Sigh!

Hi folks, your friendly condescending, arrogant, filled with false air of superiority, mac owner over here had to buy a little netbook for mrs. sdog which is being delivered tomorrow ...

It is a:

Dell Inspiron 1011
Intel Atom processor N270, 1.6GHz, 533Mhz, 512K L2 Cache
1GB DDR2 SDRAM,1 DIMM
10.1 Inch Widescreen Display (1024 x 600)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
160GB, 2.5inch, 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Windows 7 Starter

And so begins the nightmare that will be windows pc ownership!

So, what do I need to purchase/download in the form of software to have the slightest chance of avoiding viruses/malware/trojans/spyware/someone coming through my internet connection to abduct my dog/etc.

Any useful utilities?

I'm assuming FF is the way to go as far as a browser ...

I have a little utility for my mac called Little Snitch which is like a little personal firewall, anything comparable to that for windows?

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer me ... I have to coexist with this thing, but I'm not gonna like it!

Free Zonealarm and Free AVG antivirus should do quite nicely.

Zonealarm is the firewall and AVG is well, what it says above.

Avast antivirus is what i use on my home PC, also have malwarebytes installed.

I would max out the ram on that little guy as soon as you can.

I recommend Eset Smart Security by eset.com. Memory footprint is low.

Lately I have been trying out Microsoft's new AV and it seems good.
Microsoft Security Essentials (free)
Does not seem to bog down the machine. Does a good job at cleaning out the muck if you already have muck.

Win7 actually runs pretty good.

COMODO Internet Security is a nice little all in one FREE program that I use.

Also the AVG mentioned above is a good solid free program.

I'm not sure how well ZoneAlarm works on Vista or Windows 7, but it was the BOMB on XP...

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis


Except for the one update to XP that caused it to lock up, but ZoneAlarm was good about pushing out an update to fix it. Microsoft's fault in any case.

reply to post by RuneSpider


Do you know if it works well with Vista? Or Win 7?

I like options.

I fix peoples computers in my spare time and I hate only having one or two choices...

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis


Not a clue, I don't have internet access at home, and havn't tried it.
I know that when I worked at a computer repair store myself, the fellows there would end up removing Zone Alarm pretty often, but it seems like it was because people who downloaded the software, didn't really know how to use it.

Always had problems with Zone Alarm, using McAfee Firewall for the past five years and have not had a virus, spyware or malware in that time...also very careful where I go on the net...good luck.

or you can dump windows 7 and turn your netbook into a mac

HowTo: Dell Mini 9 Mac Netbook

HowTo: MSI Wind Mac Netbook

if you don't wanna do the above, here are some software suggestions for your windows:

MakeUseOf

LifeHacker

WinMatrix (freeware list)

[edit on 12.17.09 by toreishi]

Stay away from McAfee, Norton and Commodo *crosses self*

This thread may help, you really need several things to keep you covered, and this thread (shamelessly mine) has some good tips from others M$ owners.
www.belowtopsecret.com...

Originally posted by DontTreadOnMe
, Norton

I can tell you that I rang norton to get help and they allowed a bug at "help time" to crash and wipe my entire hardrive!
So yeah SD, don't use Norton.



[edit on 17-12-2009 by zazzafrazz]

simple solution..

plead the 5th!!!

Google that *********

anything but having to figure out how to save that thing!!!





good luck

Ccleaner is a must.

Use Avira Antivir instead of AVG (the quality of AVG has been on a steep decline, lately).

Zone Alarm Firewall works great for me, though I haven't "upgraded" to Windows 7.

Malwarebytes' Antimalware is great for getting rid of anything the above may miss (which isn't likely, but better safe than sorry).

The Web of Trust plug-in for Firefox is essential, if you're using Windoze.

Make a "limited account" to surf the web with. NEVER access the internet with an administrator account on Windoze.

And finally, if anything manages to get through all those layers of security and do serious enough damage to keep you from accessing your virus/malware removal software, have a copy of the ClamAV LiveCD handy.

All of that is free, and works just as well as, if not better than the stuff you have to pay for.

Run the disk checker on your hard drive, defrag, and back up regularly, and keep track of your system restore CD/DVD just in case (this may not be included with the package, but if it isn't, there will be a utility installed that will help you make it).


TA

Edit to add a disclaimer:

This is just general advice for running a Windows computer. I've never bothered to try a netbook, so the above may or may not be applicable.




[edit on 18-12-2009 by TheAssociate]

Seeing that there is very little RAM, install avast. Dont install any other anti virus like norton and mcafee, the computer will be messed up. Use ccleaner to clean the computer of unwanted junk regularly. And download and install AML free registy cleaner for cleaning unused registry cleaner.

And, if windows messes up too much, consider moving towards linux.

On my Windows XP, i use Avast, SpyBot Search and Destroy, and Spyware Blaster, and IObit Secureity 360.
To keep it running fast, CCleaner, and Andanced System Care Pro. Its free, but u have to pay for the Pro. Or i can get it for u for free.

I only use IObit Security and SpyWare Blaster when i scan files that i Download. Its a faster scan then Avast.

And ur NetBook is better then my PC.
Its 958 mb of RAM
60gb hard drive
1.2 ghz AMD processer
Windows XP Home Edition SP3