Wi fi Novice???

Because I have a vendetta against AT&T, I had to find another ISP. Finally, I found out about T-Mobile's 4G HotSpot Z64. It's been great so far, I usually buy 5-7GB per month. My O/S is XP Pro. I need to work with a lot of windows open, is this (along with pesky ads, videos on websites, etc) causing my GBs to be used up faster? What can I do to conserve my GBs? What do I need to know or do for added security? I use Avast, Malwarebytes, SuperAntiSpyware, SpybotS&D and PC Tools Firewall --- are these enough for general safety? Remember, I'm a novice. THANK YOU! Appreciate any help.

 

Unfortunately, graphics — especially videos, will eat up your data allotment. Running XP more than a year after Microsoft support for it ended could actually be dangerous despite the security software you're running. Do you have a 1GHz processor and at least 2GB of RAM? You should look into installing Vista or Win 8.1 (you'd get a free upgrade to Win 10). I run both on my 10 yr old laptop without issues. I didn't suggest Win 7 because I couldn't get Win 7 compatible device drivers for my system.

 

Here are some suggestions:

1. NetWorx. Download and install this free application from SoftPerfect. It includes a small resizable/movable graph. It shows the download & upload speeds as well as the download, upload & total amounts of data.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/networx.html

2. SoftPerfect WiFi Guard. Another free program from SoftPerfect.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/softperfect_wifi_guard.htm

3. PC Tools Firewall. All PC Tools programs were discontinued almost 2 years ago. Consider an alternative by posting in the Software Forum.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/sortname/firewalls.html

4. Content.IE5. This where all the temporary internet files are stored. Look for large files. While it might mean nothing to you (I'm a novice), you can take a screenshot and post it. We might notice something.

C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5

 

mdonah --- I like XP Pro and I have other reasons for using it. Actually, this computer came with both XP Pro and Vista, but at the time I'd heard so many terrible things about Vista, I passed. I appreciate your suggestions and help and I will keep your advice in mind, especially if we get a new computer. Thank you!

JoeRay12 --- I mostly use Palemoon and Firefox, so I will add these on ASAP! Sometimes I don't have the earphones on and I hear the commercials and other stuff and it really gets on my nerves when I'm trying to work. One day, there was so much stuff popping up and floating on the screen, I just closed it down and started over. THANK YOU, you were a big help and I appreciate it.

 

Eldon --- THANK YOU! We must have been typing at the same time. I didn't know PC Tools was out. We did not have internet access for 1 1/2 years because of problems with ATT (LOOOOOONG story ), so along with being a novice, we've been out of the loop on some things. :-o I will check those apps out ASAP and check those files. Thanks again, I really appreciate the help!

 

Just coming back to say that I did look up the files and they're all well under 300 kb. Thanks!

 

That's good news.
Do try NetWorx which I have been using for 3 years. It's invaluable. You can also set it to alert you if download an/or upload data exceed a set amount over a set period of time. Here's a snapshot of the small graph.

 

If your running XP don't use Internet Explorer. Get an updated browser with Opera, Firefox, Chrome, etc. I use Firefox at present with an extension called quickjava. It enables me to disable JavaScript, Java, Flash, Silverlight, Cookies, animated images, images, CSS, and proxy, although I don't use four of them ever. NoScript is good but a bit tedious. We use a wireless router at home with a broadband connection. No love loss for ATT here either, or Verizon for that matter. Dropped my cell phone bill from T-Mobile two years back, was paying 70 dollars a month for basic phone service, no internet, and a few local calls a day. Call to get it back down to 50, a few months later back up to 70. What with that and metadata collection by the government, and the plethora of other security problems involved with carrying a cell phone I was happy to get rid of it. I have learned to get by fine w/o a cell phone. Tried internet via satellite about 6 years ago, went over our monthly allotment in three days. Got a broadband connection after that, and at the time lived in a rural area. Hope you find a better alternative at a price you can live with in the near future.

 

Thanks Bugballou! You don't want me to get started on ATT . . . smell the smoke?

Thanks again!