Security Advice

If you are having any current problems with your PC, the cause is often malware, which is viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, and adware. These security problems on the Internet have greatly increased recently, so your PC may not be secure even if you have good security software installed. For example perhaps you are getting popup messages, or maybe your PC is not running as fast as it should. Some malware shows no obvious symptoms, for example the many hidden keystroke loggers that secretly send all your keystrokes to someone else. These programs try to steal your passwords, or your identity, or may be looking for ways to sell you things, or possibly just spy on you.

Therefore we suggest that you check and correct your security status using the advice and software that we recommend below. Even if you don't have a current problem, it is still urgent that all PC users take the kind of security precautions described below.

Please print this page to use as a guide to fixing and securing your PC.  

To cure current problems, if you are using Windows XP or Windows ME, you can first try restoring your system back to the state it was in before the problem started, using Windows built in System Restore function. This will not cause you to lose recent work on documents, email, photos, favorites list, history list, etc.  It will simply roll the system settings back to an earlier state.  (System Restore works like our WinFix - in fact it was copied from WinFix by Microsoft - but it is not as robust or reliable as WinFix.  See the bottom of this page to get our WinFix.) 

To run Windows System Restore, click the Start button, then choose All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore, then choose to restore the PC to an earlier time.  Look back through the calendar for the most recent Restore Point which is just before the time when the problem started.  You can go backwards or forwards to different months by clicking the arrows at the top of the monthly calendars.  You can see what Restore Points are available by clicking on days that have bold numbers in the calendars.  Don't reset your system back any further than you need to - go back to just before the problem started. 

If this does not solve the problem you were trying to fix, run System Restore again, and choose the option the Undo the last restoration, which will return your system to the way it was before you ran system Restore. 

At that point you could run System Restore a 3rd time and select a different, possibly slightly older, saved setup to restore. If that still does not solve the problem, run System Restore again and again select the option to Undo (reverse) the System Restore actions.

If resetting the system back to an earlier state fixes the problem, but causes a recently installed application to seem to now be gone from your system, it is not really gone; simply reinstall the application so Windows will recognize it again.

If the problem you fixed was caused by an infection with malware, restoring Windows to an earlier state will not actually remove the infection; it will only probably be able to isolate the malware from affecting Windows because Windows will no longer be set to run the malware.  So the deactivated malware will sit there harmlessly indefinitely, until it is perhaps later detected by security software and removed.

Securing your PC against security threats, and trying to cure infections that may have already happened.

Note: We recommend that you have only one antispyware program, one antivirus program, and one firewall program. If you install a non-Microsoft firewall program, that will usually automatically disable Windows built-in firewall. 

We recommend the AVG security software.  Their software seems to be the best combination of high quality, good protection, and low impact on your system.  If you are going to use the Windows built-in firewall, use the AVG product called AVG Anti-Virus

As an alternative, we also like the Kaspersky security software

Antivirus.  If you don't have antivirus software, get the free AVG at http://free.grisoft.com
and install and run that, then reboot the PC.

If you do have antivirus software but it is not a major brand like McAfee, Norton, Panda, etc., or even if it is a major brand but you don't want to pay a renewal fee every year, you could uninstall it and get the free AVG instead. (As we mentioned above, you can have more than one antispyware program running at once, but do not run two antivirus programs at once.)

Other malware. Another thing everyone should do once a month is run the latest version of the Microsoft malware removal tool, which quickly scans for and removes many of the latest top security threats that may not be covered by antispyware and antivirus tools. Keep a copy of this link to visit every month: http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.mspx

Firewall. Note: you cannot run two firewalls at once, so you have to turn off or uninstall one to begin using a different one. 

Windows XP comes with a firewall, but the first two versions of Windows XP do not turn on the firewall by default. It is urgent to have the firewall turned on, or else your PC will be hacked into in a matter of minutes, so make sure that the firewall is turned on:
- click the Start Button
- open Control Panel
- click on Network Connections
- point to the line for your Internet connection
- right-click (click once with the button on the right side of the mouse) that line
- click Properties
- click Advanced
- turn on the firewall or verify that it is turned on already.

The Windows built-in firewall cannot be uninstalled, but it can be turned off. If you decide to get the free Comodo 2-way firewall recommended below for Windows XP and Windows 2000 users only, use the instructions just given above to make sure that the Windows firewall is turned off instead of on.

If you have Windows XP but you would rather have a 2-way firewall, which not only blocks hackers from getting into your PC, but also stops bad programs that might sneak into your PC from "calling home" to the bad guys, the best free one is Comodo Personal Firewall 2.0 at http://go.pcmag.com/comodo2 After it is installed, tell it to scan your PC to find approved programs, so it will not ask you so often if you approve of a particular program you are trying to run.  That issue is the one hassle with 2-way firewalls - they need to know which programs that try to use the Internet are good and which are bad.  If a program is not on their list of approved programs, they will ask for your approval to let it run.  You may or may not know if the program is good or bad.  If you are in doubt, you can just say no when the firewall asks you for approval.  You can always go back in later and grant the blocked program permission to use the Internet.

If you have any version of Windows older than Windows XP, which has a built in firewall, you need a separate firewall program immediately, or else your PC is likely to be hacked into within minutes, yes, minutes, of connecting to the Internet, even if you do not do anything or download anything. 

ZoneAlarm has stopped supporting Windows 98 and ME, so we recommend the McAfee Personal Firewall Plus on the $29.95 sale page at:http://us.mcafee.com/root/landingpages/default.asp?lpname=ms_mpfp&affid=402&cid=8437

Windows Updates.  Everyone absolutely must keep Windows updated, because malware and hackers are constantly looking for newly discovered security holes in Windows, and Microsoft is forever finding ways to then plug those holes.
So please be absolutely certain to do this critically important step: go to http://update.microsoft.com
and get Windows completely updated with at least the "critical" updates, and set the Windows auto update to automatic. During the update process, you should see the place where you can set the updating function to make it automatic, or you can go into Windows Control Panel and use the Automatic Updates section if you have one.  If you have a slow Internet connection like dialup phone, you may need to leave the download of updates running overnight, as some of them can take hours at slow speeds.

Vital backup.  For all Windows users, we recommend that you add regular systemwide backups, for example by buying an inexpensive USB external hard disk for backups.

Note: To tune up and optimize your PC, download, install and run the free trial of TuneUp Utilities 2008 at http://www.tune-up.com (There is one small caution we have regarding this program. We do not recommend using the TuneUp MemOptimizer feature, because we think that Windows XP already handles memory very well, and there is no need to add an extra layer of complexity.) TuneUp Utilities 2006 free 30 day trial will clean up a lot of problems.

An equally valuable tool is Registry Mechanic from PC Tools at http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/   This program finds some items to fix in the Windows Registry that TuneUp Utilities misses, and vice versa. Both programs seem to be safe, which is not true of many tune-up, Registry cleanup, and other utility tools. Your system will definitely run faster and more reliably if you keep it clean and tuned up with either or both of these two utilities.

After you have cleared out all the spyware and viruses and updated Windows, and run the recommended tune-up, that is a good time to install our WinFix, which protects and fixes Windows to keep your PC running smoothly.  You can get WinFix at http://www.winfix.com or simply click on the navigation bar below. 

If you already have WinFix, after you clean up your security problems and run the recommended tune-up, and your PC is running better, that is a good time to re-save your Windows setup with WinFix, and delete the oldest of your saved Windows setups, which may have been saved when you had security problems.

Following the advice above will make your PC much more reliable.

                                                    WinFix fixes Windows