What additional measures do you take?

I use Avast antivirus, I have the Windows firewall on, and I use spybot and have immunized all of my files. Aside from being stupid on the internet what other precautions do you recommend I take or programs would you recommend me to use that you might as well?

Thanks!

 

I just use Microsoft Security Essentials... in the past I used Kaspersky - that's pretty much enough unless you do something stupid.

Ah yes, keep UAC on (on the highest setting in Win7)

 

Wow, Microsoft Security Essentials is a really nice program, I just dumped the other programs I have in lue of that and everything seems to be going well. Microsoft has made a really nice effective all in one program it seems.

 

I recommend:
- Keeping your OS and all your software up-to-date -- especially browsers andn plugins and file viewers launched by the browser.
- Avoiding torrents and similar file-sharing networks.
- Downloading stuff only from known, trusted sites.
- Keeping UAC on -- and only approving its prompts when you exepct that admin privileges should be needed.
- Turning off autoplay if you share storage media -- at least turn it off for executable files.
- Backing up data to an external drive -- just in case.
- Creating a standard account or guest account for anyone who you lend your computer to -- and don't give them your admin password.

 

• Have multiple, redundant backups of anything you care about.
• Update your OS and software. Seriously, anything that connects to the internet (browser including all plugins, e-mail, IM, media player,...) or handles files/content from the internet (media player, office suite, image viewer, archiver,...) needs to be updated religiously.
  If program X has an unobtrusive update check, enable it.
  Get a spare Gmail account and subscribe to the "announce" mailing lists or RSS feeds of whatever software you use.
  There's free software that'll scan your installed apps and try to check for new versions.
  There are news websites which will tell you about the latest exploits and vulnerabilities.
  If you no longer use a program, uninstall it.
  Really, the only thing stopping you here is your own lazyness.
• Lock down your browser (e.g. Firefox with ABP+NoScript, uninstall any unneeded plugins and extensions - especially Adobe's PDF stuff).
• Uninstall Adobe's PDF Reader and use an alternative one. If you absolutely HAVE to use it, at least disable both Javascript AND the browser plugin.
• Don't be stupid. Don't save/open files you didn't ask for, be it in your browser or e-mail. Stop using warez or stuff from other shady sources... use one of the free alternatives, or cancel some of your MMO accounts/stop smoking/... and pay up.
• Practise safe computing in general. Password protect your account, encrypt your hard drives, lock your desktop when not using the computer, don't leave it unattended where strangers can get to it, don't let other people use your account, use strong and unique passwords.

No rocket science, really. I do a fair share of my work and surfing on an XP Pro box using an admin account and with the AV scanner in on-demand mode only. No viruses, no malware, it's almost boring

The one and only virus that ever made it onto one of my systems was the ancient Parity Boot B... which I got from a "floppy disk" (look it up on Wikipedia, kids) more than a decade ago.

 

what you have , plus spywareblaster .should be enough , that is about all i run , except i use outpost firewall pro , without the spyware and web guard . Bought pro because it lets me password protect and do a few more things than free option .
Have yet to have any of my 8 computers catch even a sniffle

 

Cool, good call on the Ad Block Plus, I had never used that and now see the value in having it! Do you recommend I install a firewall as well or just leave the Windows one to do it's thing?

 

Why is everybody against Adobe Reader?

Its not like the recent security exploit is unique to Adobe Reader and while version 8 was too heavy, 9 is great.

 

I was gifted with CS3 and use ver 8 Pro and have no qualms.

 

Windows I use common sense and kaspersky.
Linux, common sense, and no worries.