Easy System Security repair and maintainenance guides?

[JRockZ]

Can anyone link me to a "Basic user friendly" security tutorial? I always have friends telling me my pc is slow or hey why do I have pop ups or search engine changes ect,,,,
These people are basic users with not much computer knowledge that I know if I could explain to them a few tricks they could easily remain safe,,,, id rather not be the one to create such a tutorial though as im sure its been done and im just not finding or trusting anything,,, hard to tell what's for real these days and what's a trick to get you to d/l and install some kind of rogue ware.

Also I have a roommate that completely ruined her "fresh install" I did within a month,,,, now shes complaining again and its still only been a month or so,,, I gave her malware bytes, Trojan remover, Norton ect,,, all known good tools but still not keeping her protected so what can I do or show her to help alleviate the situation?

I remember some good tutorials and programs for XP back in the day but Im not sure I've ever seen or found anything all in one tutorial worthy for/with win 7.

Thanks guys!

 

[richc46]

Happy New Year
I am not one of the security experts, so I will leave that part of your question to them as far as maintenance, regardless of other advice and instructions, if you follow these guidelines you will not have any problems and just happy surfin.

As soon as you get home with your computer:

Dont install the antivirus software that pops up with instuctions to install.
Should be done at the end and this software, although probably free for a while,
will cost money down the road and is probably not the best.

Windows updates should be done immediately as you are vulnerable to problems
until updated; be sure to include office updates.

Adobe reader should be updated, the most recent version is a sandbox version which
reduces virus vulnerablity to your PDF files.

This is also the opportunity to download Adobe Flash Player

Download an alertative browser; ie FF or Chrome etc. In the event of problems with IE.

Remove any unwanted program bloat. They will slow up your computer and probably
cost money in the future.

Download your antivirus; Microsoft Security Essentials is suggested.

Make your recovery disc.

Now enjoy the internet.

To maintain your computer

10 Tips on How to Properly Maintain Your Computer
ignore, reg cleaners.

Steps that I did not notice on the guide include:

Running a scan disc before doing a defrag

Using Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes.

Making System Restore points, at least once a week

Makaing a system Image once a month (varies by user)

Not relying on your A/V common sense, should prevail. You know of many sites can cause a problem.

Do not use any reg cleaning or optimizing software.

Download and use Ccleaner about once every two months. Untick any registry entries.
http://www.piriform.com/

Download and use PSI, to to be sure that all of your software is up to date
http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

If you follow these instructions, you will be trouble free for a long time to come.

Be sure to back up your hard drive about once a month (varies by user) and to keeep system restore points up to date.

Optimize Windows 7

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/w...er-performance

 

[DavidE]

Nice help Rich.

One thing I do different is not use Adobe Reader.
I use Foxit Reader and Nitro PDF.
I think they have more features and are more secure, but that's just my opinion.

With Home-Builds Adobe Reader is not installed for me, but I think it usually is for "OEM Pre-Built" PCs.
For some folks I uninstall pre-installed Adobe Reader and show them Foxit, Nitro, etc.
Depends on the user, and their ability to learn and use a different PDF program.

 

[JRockZ]

Thanks RichC,,,, a lot more there than I was expecting, but still isn't what I was looking for as these are not "new" computers and the 10 Tips on How to Properly Maintain Your Computer pretty much pertains to XP more so than win7 but is still quite useful,,, I guess from all that I can create something ez for my friends to follow along.
I was thinking more along the lines of running all windows updates, Live update or A/V definitions updates, Run ADWcleaner, junkware removal tool,,,,, how to reset IE and msconfig>services tab>Hide all Microsoft services then remove un-needs services and start up programs, then CCleaner and run malware bytes and so on....
Basically something that will teach the end user easily how to maintain their PC with updates and definitions, clean out all the crap and reset things back to defaults to make the PC like it was when it was new again,,,,, does that make sense? lol

 

[indianacarnie]

I too have a friend like this JRockZ. Every couple of months he brings me his machine and says "It don't work again". I've tried and tried to get him to do some basic maintenance on his machine but what I hear from him is " Why? I've got you to fix it for me". Some of the older members here will probably remember me beefing about this on a thread awhile back. I finally had to tell him I wouldn't do it anymore unless he at least TRIED some of my suggestions. He clicks on everything thats clickable and has never heard of watching for unwanted things. As long as his facebook and porn is available to him hes happy. Once when I didn't get right to it ,it caused some animosity for a bit. BUT, it got him to run a few of the safety net programs that I had installed for him.

I would make the basic programs available to your friend : Ccleaner, Malwarebytes, Superantispyware, and a good A/V program and teach your friend how to run them. Put her on a schedule to run them once a week and let her know that your time is valuable too.That you can't do this forever. The next time she brings it to you, if whatever is wrong could have been prevented or fixed herself with the tools provided then I would suggest that you be extremely busy and may not be able to get to it right away. Amazing how something like that motivates people to try. Most of the "other" things needed can be scheduled through Windows itself i.e. defragging. With those things in place it SHOULD keep her machine running fairly well for a long time. At little education can go a long way.

 

[JRockZ]

Thank ya Indiana!! well said and I agree! I charge from now on helps! better than just a blow off cuz im busy. Pretty sure I read your post too hahaha!

Im still talking about something ez for anyone though,, like my 75yr old mom that only uses her pc for banking and facebooking and playing silly flash games! Yikes!

 

[Layback Bear]

Because your mom does banking with her computer, some how, some way she must understand that security is a absolute must with her computer.
Use the Security section of this forum to show her some of the horror stories when it come to crooks hacking computers and stealing.

Any computer is no longer a toy when you do your banking or any other finanical transaction using it.

 

[DavidE]

What I TRY to do for folks I help is create a System Backup Image with a "clean system".
If I see someone with a "malware infected" PC, I help restore the image or do a clean install.
When they lose all the "Programs and Tweaks" since the last image, hopefully they start to learn.
I mostly help people remotely, so hands on is usually not an option for me.

Offline Backup Images are the best thing since sliced bread imho

 

[HAVOC]

Also I have a roommate that completely ruined her "fresh install" I did within a month,,,, now shes complaining again and its still only been a month or so,,, I gave her malware bytes, Trojan remover, Norton ect,,, all known good tools but still not keeping her protected so what can I do or show her to help alleviate the situation?

You can install all the tools in the world but if the user doesn't use them they are just taking up space on the HDD. I recently looked at a friends computer that was slow and none of the programs that I installed were ever used or updated.

If they feel that it's too technical to use the programs, you should make a system image after installing Windows and all programs they will need. After that, tell them to backup often, preferably to a thumb drive.

You can also create a small text file and keep it on their desktop walking them through the steps to use a program like Malwarebytes.

 

[Callender]

Windows 7 tips

Well oth1er than the numerous tutorials here on SevenForums you could try GEGeek (Geeks Toolbox link in my signature) then click on "Windows 7" in the left pane for lots of tips. Also see "Cheat Sheets"

 

[jonnyhillow]

Because your mom does banking with her computer, some how, some way she must understand that security is a absolute must with her computer.
Use the Security section of this forum to show her some of the horror stories when it come to crooks hacking computers and stealing.

Any computer is no longer a toy when you do your banking or any other finanical transaction using it.

Where are these located , are there any that are really bad because i need to scare my parents and show them what could happen when they neglect security protocols.

Thanks my friend.

 

[richc46]

The net does have dangers, but with a good anti virus, malwarebytes and common snese, you will be ok. Listen, download Avast anti virus, Malwarebytes. Show the user how to make scans (some can be made on a pre set schedule) and just behave yourself by going to normally safe sites.. Download WOT (Web of Trust), it shows if a site is safe. That is all you need. Enjoy the net.
Horror stories are from those that do not follow simple rules.
In addition, download the free Macrium Reflect, once month make an image of your hard drive. If there are any major problems or fear of a hack, just install the image.

Everyone are the Forum wish you a Happy New Year

 

[jonnyhillow]

The net does have dangers, but with a good anti virus, malwarebytes and common snese, you will be ok. Listen, download Avast anti virus, Malwarebytes. Show the user how to make scans (some can be made on a pre set schedule) and just behave yourself by going to normally safe sites.. Download WOT (Web of Trust), it shows if a site is safe. That is all you need. Enjoy the net.
Horror stories are from those that do not follow simple rules.
In addition, download the free Macrium Reflect, once month make an image of your hard drive. If there are any major problems or fear of a hack, just install the image.

Everyone are the Forum wish you a Happy New Year

Imo, it takes a lot more than common sense these days to stay safe , you have to surf the net and assume everything's dangerous to be OK these days .

Many people need to learn the hard way of and often get repeatedly infected to finally get it , there is just way too much sophisticated malware out there.

My advice , don't download things unless your absolutely certain they are safe , this means scanning beforehand with things like Virustotal .

Use sandboxing when surfing the net , that prevents a lot of infections.

Stay the hell away from porn sites and file sharing sites , they are malware infested .

 

[HAVOC]

If she gets an email from any bank, tell her to delete it. If it's from her own bank, tell her to delete it and go to the branch herself with any questions.

I received an email from my bank and I went to the bank. Turns out it was a phishing attempt.