so what if im parnoid? Keep my laptop safe at school

xxsicknessxx · 07 Apr 2012

So lets say I know that security is a joke in a way. I have a basic firewall. I have a router (with built in firewall) I have anti virus.

But... it slows my computer down so .... if I want to keep my computer safe when downloading files, browsing websites, this is a laptop so it will be going places at some point.

What do you rec. website or downloads for basic security? Is

Microsoft security essentials, windows firewall, and malware enough? In cunjunction with a router at home with a firewall?

I read about sand boxing and I do have avast (but I disabled it for speed issues) so what about running commando and so forth. I mean... it seems silly to install a ton of programs if it makes it so I can't even use the internet. Also is crome a safe browser or should I be using Firefox?

My fear is simply a virus that messes up my computer, someone getting into my email account and sending virus's out.. that kind stuff...

:P hehe just curious if there is a good website to read up on this stuff for.

If what I got will keep me safe from bios passwords and highjacking software im cool. I don't got anything worth stealing I don't order online or anything... so any info be great. (computer will be used for school soon though) don't want people messing with it for sure.... but at the same time important It doesn't get bogged down

Reaper730 · 07 Apr 2012

Heres my answer..

If you are not really sure if the a website is infected or not go here http://www.virustotal.com/ Using this website, you can check and verify if the website that you are trying to visit has a malware,rootkit,trojans,adware and spywares.

For some reason you need to delete your prefetch and temp files so that it will not cosume your computers memory (Performance problems.)

Click start, type on the start search or run "%temp%" without the quotation mark
Select all then hit delete. Noticed that some you can't delete all of them. Its fine. Just press skip.

Click start, type on the start search run. then on run type "prefetch" without the quotation mark
Select all then hit delete.

kegobeer · 07 Apr 2012

If you are going to use your computer in a public location, just have a good anti-virus application (MSE is my personal choice) and when you connect to the wifi network, choose "public". By default, public turns off all file sharing, so you don't have to worry about people getting access to your shared files. Then, stay away from online banking, online bill pay, etc - there's no need to do that while you are out and about, so don't take the chance of someone looking over your shoulder and seeing what you type. IMHO, you have a larger chance of being social engineered for your passwords than you do getting packet-sniffed and keylogged.

If you visit questionable sites (warez/pron/etc), plan on getting a virus. It's just the way of the world. Virus scan everything you download, don't click on attachments, and don't do anything blatantly stupid and you should be ok.

wanchoo · 08 Apr 2012

I am not quite clear what is causing you all the stress but using either MSE with MalwareBytes or Avast free with MalwareBytes should give you adequate protection. Avast free has a very small footprint and probably is not the cause of your poor Internet experience.

Chrome and Firefox are both alright though personally I am more comfortable with Chrome.

But the best way to protect yourself fully would be to image your C (System Volume) Drive and in case you ever get infected then restore the image. I use Acronis to do the imaging but Macrium Free is also very good and you can read all about imaging with Macrium at Image your system with free Macrium or in this Forums' Tutorials.