User Guides Guide on how to keep your computer malware free

A Small Guide on how to keep your computer malware free

I've observed that many people have infected PCs, so I'd like to share a few things I've learnt over time about how to keep your computer malware free.
Although many things would be obvious, but they are still important to reduce the potential of a possible infection.

Most common reasons for a malware infection -
  • No Antivirus Program installed
  • No Firewall running
  • Email Attachments, sometimes even from people you know (especially those ending with .exe, .com or .bat)
  • P2P programs
  • Suspicious links in emails and from people via IM programs
  • Adult Websites
  • Crack/Warez Websites
  • Outdated software/plug-ins (especially not updating Windows regularly)

Some things to keep in mind:

  1. One of the most important (and obvious) things is to make sure that you have a working, updating Antivirus software. It isnt always necessary to get a commercial antivirus program, there are some decent free ones available too. Also, never have more than one antivirus programs installed on your PC.
  2. Always have a firewall running. The inbuilt Windows firewall is all you will probably need. From Vista onwards, the Windows Firewall protects your computer from both incoming and outgoing traffic.
  3. Have an anti-malware software installed on your PC. There are some decent free ones available, and make sure you do a scan regularly (Once a week preferably).
  4. Be careful while opening attachments that end with .exe, .com or .bat or suspicious links in emails or IM programs even from people you know. An infected computer can send an attachment/link to everyone in the contact list of the infected person, containing malware.
  5. While browsing if you encounter a pop-up saying that your computer is infected and that you need to install some software for it, ignore it. Its probably a scam to trick you into buying/installing something that might be a rouge software. Check here for a list of rogue anti-sypware programs.
  6. Always make sure that all the software installed on your computer is updated to the latest stable version, outdated software and plug-ins can have security loop-holes that can allow malware to infect your computer. Use Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI).
  7. Keep your web browser updated to the latest stable version. Also, it is very important to keep Windows updated.
  8. While installing software, always click on "Custom" installation and uncheck any foistware (toolbars etc.) that may try to install itself with the software you intended to install.
  9. Avoid visiting pornographic or crack/warez websites. It's recommended that you have a software which provides info about websites and warns you against dangerous ones, such as Web of Trust or McAfee SiteAdvisor installed.
  10. Use something like TFC (Temporary file cleaner) to clean up all temporary files regularly.
  11. If any Trojan is detected on your PC, it's always a good idea to change any online banking passwords or any other important passwords immediately and not to connect to the internet till the infection has been dealt with.

List of recommended security programs:

Free Antivirus Programs:
Microsoft Security Essentials
Avast Home
Comodo Antivirus

Free Anti-malware Programs:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware
SuperAntiSpyware

Free Firewall programs (Optional):
Outpost Firewall
Zone Alarm Free

Other Malware/Spyware Removal Utilities:
a[SUP]2[/SUP]
Spybot
Ad-Aware
SpywareGuard

Other important programs to have:
Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI)
FileHippo Update Checker(Optional)
Temporary File Cleaner
Web Of Trust


Free Online Scanners:

BitDefender Online Scan
ESET Online Scan
Mcafee Online Scan
GFI Trojanscan
Panda Active Scan
 
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Also, many people who use IE get the activeX toolbar saying some plugin needs to be installed blah blah ~ Another source of infection!
 
quixand said:
A good 101. Scanning plug and play devices regularly also keeps my PC safe.
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Thanks! Yeah that's a good thing to practice, although some antivirus programs do it for you automatically.

vivek.krishnan said:
Also, many people who use IE get the activeX toolbar saying some plugin needs to be installed blah blah ~ Another source of infection!
Click to expand...

Added something related to that under "Things to keep in mind"
 
one of the simplest thing is to disable "Hide extensions for known tyepes" most of the email viruses with attachments like "your photo.jpg.exe" will get caught due to this.
 
Most trustworthy tools for met till date were:
Process Explorer & AutoRuns

Hijackthis is useful too but autoruns is much better.
 
1. Do not click on any ads
2. Do not go to porn sites on your computer. Best use a neighbour's computer instead!
 
Dark Star said:
How about using Linux :p ?

Anyway nice compilation, will come in handy.
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Linux is excellent except for Gaming.

ALPHA17 said:
VALVE is working onto changing that --> Valve porting Steam to Linux - GameSpot.com / Valve announces Ubuntu port of Steam, Source engine, and Left 4 Dead 2 | Ars Technica.
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Yes, but they won't port each and every game we play. We have to wait for at least 4-5 years to expect some good big games / big brands coming to Linux platform.

SunnyBoi said:
1. Do not click on any ads
2. Do not go to porn sites on your computer. Best use a neighbour's computer instead!
Click to expand...
1. True
2.
After you experience the Internet world for like an year or so, you will get to know which site is safe to surf and which site is not. Not all Porn sites are dangerous (at least I surf safer ones :p)
 
Biggest problem with linux is that games should be opengl. and all the games are directx, so linux gaming isnt gonna fly.
 
The best solution again is to use common sense. I am not using any anti virus or malware protecting software since the last 4 years, haven't had any attacks so far.
 
SunnyBoi said:
The best solution again is to use common sense. I am not using any anti virus or malware protecting software since the last 4 years, haven't had any attacks so far.
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Yeah if you can practice safe internet at all times then the chance of an infection is very negligible, although you could still get infected via removable drives so its always a good idea to have atleast a basic antivirus program.
 
To add into the lists : Always define the roles and privileges on the account. Make a regular account for surfing/gaming and use administrative accounts for isntallation etc. .
 
Mephistopheles said:
Yeah if you can practice safe internet at all times then the chance of an infection is very negligible, although you could still get infected via removable drives so its always a good idea to have atleast a basic antivirus program.
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SunnyBoi said:
The best solution again is to use common sense. I am not using any anti virus or malware protecting software since the last 4 years, haven't had any attacks so far.
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Exactly my point. After an year or so, you will get to know which web content is harmful for your computer. My computer has never got infected in past 6 years. I have never used paid antivirus software (But for safety, I use free antivirus tools such as Avast, AVG etc.)
 
SunnyBoi said:
The best solution again is to use common sense. I am not using any anti virus or malware protecting software since the last 4 years, haven't had any attacks so far.
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Just curious but how do you deal with infected (possibly) flash drives/external drives that friends (or the likes) are so happy to hook up to your PC for all sundry purposes?
I buy the 220 odd bucks KIS 1 Year packs just to avoid situations like the above.
 
eternoMind said:
Just curious but how do you deal with infected (possibly) flash drives/external drives that friends (or the likes) are so happy to hook up to your PC for all sundry purposes?
I buy the 220 odd bucks KIS 1 Year packs just to avoid situations like the above.
Click to expand...

I disable Autorun on all drives as soon as I install windows ;)
 
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