TIPS:7

Security – All you should know about Viruses, Trojans, Spy ware, Firewalls etc. :
As computers become more and more integrated into our lives, we end up leaving a lot of sensitive information on our PCs—from passwords, e-mail IDs (even official e-mail IDs) and bank accounts to personal diaries and notes, business plans (or worse still, tender bids), confidential documents, a log of surfing habits (which can be viewed out of context), a backup of phone SMSes, and much more.

Then there is another risk, especially when you are online—viruses and spyware.Floppies / CD / DVD-ROMs / External Storage DevicesFloppies have been the most common means of virus infection (especially if an infected file was used to boot the computer) during the time when they were common. Most viruses of that time infected the boot sector and occupied some of the 640 KB of memory that was used by DOS. Some notorious ones could delete files with certain extensions on a particular date. For some strange reason, the dates in most cases would be the 26th or 28th of a month.The InternetThe most common of online irritants is spam e-mail. The other common annoyance, which can also bring down your PC, is spyware / adware.Securing The Desktopa)

To ensure that the security update or patch is applied as soon as it is available, turn on Automatic Updates. To do that, open the Control Panel, click on System, and select the A u t o m a t i c Updates tab.b)

NTFS is the recommended file system for Windows XP. It gives better access control protection for files and folders as compared to the FAT family of file systems.c) To turn off Simple File Sharing, open My Computer, go to Tools > Options, select the View tab, go to Advanced Settings, and clear the “Use Simple File Sharing (Recommended)” checkbox.d)

Assign user accounts and passwords to all regular users of your computer. Individual user accounts not only enables Windows XP to personalise settings for each user.e)

If your computer is a standalone system that only connects to the Internet, you should disable / turn off the guest account—just so people you haven’t given out your password to won’t be able to access your computer.f)

You can control the software that can be run on your computer by configuring the Software Restrictions Policies in the Local Security Policy (Control Panel > Administrative Tools).Free Anti-virus softwaresa)

Avira AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic Web site: www.free-av.com/index.htmMinimum System Requirements: Windows 98 or higher, NT orhigher (not Server), 128 MB RAM for Windows 98/ME/NT, 196 MBRAM for Windows XP, IE 5.0b) avast! 4.7 Home EditionWeb site: www.avast.comMinimum System Requirements: Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/x64(not Server), 64 MB RAM for Windows
2000/XP, 50 MB of hard diskspace, IE 4c)

AVG Anti-virus Free EditionWeb site: http://free.grisoft.comMinimum System Requirements: Windows 9x/ME/XP/NT/2000, 32MB RAM, 20 MB hard drive space, IE 5.01d)
eScan Internet SecurityWeb site: www.mwti.netMinimum System Requirements: Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP, 64 MBRAM, 50 MB free hard disk space.e)

McAfee Internet Security SuiteWeb site: www.nai.comMinimum System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP,Pentium 133 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 100 MB hard drive spacef)

Norton Internet SecurityWeb site: www.symantec.comMinimum System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP,Pentium 300 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 40 MB hard drive spaceg)

Quick Heal Anti-virusWeb site: www.quickheal.comMinimum System Requirements: Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/2003/XP, Pentium 133 MHz, 32 MB RAM, 40 MB hard drive spaceh)

Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet SecurityWeb site: www.trendmicro.comMinimum System Requirements: Windows 98/ME/2000/XP,Pentium 233 MHz, 128 MB RAM, 100 MB of free hard drive spacei)

ZoneAlarm Anti-VirusWeb site: www.zonelabs.comMinimum System Requirements: Windows 2000/XP, Pentium III450 MHz, 64 MB RAM, 50 MB of free hard drive space