How do I keep my PC secure?

Security is an often overlooked and misunderstood topic. Keeping your PC secure however is vitally important.

There are four important things you need to keep your PC secure:

1. Anti Virus & Anti Spy ware software
2. Firewall to block outside threats
3. Automatic Updates to Microsoft Windows
4. Software we DO NOT recommend

Anti Virus & Anti Spy ware software

We recommend Microsoft Windows Live One Care.

Over the years we have tried many different virus detection software and have found Windows Live OneCare to be among the best. Its what we use personally on our desktop PC's at the office and at home.

OneCare doesn't slow your PC down like other virus checkers on the market.  It also keeps itself up-to-date by downloading updates from the Microsoft servers automatically. OneCare is available from most computer outlets throughout Australia and can also be purchased online at www.onecare.com.

Firewall to block outside threats

We recommend you enable Windows XP Firewall.

There are many firewall products available but we don't believe they are necessary since Windows XP includes a good firewall for free - called the Windows XP Firewall.

Since the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2 the Windows XP Firewall has become a reliable way of protecting your PC from intruders. The firewall is ON by default however you should check to make sure your Windows XP Firewall is turned on.

To check, open the Control Panel and double click on the 'Windows Firewall' icon. Make sure the 'On (Recommended) option is selected and then click OK.

Note: If you have Windows Live OneCare installed, it automatically monitors your firewall settings and alerts you to any potential problems.

Automatic Updates to Microsoft Windows

We recommend you enable the Microsoft Automatic Updates feature.

Microsoft releases security updates for its Windows operating systems on a monthly basis (or more often if urgently required). These updates help protect your PC against known vulnerabilities in the Windows operating system. Without these updates your PC will eventually become infected or affected by virus, spy ware, browser hijacks and many other gremlins! To ensure your PC is kept secure enable the Automatic Updates feature now.

To enable , open the Control Panel and double click on the 'Automatic Updates' icon. Make sure the 'Automatic (recommended)' option is selected and click OK.

When Windows updates your PC you may be prompted to restart your PC - You should do this as soon as possible to ensure the new updates are enabled.

Software we DO NOT recommend

Many of our customers have a package installed called 'Norton Antivirus' and or 'Norton Internet Security' by Symantec. In our experience this software is overkill and in inexperienced hands can cause more problems than it solves. Both these packages also slow down a PC's performance by a noticeable amount.

There are other firewall software packages on the market such as:- Black Ice, Zone Alarm (by Zone Labs ) and many others. While these software packages are excellent, they are also quite complex and for a user not experienced in IP Networking these packages can cause more problems than they solve. We highly recommend the Windows XP firewall in combination with the other recommendations in this document.