How to protect a computer for free

Easy and Quick guide to protect your computer
If you are running Windows you need to protect your computer from the nastiness of the web. Every program I list here are free and I use personally on my Windows Vista computer and will work on XP.

First thing you should do is make sure your Window’s firewall is turned on. On XP Service pack 2, and Vista the firewall is turned on by default. To manually check on Vista go to Start (Windows logo) >Control Panel > Security > Firewall. On Xp click Start > Control Panel > Security Center. You can also download a pretty decent firewall called Zone Alarm. But if you really want the ultimate firewall protection get yourself a router. Router’s are mainly used for sharing internet connection but can also used as a hardware firewall. Although routers are not free they are very inexpensive.

Get the latest Windows update, make sure you have automatic updates turned on to get the newest patches from Microsoft. In Xp go to Start>Control Panel >Security Center. In Vista go to Start > Control Panel > Security > Windows Update > Turning on Windows update on and off.

Next thing you will need is virus protection. I use and like AVG. Avast and AntiVir are also high rated anti-virus program. It is important that you only use one antivirus program using more than one can cause conflicts. You shouldn’t have to worry about updating these programs they usually automatically update themselves.

Now we need some spyware/adware protection here is a list of anti-spyware programs I use:

Windows Defender this comes with Vista, Xp users need to download it from Microsoft.
Ad-Aware
SUPERAntiSpyware
Spybot
I would run everyone of these anti-spyware programs (one at a time) once a week. Remeber to update them every time you use it.

Ok, one last thing and most important thing we need to do to protect the computer from viruses and malware is change our online behavior.

Do not download attachments in emails
Do not click on links in email
Do not run cracked or pirated software
Do not or just be very careful when downloading music from file sharing sites
Stay away form porn sites
Get the latest patches and updates
I hope this guide will be helpful and if I forgot something here please email me and I will add it in. This is by no means the ultimate setup but it’s kept my computer pretty locked down and all for free, yay.