10 Fast and Free Security Enhancements

Before you spend a dime on security, there are many precautions you can take that will protect you against the most common threats.

1. Check Windows Update and Office Update regularly (http://office.microsoft.com/productupdates) ; have your Office CD ready. Windows Me, 2000, and XP users can configure automatic updates. Click on the Automatic Updates tab in the System control panel and choose the appropriate options.

2. Install a personal firewall. Both SyGate (_www.sygate.com) and ZoneAlarm (_www.zonelabs.com) offer free versions.


3. Install a free spyware blocker. Our Editors' Choice ("Spyware," April 22) was SpyBot Search & Destroy (_http://security.kolla.de). SpyBot is also paranoid and ruthless in hunting out tracking cookies.

4. Block pop-up spam messages in Windows NT, 2000, or XP by disabling the Windows Messenger service (this is unrelated to the instant messaging program). Open Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services and you'll see Messenger. Right-click and go to Properties. Set Start-up Type to Disabled and press the Stop button. Bye-bye, spam pop-ups! Any good firewall will also stop them.

5. Use strong passwords and change them periodically. Passwords should have at least seven characters; use letters and numbers and have at least one symbol. A decent example would be f8izKro@l. This will make it much harder for anyone to gain access to your accounts.

6. If you're using Outlook or Outlook Express, use the current version or one with the Outlook Security Update installed. The update and current versions patch numerous vulnerabilities.

7. Buy antivirus software and keep it up to date. If you're not willing to pay, try Grisoft AVG Free Edition (Grisoft Inc., w*w.grisoft.com). And doublecheck your AV with the free, online-only scanners available at w*w.pandasoftware.com/activescan and _http://housecall.trendmicro.com.

8. If you have a wireless network, turn on the security features: Use MAC filtering, turn off SSID broadcast, and even use WEP with the biggest key you can get. For more, check out our wireless section or see the expanded coverage in Your Unwired World in our next issue.

9. Join a respectable e-mail security list, such as the one found at our own Security Supersite at _http://security.ziffdavis.com, so that you learn about emerging threats quickly and can take proper precautions.

10. Be skeptical of things on the Internet. Don't assume that e-mail "From:" a particular person is actually from that person until you have further reason to believe it's that person. Don't assume that an attachment is what it says it is. Don't give out your password to anyone, even if that person claims to be from "support."

Four tips to using System Restore on Windows XP

System Restore is a feature of Windows XP that periodically backs up the Windows system folders. It does this in case some piece of software is not doing something today that it was doing yesterday. In that event, you can restore the latest System Restore backup and hopefully fix things.

Microsoft refers to System Restore backups as "restore points". They reside on the C disk in a folder Windows tries to keep hidden.

System Restore runs silently in the background, thus, you can use a Windows XP machine for years and not be aware of its existence - which is both good and bad.

Tip One

The bad part leads to the first tip - every now and then make a restore point manually, just to be sure you can (instructions for doing so are below). There are three reasons for this.

First, under some conditions, System Restore will purposely turn itself off and not tell you that it's no longer running. Therefore, just before you manually make a restore point, check that System Restore has made some recent restore points. You do this by starting the restore procedure, then browsing the calendar of previous restore points without actually restoring anything. I would feel reasonably safe with one restore point a week.

Second, the rules for when System Restore makes a restore point are numerous and confusing. Thus it can be functioning within normal parameters but still go weeks without making a restore point.

Finally, I've seen System Restore break (as opposed to turning itself off by design). That is, when I tried to manually make a restore point it failed. It's better to know that this has happened than not know.

There is no one right answer for how often to manually make a restore point. I'd suggest monthly as a starting point, more often if the computer is very important, less often if not. The process of making a restore point takes about 10 seconds.

Tip Two

Always make a restore point before installing new software. Some software makes restore points as part of the installation process, but not all. Better safe than sorry. In addition to new software, also make a restore point before installing a new version of existing software and prior to installing bug fixes (a.k.a. patches, updates). And, leading to the next tip, make a restore point before letting antivirus or antispyware software remove something malicious.

Tip Three

Once upon a time I was working on a Windows XP machine that was infected with lots of malicious software (viruses, trojans, adware, spyware, etc.). When I got the machine, infected though it was, Windows was able to boot. At some point though, the cleanup process got too aggressive.

Something I did in removing the malware prevented Windows from fully booting. It got to the point of displaying the desktop wallpaper, but that was about it. The desktop icons never appeared and none of the auto-started applications ran. Even in safe mode, Windows got to the same halfway point in the boot process and stopped. I had followed my own advice and made a recent restore point, but how to restore to it?

The third tip is that System Restore can be used even in this case. Start the machine and use the F8 key to invoke the "Windows Advanced Options menu" just as if you were going into safe mode. Then chose the option to boot to "Safe Mode with Command Prompt". This disables more of Windows than regular Safe Mode does. In my case, it disabled the broken part of Windows and the machine was able to boot to a command prompt.

From the command prompt, you can run System Restore with this command:

c:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe

This invokes the normal System Restore application (not a text mode version), except there is no option to make a restore point. All you can do in Safe Mode or Safe Mode with Command Prompt is restore previously taken restore points. Pick the most recent restore point and hopefully your problem will disappear. In my case it did, Windows was able to boot after restoring the latest restore point. If not, try an earlier restore point.

Tip Four

The last tip is simply to try booting to "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" now, while everything is working correctly. Consider it a dress rehearsal.
Invoking

With Windows XP running, System Restore is invoked from the Start button with:

Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> System Restore

You can make System Restore easier to find by creating a shortcut to it on the desktop. When hovering over System Restore in the last step above, right click instead of left clicking and then "Send To" -> "Desktop (create shortcut)". Another way is to navigate to this folder:

c:\windows\system32\restore\

and right click on file rstrui.exe. Here too, send it to the desktop.

Note: The directory where file rstrui.exe lives is, technically speaking, the system root folder. Normally the system root is "c:\windows", but this is not mandatory. To be 100% sure, do Start -> Run and in the box enter "%SystemRoot%" this will open Windows Explorer at the system root folder.

Sometimes when invoking "Safe Mode with Command Prompt" Windows asks you to log in, sometimes not. If prompted, log in as as a user that is a member of the Administrators group. The Windows userid you normally use may work fine. If not, try logging in as user Administrator with a blank password.

Wise Disk cleaner

AVG Antivirus Professional descriptionA software application perfectly designed to give you the maximum antivirus protection for your single home PCAVG Professional Single Edition is perfectly designed to give you the maximum antivirus protection for your single home PC or workstation.

AVG Professional is simple to install and operate. No IT expertise is required and it can run in the background, providing uninterrupted protection. All file and e-mail activity is checked automatically, allowing you to get on with your work without worrying about viruses.
AVG Professional is extremely reliable , fast and light on resources, so, no matter how demanding a user you are, it won't slow down your performance.
Here are some key features of "AVG Antivirus Professional":
·

A 2 year license, so you can receive free updates and full product support for a whole 2 years. It includes free 24 hour a day e-mail access to Grisoft’s professional team of technical experts· Free program and virus updates are provided via ultra reliable Akamai servers. AVG Professional Edition updates itself automatically whenever updatesare available. Alternatively you can update manually, or configure AVG Professional to download updates at a scheduled time that suits you.· Multiple language support in one package. No need to buy a special language version as all languages are included in the one product. A simple click of the mouse and the entire interface (including help files) will instantly change to your required language· AVG holds the VB100% award and is ICSA certified, so you can be assured of the highest level of antivirus protection.· AVG Professional Edition has many more features that make it the best value antivirus protection available· The powerful AVG Resident Shield provides maximum protection by scanning every file opened, executed, or saved. It will also prevent the opening or executing of infected files.· The AVG Personal E-mail Scanner checks every e-mail sent or received, providing much needed protection from e-mail borne threats. AVG supports all leading e-mail clients including MS Outlook, The bat!, Eudora and all other SMTP/POP3 based email clients such as Outlook Express. Encrypted connections using SSL are also supported.· AVG Professional can scan attachments of instant message services (like ICQ, MSN Messenger) for viruses and other threats.· AVG provides support for the detection of "potentially unwanted programs".· AVG’s scanning engine uses a unique combination of heuristic analysis and generic detection methods to detect all known viruses.· The AVG Resident Shield can include/exclude files from scanning based on individual file extensions.· Automatically attempts to heal/remove infected files and other threats such as trojans, worms, and java applets. Removed files are quarantined in the AVG Virus Vault.· AVG Professional has flexible password protection so you can select which settings you wish to protect from other users.· AVG Professional now supports Microsoft Windows 64 bit platforms.

Download

Full Speed Internet Broadband Connection v2.1

INFO
Dramatically speed up your existing Internet broadband connection and get the best performance possible from your current Internet access.
No technical questions; just one click and it’s done.
Free Internet speed test software included.. Full Speed will increase your online Internet speed
with everything you do:

faster downloads, web browsing, data streaming, e-mail. P2P and gaming.

Instantly Get
1. Faster Internet access
2. Faster download speeds
3. Faster web site browsing performance
4. Improve Internet and Intranet performance
5. Quicker data download times
6. Improved streaming music and movies
7. Faster download for songs and video
8. Faster performance with email
9. Better download speed for all data
10. Faster loading Web graphics
11. Speed test for Web site browsing
12. Speed test for general data transfer

What's New in This Release
A 20% bandwidth reserve which is claimed by default by Windows XP for selective network functions and is very often not used, is re-claimed and used by Full Speed to increase Internet access bandwidth, (when not used by the other network functions).
Full Speed testing software now uses higher capacity, more accurate and consistent hosting servers....

Tested over:
1. T1, T3, Cable, DSL - SDSL, ADSL
2. VPN and direct wired WAN/LAN
3. P2P, Remote Desktop, File Sharing Software

Download

or
Download


Crack