Keeping your PC safe

[DO]

A surprising amount of people I spoke to didn't even know the basics to keeping your computer secure. But I'm pretty sure most of you guys know all this already but after all this is still for the uninformed.

1.) Stay off IE

I can't stress how much IE sucks. Security advisors have found a large number of exploits that can be used to make Internet Explorer launch arbitrary programs or execute any kind of code with local user privileges; there are a whole lot of other security problems as well. Instead start using Firefox: http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ Firefox is a great Internet browser mainly because it's open sourced and they have a very fast
bug/security updating team.

2.) Get a firewall

Not having a firewall is like leaving your car unlocked with the keys in and the engine on. You're just asking for it. Sooner or later it'll catch up to you because hackers always look for that one unprotected computer to use for there bidding. Personally I use Zone Alarm:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/conten...=dbtopnav_zass



3.) Stay Current

Stay updated with window updates a patched system is a secure one. Windows has a Automatic Updates option that you can enable. This will keep your computer updated with all current released patches or you can visit there update site: http://update.microsoft.com/windowsu...&&thankspage=5

4.) Get some antispyware/adware programs

Spyware is software that gathers user information on the computer it infects. It can gather anything from email addresses, passwords and even credit card numbers as well as browsing habits. Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse because it attempts to run in the background processes of your computer. Not only can it eat up bandwith but also RAM.
I find that Spybot S & D works great with spyware infections it can be found here: http://www.safer-networking.org/

Adware is incredibly annoying because it can direct popups to your system and monitor your web useage. A great program to rid yourself of this nuisance is Adware: http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/

5.) Use common sense

Become aware when your surfing the web. Don't click or run programs you have no knowledge of and then wonder why you got a virus.

Be sure to virus scan. I found an awesome Online Virus Scan that works great http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

This is pretty much all I could think of right now. All the programs that were listed are free and work great.