Hello!

I have an old box with 256 RAM. And I don't have money to buy expensive commercial software.

Haw can I protect my computer from viruses, spyware and malware for free?

I've got an old 450 Pentium II with 256 ram. I use Avast free, Avg free also worked except for a conflict, Zone alarm free, and Spybot Search and Destroy. I use this as a second machine to go online with if I have the other one tied up. It's good enough to surf and email with but wouldn't expect a whole lot more. I've kept software to a minimum.

Joe

I've got an old 450 Pentium II with 256 ram. I use Avast free, Avg free also worked except for a conflict, Zone alarm free, and Spybot Search and Destroy. I use this as a second machine to go online with if I have the other one tied up. It's good enough to surf and email with but wouldn't expect a whole lot more. I've kept software to a minimum.

Joe

I used all that stuff and managed to catch thousands of viruses that only Norton Antivirus could detect.

Is there a way do defend myself completely?

Norton is far too much of a resource hog to run on such a limited system.

See my sig line.

All the best protection software in the world is FREE.

AVG 7.5 FREE

AdAware SE/Personal

Spybot search & destroy

Spyware Blaster

Windows Defender

AVG 7.5 FREE Anti-Spyware

Those are my favorites and the same ones I share with my hundreds of computer customers.

We all stay 100% malware free.

For cleaning up a Dirty system, add, "Trojan Hunter", 30 day free trial.

There's no need for anyone to be malware infected or to have to put out hard earned money.

Cheers!

Andromeda43

All the best protection software in the world is FREE.

AVG 7.5 FREE

AdAware SE/Personal

Spybot search & destroy

Spyware Blaster

Windows Defender

AVG 7.5 FREE Anti-Spyware

Cheers!

Andromeda43

I used this combination already together with spamihilator.

It didn't save from 2963 viruses and considerably slowed down the speed of my computer so that I had to wait for 5 min to open Outlook.

Maybe it would be wiser to uninstall Internet Explorer completely?

Edited April 2, 200719 yr by Pidiot

Do not use Internet Explorer. Use either Opera or Firefox.

If you continue to use IE, disable ActiveX, JavaScript and other script-related options under Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level. However, many people do prefer the flexibility and customization available in 3rd party browsers.

For further browsing security, you can download and install Sandboxie and run several applications from within one or more "sandboxes".

Use either a hardware or software firewall, or both. You could use a second machine between your cable/DSL modem and your PC, run Linux or SmoothWall on it. If you're on wireless, I'd recommend a Linksys WRT54GL Wireless Router with the Tomato firmware. If you're on a wired connection I can't recommend much else than what I personally use which is a D-Link DI-604.

As for a software firewall that is freeware, it's Comodo Firewall Pro hands down.

Finally, use computer sense. Do not click ads on webpages, nor unknown attachments in e-mails. Don't go to porn/warez sites. Use the good software mentioned above. The idea is to avoid getting infected in the first place, not cleaning up infections after the fact.

I always delete cookies and temporary internet files before scanning. Sometimes security programs identify things as a threat when in reality they aren't. Sounds like you go to some pretty crappy sites if you pick up that many problems. Avoid file sharing sites too! Be careful with instant messenger programs and accepting files there. Do you have kids using the computer? If so you may need to do some other things to limit where they go.

Joe

Thank you,Jeremy. I will follow your advices. Only I need everything for free. I think that the guy who produces and sells vulnerable OSs actually should take care about the rights of customers. Why I should I pay more than I did already?

Do not use Internet Explorer.

Do you know a way how to uninstall internet explorer completely?

Use either a hardware or software firewall, or both. You could use a second machine between your cable/DSL modem and your PC, run Linux or SmoothWall on it. If you're on wireless, I'd recommend a Linksys WRT54GL Wireless Router with the Tomato firmware. If you're on a wired connection I can't recommend much else than what I personally use which is a D-Link DI-604.

This I don't understand. I can say only that my computer is connected to internet directly. Maybe this connection can be called LAN, I don't know.

Thank you, Jeremy. You recommendations sound more reasonable than the ones above. I would be much obliged, if you explain a bit more about those rooters, what they are and how to use them.

Edited April 2, 200719 yr by Pidiot

Sounds like you go to some pretty crappy sites if you pick up that many problems. Avoid file sharing sites too! Be careful with instant messenger programs and accepting files there. Do you have kids using the computer? If so you may need to do some other things to limit where they go.

Joe

Actually I did not. I am using Linux. My wife likes Windows. But she is a teacher and a very decent person. And we have no kids. It's surprising for me , too, how that could happen.

Sorry if you were offended but many people post here that go to all kinds of bad places like Jeremy and I mentioned or have kids on and don't have any idea what they are doing online.

I have no experience with Linux maybe it has something to do with that. Many of these security programs treat third party cookies and java applets from legit sites as malware. That's one reason I delete cookies and temp internet files before running a scan. Norton was a big offender with .jar files from legit sites as being detected as a virus. I think it had to do with sun's virtual machine that was require by some sites when Microsoft was using their own version. Try running CCleaner http://www.ccleaner.com/ before scanning that should clean out the junk.

Joe

Thank you, Jeremy. You recommendations sound more reasonable than the ones above.

Maybe something worth mentioning: did you bother to install SP2 ? If not, that would be a good start (and a reazsonable recommendation ).

I've been using free (or even no) AV and firewalls and I've had maybe 6 viruses in 10 yearssince more than 10 years now, with IE. I think most people really wonder how you get up to 2963 viruses (and I guess you reinstall quite often). Again, no offence, but this must be linked to user's behaviour.

I think most people really wonder how you get up to 2963 viruses (and I guess you reinstall quite often). Again, no offence, but this must be linked to user's behaviour.

I agree. My record is 4 viruses. And that's without any special security software and numerous visits to warez websites.

I've read reports that antivirus would terminate long batch jobs (video encoding), and disallow installation of tools that optimize the operating system.

Do you know a way how to uninstall internet explorer completely?

IE is integrated into the Windows Shell, it cannot be completely removed from Windows XP. Those who try end up crippling their OS.

You can go to Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Add/Remove Windows Components > Uncheck Internet Explorer from the list and click Next. Then delete all the shortcuts to Internet Explorer on your desktop and start menu. The more advanced method would be to use XPLite which is not free. Yes, I'm sick of software that isn't free also.

This I don't understand. I can say only that my computer is connected to internet directly. Maybe this connection can be called LAN, I don't know.

If you're directly connected without any hardware based protection considering the growing threat of malware online these days, you need to at least get something. For example, a basic D-Link router is not expensive. And yes, running SP2 is important as well. Otherwise, your security is even more weakened. You basically buy one, plug it in and link it between your cable/DSL modem and your PC's ethernet port and you're good to go. Granted you would need to do some port forwarding in your file sharing program, but that's about it.

Try running CCleaner http://www.ccleaner.com/ before scanning that should clean out the junk.

Joe

I know about CClener. It removes cookies. It simplifies antiviruses/malware scan but doesn't actually helps.

I know about CClener. It removes cookies. It simplifies antiviruses/malware scan but doesn't actually helps.

CCleaner is a godsend as far as I'm concerned. It can save a lot of HDD space consumed by junk/temp/cache files many users don't know even exist and can remove the typical tracking cookie that Ad-Aware reports. It sure makes a defrag easier and quicker.