Advice, please? :)

Hi all, after many nightmatish crashes the past few years, in which I lost a ton of stuff, I'm on a clean slate with a brand new computer. It's a Dell XPS - 420 with Windows Vista (It was purchased in 2008 but just set up). In any event, I want to make sure I have all the proper safety measures and protection on my computer. I've already installed AVG anti-virus - free, malwarebytes - free and a free version of CCleaner.

My question is, what else do you recommend? One quandary is..should I deactivate the Vista firewall and download a better free firewall? I definitely don't want to bloat up my system with too many programs running, but want to remain safe.

Any advice and recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hi

You can leave Vista's built-in firewall enabled, but I would also recommend adding Comodo Personal Firewall (free).

Personally, I prefer Comodo's Internet Security free version (all in one antivirus, antispyware, and firewall) instead of running separate programs. It's very easy to setup and use, and doesn't bloat up your system at all.

Either way, if you decide to go with Comodo (either just that firewall, or their all in one), figure out if your Vista is 32 bit or 64 bit (Start menu, right click Computer and select Properties... that information will be seen in that screen), and install the appropriate version, as they have 32 bit and 64 bit versions available. Also, if you opt to use their all in one, be sure to uninstall AVG and disable Malwarebyte's real time protection before installing Comodo's all in one.

 

SuperAntiSpyware and SpywareBlaster, along with WinPatrol goes onto all my machines.

 

Oh, wow..decisions, decisions. lol Keep them coming!

 

Hello,
The biggest recommendation I can give is not to surf around the internet in an admin account. Setup a limited user account and use that when surfing. If you really want to use an admin account when surfing than do it in a sandbox like Sandboxie. Even if UAC in Vista seems like a pain, do not disable it.

 

I've NEVER had an issue or conflict with Comodo's firewall and Windows' firewall running at the same time.

 

@ Lisa171:

One other thing you might consider is a good drive imaging program. Once you set up your machine the way you want it, you can then create an image of the hard drive and store the image in case of any future emergencies.

I know that this suggestion is outside of the realm of security, but we all know that, no matter how hard we try to prevent infections, they are always out there waiting. A pristine backup on which to fall back sure does bring peace of mind.

 

Caliban,

My friend suggested I let him put backup drive in and install acronis cloning..or something like that. Ever hear of it? If so, is it good?

 

Acronis makes very good backup software - if you perform a search through this and other forums, you'll find that the company is highly recommended.

The backup drive and image sounds like a good plan.

 

Re: Advice, please? Backup Software

I can agree Acronis is an excellent program. I also would recommend a product called "Macrium Reflect". It is available in a free version, and a trial (30 days I think) of their Full Version product. It is a very simple, flexible and fast backup, imaging program that like other such programs will make a "bootable CD" to use for recovery frm worse case crashes and a searchable "HTML" index so that you can find and recovery individual files, folders or the whole image. The full version has too many features to list here. You really can't go wrong with either product, it just boils down to "personal" comfort level. Which program seems easiest and most user-friendly to you.

 

On my system, there is.

A few times (rare, but it's happened, mostly with their 64 bit beta), Comodo has crashed on me. At least the Windows firewall protects while I restart Comodo. Also, when installing Comodo program updates. It just gives me an extra ounce of security.

I also use the Malware forum's Read and Run Me First thread once in awhile, even though Comodo regularly scans my computer.

I suppose I'm a stickler for PC security.

Also notice I didn't "recommend" leaving Windows firewall on, just stated that it wouldn't hurt. Anyway, for most novice users, it's easier just to leave it on versus going into CP and dealing with disabling it.

 

I second the Acronis recommendation. Whatever security you put in place it is no guarantee your system will not become infected at some point. But in addition to enabling you to completely eradicate any infections Acronis also allows you to recover your system even if your hard drive dies. However for Acronis-style images really to be of much use you need to keep taking them, at least once a month, and just keep the last two. Bringing old images up to date is nearly as much trouble as reinstalling from scratch.

 

Earthling - I figured I'd do it once a day to make sure it's always up to date

 

Weekly, or whenever you install an application, is sufficient. It's also a good idea to keep an external drive connected where you store your personal data (pictures, videos, documents, etc.). I also personally email myself important documents (I use Gmail, which has several GB of online storage) so permanent loss is minimized.

 

Well..I would email myself the photos, except I take thousands of them for my food blog. I just lost every single one a few days ago Hoping a system recovery service can recover all or some.

 

I doubt you will want to image your whole system once a day, but you can also use Acronis to backup your personal stuff to a schedule, so that done once a day makes more sense. However for data backup there are simpler solutions than Acronis or its lookalikes (Easeus etc), and once you are sorted with Acronis you might want to look further at that.

 

Exactly why I use an external drive to keep all of my personal data on! In the event I need to reinstall everything, I can simply unplug the external and once everything is reinstalled, plug it back in and everything's back. Of course, externals are vulnerable to infections as well.

Disabling Autoplay is another great thing to do to minimize infections caused from plugging in infected thumbdrives, etc.

 

My personal experience is that the Comodo firewall turns Windows firewall OFF during installation.
Two firewalls (software types) at the same time can cause conflicts and headaches.

 

You might also think about partitioning your main drive and moving all the special folders - Documents, Pictures, Music etc off the system partition. It keeps the size of your system images down and also means that restoring an image won't overwrite all your personal files with an outdated set.

 

I have Comodo 64 bit installed on Windows 7, and it left the Windows firewall alone.

Yes, some software firewalls do conflict with Windows' firewall. However, I haven't had that issue with Comodo.

To Lisa:

Not sure why I didn't think of this in the first place, but using a router is also a very good practice, as routers have a "hardware" firewall built in (doesn't replace software firewalls though!).