“I have a computer running Windows XP and it currently doesn’t have any kind of protection. I know nothing about computers or any of the lingo’s that go with that like spyware, spybot, virus, adware etc. What’s the best free computer protection out there and what do I need?”
Here’s how to protect your computer for free:
- Firewall: make sure your Windows firewall is turned on. Hit Start and then click Control Panel. Now click Windows Security Center, click Windows Firewall.
- Windows Updates: Make sure automatic updates is turned on, here are instructions.
- Anti-virus: You just need one, I really like Avast Home which is free.
- Spyware Protection: For spyware protection it is safe to have several different spyware programs installed on the computer. These are trusted popular ones: Ad-Aware, Spybot, and SuperAntiSpyware.
- Junk Cleaner: CCleaner, this will clean your computer of temp files, and other junk files that may slow down your computer.
Other resources:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/security/internet/sp2_wfsettings.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/spyware/default.mspx
