2008-07-23, 08:37 PM
I see. Well, I'm not going to inquire anymore.
To keep your computer safe, there are a lot of things you can do. Here is just a small list.
1. Get a good Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware program. For Anti-Virus, I'll suggest (as I've suggested multiple times) to get either Kaspersky or NOD32. Both are fabulous, and while they might cost a little, I find that they are worth the price. For Anti-Spyware, you can just get a free program like Ad-Aware or Spybot Search and Destroy. Remember to never have more than one Anti-Virus program running at the same time.
2. Control what programs start with your computer. To do this well, you can either use the built in configuration feature (Start>Run> type 'msconfig.exe'> Go to Services), but I find that to be a bit confusing. I personally love the program WinPatrol which takes a really nice look at the programs that are currently running or the programs you have at startup. It'll alert you whenever it detects a foreign startup program, and you can choose to block it. While there is a free version, I highly recommend the paid version, because with WinPatrol Plus, you're given the option to lookup a certain program you might now know. For example, if you see someone like 'dwm.exe' running but don't know what it does, you can use WinPatrol to give you a short summary of the program. Highly recommended.
3. Fire it up. Get a good firewall. I'd recomment ZoneAlarm, but I personally dislike the program. The firewall program that I absolutely adore is Comodo Pro. It's a great firewall, and which may annoy you at the number of warning when you install something, it just shows how precise it is at detecting the slightest change in your computer. Please note that there is a serious problem with Maple Story and Comodo. If you have the Defense+ feature enabled, your computer will crash every time you run Maple Story because Gamegaurd has a weird reaction to Comodo. You'll be fine as long as you turn Defense+ off.
4. Logs, logs, logs. Whenever you computer is acting weird, one of the first things you should do is to fire up the HijackThis tool. It'll create a nice log of everything that's running on your computer. Then post the log to a HijackThis support forum and specially trained people will look over the log and tell you if there is anyhting suspicious running.
5. Encryption. This is probably the best way of keeping your data safe. Encryping your data would make it almost impossible for anyone to get its information without the right password. Encryping puts all your data into ciphers and scramble up everything in a way that would be impossible for an hacker to unscramble without the right password. For this, the only program I suggest is Truecrypt. It's free, and probably the best encryption program out there, and it even supports Full Drive Encryption (which means it'll encrypt everyone on your hard drive and decrypt things when you need them).
Armed with a good firewall, anti-virus, and Truecrypt, you're going to be totally safe. I know a few more ways, but I'm not going to bother because I know you're not that paranoid about these things. This is all you'll need. Excuse me if I don't put in the links to these programs. I'm a bit tired, and might do so later if you really want me to. Hope I helped.
To keep your computer safe, there are a lot of things you can do. Here is just a small list.
1. Get a good Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware program. For Anti-Virus, I'll suggest (as I've suggested multiple times) to get either Kaspersky or NOD32. Both are fabulous, and while they might cost a little, I find that they are worth the price. For Anti-Spyware, you can just get a free program like Ad-Aware or Spybot Search and Destroy. Remember to never have more than one Anti-Virus program running at the same time.
2. Control what programs start with your computer. To do this well, you can either use the built in configuration feature (Start>Run> type 'msconfig.exe'> Go to Services), but I find that to be a bit confusing. I personally love the program WinPatrol which takes a really nice look at the programs that are currently running or the programs you have at startup. It'll alert you whenever it detects a foreign startup program, and you can choose to block it. While there is a free version, I highly recommend the paid version, because with WinPatrol Plus, you're given the option to lookup a certain program you might now know. For example, if you see someone like 'dwm.exe' running but don't know what it does, you can use WinPatrol to give you a short summary of the program. Highly recommended.
3. Fire it up. Get a good firewall. I'd recomment ZoneAlarm, but I personally dislike the program. The firewall program that I absolutely adore is Comodo Pro. It's a great firewall, and which may annoy you at the number of warning when you install something, it just shows how precise it is at detecting the slightest change in your computer. Please note that there is a serious problem with Maple Story and Comodo. If you have the Defense+ feature enabled, your computer will crash every time you run Maple Story because Gamegaurd has a weird reaction to Comodo. You'll be fine as long as you turn Defense+ off.
4. Logs, logs, logs. Whenever you computer is acting weird, one of the first things you should do is to fire up the HijackThis tool. It'll create a nice log of everything that's running on your computer. Then post the log to a HijackThis support forum and specially trained people will look over the log and tell you if there is anyhting suspicious running.
5. Encryption. This is probably the best way of keeping your data safe. Encryping your data would make it almost impossible for anyone to get its information without the right password. Encryping puts all your data into ciphers and scramble up everything in a way that would be impossible for an hacker to unscramble without the right password. For this, the only program I suggest is Truecrypt. It's free, and probably the best encryption program out there, and it even supports Full Drive Encryption (which means it'll encrypt everyone on your hard drive and decrypt things when you need them).
Armed with a good firewall, anti-virus, and Truecrypt, you're going to be totally safe. I know a few more ways, but I'm not going to bother because I know you're not that paranoid about these things. This is all you'll need. Excuse me if I don't put in the links to these programs. I'm a bit tired, and might do so later if you really want me to. Hope I helped.