Setting up your new xp pro box. for newby's
Just got your new p.c? There are a million things you need to do before you go randomly surfing the wilds of the internet.
This tutorial is aimed at newbies like myself (that learnt the hard way) using Windows xp pro Service Pack 1.
The first thing to do after organizing your Internet Service Provider, is race online and go togoogle , type in p0rn and go mad clicking every link that your fingers can access, right? WRONG. This is a sure fire way of getting your shiney new computer infested with all sorts ofSpyware ,Adware, Trojans , Viruses , and other nasties that will haunt you and cause your system to become almost useless, depending on, 1: who was able to hack you,and if they were malicious or not. 2: The amount of trojans and viruses that have infected your box, 3: After the p0rn dialler has racked up a couple of thousand dollars in premium call costs, you might not be able to pay for the cheapest dialup connection until you repay your phone bill. And 3: If you are competant to fix these new found joys of the internet or not.....
O.K. You are online reading this (hopefully someone is) Have you enabled xp's xp's built in firewall ? If no DO it now,
Click Start=>Control Panel if in Classic view double click Network Connections=> right click your connection icon=>click properties=> click the Advanced tab, and check the box that says "Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet" Click o.k.
You may have to disconnect from the internet, then reconnect to enable this change.
O.K. Now you are a little better off than you were, allthough it is only the first step in having a firewall that will protect you from unwanted connections.
The next security install will need to be a decent third partyFirewall. There are a few to choose from, (most are free and easily installed) some recommended more than others and some that are not so good at all. I have been usingSygate Personal Firewall , (free version) for about a year now and find it works well, and is easy to configure. There is also a Support Page , with step by step help.
Others to consider are, Kerio Personal Firewall , Agnitum Outpost Firewall and ZoneAlarm.
Visit Shields Up for some more firewall info, and be sure to go to Firewall Leak Test and test your firewall for its effectivness.
Next you will need to get anAntivirus program, or configure the one that came installed with your box, since i do not know which one you are using i cannot advise of it's settings, google up some info on you A/V brand and go from there. Hopefully you will become a member here and you could post any questions regarding your settings for the more senior and experienced members to answer for you.
I am using Norton Internet Security Professional 2004 , despite it costing over $100 au, I strongly recommend it as a defense tool. It comes with Antivirus Pro, Personal Firewall, Privacy Control, AntiSpam, Productivity Control, and some advanced Web tools.
Next i would recommend Adaware , a detection and removal tool, And also Spybot Search and Destroy , an application to scan for spyware adware, hijackers and other malicious software. Once you install, get them updated with the latest definitions, open the program and click the update link. Once you have updated them, and also your antivirus definitions, turn off the System Restore function. To do this go to Start=> Control Panel=>System=> click the System Restore tab and check the "Turn off System Restore" box, click Apply click o.k. Now turn off your computer and restart it into safe mode. To do this, simply press the f8 key when you first get the system info screen. I find that if you repeatedly press the f8 key during this time, you wont miss out on getting into safe mode. When you get the Advanced Option screen, select Safe Mode by pressing the up/down arrows, then press enter. Run your A/V, Adaware and SpyBot as normal, deleting what has been found. I understand that some threats have the ability to hide from scans in normal mode, so Safe Mode is a good way of ensuring you find all of them. Once you have scanned your box and fixed/deleted anything found, restart as normal. IMPORTANT Make sure you re-eneble System Restore straight away after you have logged back in.
O.K. we are much more protected from unwanted nasties and have less of a chance to pull our hair out having to re-install the whole O/S again, cos we were unprepared for the traps online, don't feel stupid if you have to re-install, i have had to do it twice, the first time losing all my data,mainly photos that i took, and it's something that sometimes just has to be done. And don't feel stupid asking for help, there are many here who will give their time to assist newbies in trouble.
Next important action is to go to the Windows update site and check for new patches, click on the icon in the Start Menu, once you are there click "scan for updates" and install all Critical Updates, choose any of the other updates that apply to you. I have Automatic Updates disabled, so i can manually update. This gives me the option of reding the updates before they are installed, and why i need it, and really just to be in control of it all.
YOU MUST REMEMBER TO CHECK THE UPDATE SITE IF YOU DISABLE AUTO UPDATE.
A few more tips:If you down load anything from the internet, save it to a folder in My Documents, and SCAN IT with you up to date AntiVirus Software BEFORE you open/run it, this ensures that you don't infect your box with whatever malicious evils that may or maynot be in it.
If you buy all those PC Mags as i do, the ones with the free cd, make sure you also scan the disk with you updated AntiVirus BEFORE you open it. To do this BEFORE you insert your disk, click Start=>My Computer=>right click the DVD/CD-RAM icon=>click properties=>select the Auto Play tab, you can select the "Prompt me each time to choose an action" option, or prolly a better way is to check the "Select an action to perform" option, and click "Take no action". After you have made your choice click Apply, click o.k. Now you can insert your disk and Windows will prompt you or wont open it. Now click Start=>My Computer=>right click DVD/CD-RAM icon and scan it with your Up to date A/V.
O.K. I have left things out of this tutorial, mainly not to confuse the beginner who would be confused or overloaded with too much info.....
If i have posted anything that's not right, or could be expanded, please let me know and i will fix it, also if the order of things to do could be changed, could someone with more knowledge point this out.
I hope that this is helpful to the new users of the internet.
cheers.....
TidaL.....
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