How to Safeguard a Computer Against Spyware and Malware Let me first say I think this guide would be better suited to be stickied in the Computers and Technology board, but I've posted it here because...well all the guides are listed here Following is a guide I wrote to attempt to help others with their computer problems, and to prevent anyone from getting their computer damaged due to Malware and Spyware. I can't stress how much prevention can be had by people simply not clicking on anything they don't trust, but these will surely help keep you safe. However, you shouldn't feel invincible just because you have these. Use them to help you feel safe, but don't depend on them. Please reply with any questions you may have, or problems you've experienced, and +rep is always appreciated. Spy-Bot Search and Destroy Ok, an essential tool is going to by Spy-Bot Search and Destroy, which you can find here: Just download it and install it. I know this is going to be a pain in the ass, but after you install all of the programs I list here, restart your computer. Some of them, like Spy-Bot, won't work until you restart. For example, you can't update Spy-Bot directly after you install it. So, after you restart, open Spy-Bot up. Hit cancel to the first-time installed directions they give you. Do a search for updates, select them all by right clicking the blank white space in the list of updates, and change the server (which is the button next to Download Updates) to TU Braunschweig (Europe) It really doesn't matter which server you download from, but from my experience, that's the fastest. So anyway, continue on to Immunize on the left. It'll automatically search and tell you that you should immunize, so do it. And now, you're all done with Spy-Bot. The only thing left is for you to remember to update it yourself, and scan your computer yourself. Spy-Bot offers no real-time protection (except for the immunization), it can only detect things in a scan, so if you don't scan, it's worthless. However, the immunization is actually very helpful, and requires no outside help from you other than updating Spy-Bot. What it does is download a list of bad websites that have malware, spyware, viruses, etc., and automatically blocks them all from being accessed through Internet Explorer. That way you won't get many annoying ads, and won't accidentally download a virus. Firefox Now let's get FireFox out of the way. Even if you've already downloaded it, I'll tell you the extensions you need to keep it secure. If you haven't gotten it, download it here. The reason I tell people to download Firefox is because it is the most secure, compatible, web browser available, and it's free. I strongly suggest people make the switch from Internet Explorer to Firefox, and for all you Mac users out there, Opera is good, but Firefox is better Install it and give it a shot, paying close attention to the next section regarding extensions, and I guarantee you'll enjoy it better than anything else you've used. Download, install. Next, install the following extensions from FireFox which I will explain in the next section. Just scroll down and click Install Now, wait for the timer on the pop up menu to run down, and click install now again. Only restart Firefox after you've installed all of these extensions: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1419/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/722/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1865/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1269/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1122/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1136/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/3497/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/743/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/189/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2098/ https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/35/ Ok, so now to tell you what all those things do 1. IE Tab allows some websites to open in Internet Explorer, because some sites don't support FireFox. So the web page will open with IE, but within FireFox, so it's more secure. 2. NoScript is a nifty little thing that will disable JavaScript and other malicious coding from website. Now, if any website stops working the proper way when you install this, just right click the NoScript icon in the bottom right corner of the page and enable it for that website. That way, not every website will be able to use the scripts, and only certain ones will. It's still much safer than allowing them globally, plus anyone else using your computer who doesn't know what they're doing won't be able to use it 3. Adblock Plus blocks stupid Ads that can sometimes cause lots of problems, but are mainly just very annoying. You'll start seeing spaces for Ads that are blank because of this wonderful baby. 4. Fasterfox speeds up page loading times. It's that simple 5. TabMixPlus allows you to get more options out of your Tabs. For example, I like to have all links that open new windows open a new tab instead, and all popups to go to tabs, etc. But you can fiddle with the options all you want. 6. Adblock Filterset.G Updater is something that will automatically update Adblock's list of Ads so you're always more secure. 7. United States English Dictionary just adds new words that are accepted to FireFox's spell check. In case you weren't familiar, FireFox v. 2 has a built-in spell check, so if you're typing in a form on like a Forum, it'll underline misspelled words. This just adds more words to it. And if you're not from the U.S., search the extension page to find other dictionaries to install. 8. CustomizeGoogle is an amazing little thing that can remove the Ads from Google, add in search results from Yahoo, Ask Jeeves, etc. all into Google's window undetectably, and it alters the image searches so you can click on the image just to view the picture, rather than the website. It's an awesome tool that you'll have to work the options out yourself on. 9. GooglePreview adds a little thumbnail next to each Google search result so you can see what the web page looks like before you click it. I thought it was an awesome little tool 10. Update Notifier will add a little Spade in the upper right corner of the FireFox window. It will automatically look for updates to all of the extensions I've asked you to install, and it will turn blue if there's a new version available. Just click it and hit install to stay up to date. 11. IE View is another little tool that makes certain sites that can only load in IE, load in IE. Now restart Firefox. After this little set of extensions, just remember to go into Tools --> Options and make sure you set everything the way you want it. Also, you should go into Tools --> Ad-Ons --> Extensions and click each one, and look at the options to make sure they do what you want them to. Oh, and you'll see a little FireFox logo on the bottom right of the screen. That means the page you're viewing is being viewed by FireFox with Firefox's core engine. If you click it, it'll change to IE. Nifty huh? If a site you normally visited loaded fine before, but it doesn't work right in Firefox, just click on that symbol and it'll reload the page in IE's core engine. If that works, right click on the IE symbol and add that site to automatically load with IE. Spyware Blaster Now let's move on to SpywareBlaster: Download this little tool and install it. Open it and first update it. Then go to the protection tab on the left, and on the bottom select enable all protection. Now, this program will automatically block any website that is malicious from a pre-set list of websites. It works exactly like Spy-Bot's immunization, except it also works for FireFox. See, Spy-Bot's immunization will download a list of websites that are bad, and automatically block them in Internet Exporer, that way you can't accidentally hurt anything. Unfortunately, it doesn't work for FireFox. But SpywareBlaster does. Also, it'll block bad cookies from being created. Maybe a future version of Spy-Bot will work for FireFox, but not as of yet. And, SpywareBlaster picks up on things that Spy-Bot doesn't. So, update it and Enable All Protection. Now, you will have to keep updating this thing and enabling the unprotected items yourself, because that's the only way it works. Ad-Aware SE Personal Next comes Ad-Aware. Install Ad-Aware SE. Ad-Aware is a program you'll have to keep up to date yourself and you'll have to scan yourself periodically, but it's a very good program. Just follow the basic installation instructions and update it. When you do a scan, select complete or quick, and just ignore Negligible risks. AVG Free Edition Download it here. You can never be too safe, which is why I strongly recommend another anti-virus program if you already have one. This one's AVG. It's a free download and it works wonders. It automatically updates and provides fantastic protection. Just download it and configure it the way you want. Let it start up automatically, it won't interfere with Symantec Anti-Virus. Make sure you restart your computer. Registry Mechanic Ok, last one! It's called Registry Mechanic. This one keeps your computer running smooth by deleting erroneous registry information. Make sure this is the last thing you do to your computer, because it's the most helpful and will work better after other programs have been installed. Download the official version here: Then, for a serial and name, use: Name : Kim Weems S/N : 62EB-03BE-C359-CAFE-8BC7-C252-678D-EA8C That's to activate it. After you install it and register it, do not update it. This isn't something that needs definitions to be updated on. Select options on the left side. Make sure that "Create a System Restore Point before repair (XP)," "Scan files for suggested correction," and "Log scanning," are selected. Hit save. Select options again, and this time select the sub-category of Custom Scan and make sure all the options are selected. Hit save again. Re-enter options and select the Scanning Paths sub-category this time and make sure that C: is selected. Hit save again. Now you should be looking at 3 large buttons. Scan Your Registry, Optimize Your System, and Compact Registry. Select Scan Your Registry. Now watch the problems grow exponentially. If you have few problems, and by few I mean under 50, I'm impressed. When I did this on my computer I was in the 400 range and when I did it for a woman at work, she was in the 10,000 range. After the scan is complete select repair and then continue. Now select Optimize Your System. It's a quick fix to make opening and closing programs go smoother, as well as startup and shut-down. Finally, go to Compact Registry and select Yes. After the initial scan, select Compact Now. Make sure that nothing important is running on your computer because sometimes it will close it. And you're all done! If you have any questions at all please tell me and I'll answer them and update the guide to remove any confusion. +rep is always appreciated!
wow lots of tips +rep i would just like to say, i have been using spyware search and destroy for a while now and it works wonders for my comp
Re: hm I have ad-aware aswell. The MRU (negligable risks) are things like the "My Recent Documents" list on XP, they dont harm your computer but it doesnt hurt to get rid of them
I get all of these and Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite. The firewall is really good, except it becomes too much of a nanny at times, and you have to custom configure some details because of that. But otherwise, its really good. It also asks for your permission for certain programs to run.