ByTe Wrangler,

Well, he asked for security help, and my, my - you certainly delivered...

However, I feel that, for this particular member, your suggestions may had been a bit "overkill" (I'm assuming that this guy doesn't have a devoted legion of hackers on his ass - especially since he's *apparently* unable to use Google effectively (no offense to the original poster - but there are several sites devoted to this topic alone))... This guy likely just needs your basics - dontcha think???

Anyway, my "general" security pack for any Windows box includes the following (all free!):
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- Updates (all of 'em - auto-updater in 2K/XP is great for this) - in order for Microsoft to remain competitive in the world of operating systems, they feel that they need to release "much-less-than-perfect" (to be generous) software to meet deadlines, which frequently needs updating - and, think about it - 95% of home PCs rely on some version of MS Windows - it follows that the majority of the world's malicious code writers are writing exploits for MS products...

- Firewall - I use Sygate Personal Firewall - it hasn't let me down yet, though others may vouch for other products... get it at http://smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm ...

- Antivirus
local machine: I use AVG - again, hasn't let *me* down, but different strokes for different
folks, right? Try it out (http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1)...

online scanners: Sometimes, it's nice to get a "second opinion" - try an online virus
scanner about once every two weeks or so (moreso if you're *really*
paranoid)... PandaActivescan does a nice job, but I prefer TrendMicro's
Housecall
(http://housecall.trendmicro.com/hous...start_corp.asp)

- Malware Detection & Removal: an antivirus won't prevent you from getting millions of
pop-ups, etc. For this kinda protection, I'd suggest Lavasoft's AdAware
(http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/) and Spybot
S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html). Run these
two in SAFE MODE if you're experiencing malware symptoms (some
malware begins as a startup process - if it's running, you may be unable to
remove it - scanning in safe mode eliminates this problem)
After you've run these two, you may wish to install MS Antispyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx). I've found
that this proggie kinda sucks for cleaning an infected system, but works
great as a tool for prevention. However, you'll probably want to do some
configuring to this one - it's constant warning messages can become as
annoying as the spyware itself ... I don't use this one personally, but it's
definitely a useful tool...

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Now, this is a very basic list of proggies to implement security measures meant for very basic users... Given the nature of your post, this sounds like what you probably need... There's much more advanced security tools for much more advanced users, of course, such as Ethereal (to check out network traffic) and Nmap (general network vuln assessment, etc.) to name just a couple... feel free to shoot me an IM or an e-mail if you wish to learn how to use such programs...

Just a word of advice - forums like AO get posts like this *all* the time... so don't be suprised if no one rushes to answer a general query such as the one you've presented... check out the newbie section, yadda yadda yadda... I just felt like typing because I was drunk, and I've been meaning to put together a comprehensive list of my "basic" security tools, anyway...

One more thing - use Mozilla's FireFox (http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/) as your default web browser - timely updates are released, and it's not prone to a fraction of the exploits IE is... besides, it doesn't have 10% of the MS-dominated market for nothing...

Remember - Google is GOD - by that, I mean "ask and you shall receive"... Please, if you want to know "how to secure your box," type in such a phrase in the textfield on Google.com - or use the AO search...

Anyway, I apologize to everyone else who made similar suggestions on this post - I just felt like rambling for a minute, and giving some specifics...

-Wiski C.

[edit] - sorry the formatting's fux0r3d - - I'll fix it if it *really* bothers anyone *that* bad...