The Basics of Security
You should actively protect your computer and its data from avoidable problems by employing these basic security measures.

Anti-Virus
A good anti-virus will monitor all data traffic whether from the internet, your hard drive, e-mail, floppy disks, CD's, flash drives, etc. It will update itself regularly and should scan for existing infected files on at least a weekly basis. Avoid running two or more active A-V programs as they might clash with one another.

Anti-Spyware
Spyware is primarily used for marketing, whether to directly send you advertising or to gather information about your habits which might then be used to better target future ads to you. It slows your system down and serves little purpose to you or your computer. A manual scanner solution works fine but must be updated and run regularly to help.

Link Advisors
These add-in programs provide an additional layer of online protection by giving ratings and warnings about web links before you connect. It's a good way to further protect yourself from unscrupulous web sites. Look through these offerings, but only pick one for your final choice... running more than one would give no additional level of protection and would only slow down your system even more.

Firewall
A firewall monitors all traffic between your computer and your network/internet. It prevents hackers from gaining directly access to your system. The best firewall is a hardware-based firewall which are included in most routers. Most firewall attacks are thwarted at the router before they ever reach your computer.

Anti-Spam
These products try to stem the ever-increasing flow of junk mail, or spam, that you receive. Because there are so many different e-mail programs, there is no single solution to filter the spam from the good e-mail. If you use an on-line web-based e-mail reader, your service may have options to turn on a Spam Filter of some sort; use it.

Current Security Recommendations
ANTI-VIRUS:                                                                                                 
 
AVast! Home Edition
(home only, Win95-Win7, 32 or 64-bit, free, annual free e-mail renewal required)

Avira AntiVir Personal (home only, Win2000-Win7, free) this one will nag you daily to upgrade to a paid version, but it is the most effective at preventing infections.

Comodo Anti-Virus + Firewall (home or business, WinXP-Win7, 32 or 64-bit, free)

Panda Cloud Anti-Virus (home or business, WinXP-Vista, 32-bit only, free)

AVG Free (home only, Win2000-Win7, free) this one will nag you 2 or 3 times a year to upgrade to a paid version... ignore it and come back here to get the latest free version.


Microsoft Security Essentials (home only, WinXP, Vista, Win7, free but requires Windows validation) Your Windows version must be verified as legitimate.


Clam-Win (home or business, Win98-Win7, manual scanner only, free)

ClamXav (home or business, MAC X+ only, free)
Free anti-virus protection for your Mac!



ANTI-SPYWARE:                                            

MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware (home or business, Win 2000-Win7, manual scanner only, free)
This is my current favorite free anti-malware remover. It will eliminate many of the new-wave malware/spyware. Try it first when fighting a new foe.


SpyBot Search & Destroy (home or business, Win95-Win7, manual scanner only, free)

Threatfire (home or business, XP-Win7-2003, manual scanner only, free)

Microsoft Windows Defender (home or business, WinXP-2003, 32 or 64-bit, free but requires Windows validation)


LINK ADVISORS:                                            

AVG LinkScanner. (home or business, Windows or Mac, free)

CallingID Link Advisor (Windows, free)

WOT (Web Of Trust) (Internet Explorer or Firefox, free)


FIREWALL:                                                  

Your router. Almost all routers have a hardware firewall built-in, the best type!

Comodo Firewall + Anti-Virus (home or business, WinXP-Win7, 32 or 64-bit, free)

ZoneAlarm Free
(home only, XP-Win7, free)

Online Armor Personal Firewall (home or business, XP-Win7, free)


ANTI-SPAM:                                                 

Spam Terrier
(home or business, Win2000-Win2003 32 or 64-bit, Outlook, Outlook Express & Windows Mail, free)
 
MailWasher
(home or business, Win2000-Win7, Outlook, Outlook Express, Windows Mail, AOL, GMail, Yahoo, etc., free)

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