sunspot said:
I've heard a couple of times to disable system restore because :thinking: , I forgot
. Something to do with a virus coming back because the system restored?
. Help me out here
Hi sunspot!
You are correct. If you were to have a virus (and not know about it), then at some point in the future find out is specifically when the problem with system restore happens. If your system restore point is before the virus, your ok. If after, then you've just restored the system with the virus. Due to the fact that viruses of today's time have quite different payloads (damages) then you could actually double the effects with system restore (or simply dodge the bullet all together).
Windows Update is a must for windows based systems, patching is your friend and can help mitigate the risks of OS specific vulnerabilities. Windows SP2 firewall is a must if you do not have another software firewall (zonealarm, mcaffee, symantec, etc) or a hardware based firewall (router/firewall, watchdog, checkpoint, etc). Arguably it is a must even if you have a hardware based firewall. Antivirus, Antispyware, and the like are also a must. Computer Associates etrust antivirus is a good low-overhead antivirus (I can't remember if it is free). AVG and ClamWin AV are free open source antivirus software.
Be very careful if you don't have the SP2 on your box yet, there are many examples of PC becoming compromised while downloading the patches required to make them secure (especially in new PCs). Not trying to scare you, just to inform you
Once you get your system, patched, AV installed, scanned for viruses (with latest virus signatures)... Make a backup or document the steps you took to get it this way. Save (if you can) all the downloaded patches and software to CD or DVD for safe keeping. This way if you need to trash and burn, you have the steps at hand and it will take you less time (the next time).
As far as other software.... I use the following on my home PCs (Does not touch my work environment). Mine is a bit different, because I have a double and a triple boot PCs (Windows XP and Linux). I try to use the same software on both
.
My Windows side has:
Browser: Firefox
Mail: Thunderbird
Productivity: OpenOffice
Antivirus: ClamWinAV
Firewall: SP2 w/ tweaked IPSEC policy.
Compression: 7-Zip.
Spyware: Spybot S&D
Password Management: Keepass and PasswordSafe
Website Design: NVU
I have quite a few others but this will be a good start (be forewarned, if downloading these... they can be quite big and thus take a severe amount of time to download if on dialup). As always, this is just my choice of software. There are many, many more that are competitive tangents of the above... I just choose the best for my needs.
PS. Believe it or not, if you get good and numb to formating and rebuilding your PC then you'll be stronger in the times to come, because you know what you have to do.
I hope this helps. Good luck in the rebuild.
Sincerely,
Shaman