyware--A2 squared, AdAware, Spybot search & Destroy are a few.

All the above are free.

Before you connect to the internet I would advise you to put antivirus software on, You can download AVG or Avast to a USB pen drive to install them, the windows firewall will do to start with then you can download any of the other programs I suggested.

Some people on this forum use Nod 32 but that is not free.

[Coreper]

if you are a basic computer user, which doesnt download much and visits well known and safe sites, i recommend that you only install the free and great AVG Anti-Virus software

if you visit the internet daily and download a lot, i recommend that you take some anti-spyware software, like AdAware 2007 Free or Spybot

realtime protection is important too, programs for that are: Spyware Blaster and Spyware Guard

a great firewall is the free ZoneAlarm firewall

and ofcourse, to clean your computer use CCleaner, which has a build-in clean and registry tool