"XP-MUST HAVES" NOOBIE'S GUIDE FOR SAFE SURFING

Everything listed below is
100% Free !!!!







ANTI VIRUS

A must have to protect your system from malicious Viruses.
Warning.. Only have 1 antivirus software installed at a time.
Check for updates daily or turn on automatic updates.
The virus software that came with your new computer is only a 30 - 90
Day trial.

AVAST 5 stars
avast! 4 Home Edition is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users and non-commercial use. This one of the best antivirus programs on the net . You will need to register, with a emaill address. Well worth the 3 minutes it will take you.

AVG 4 1/2 stars
AVG Anti-Virus Free is a free anti-virus protection tool developed by GRISOFT for home use.
Easy to use and great for old computers


FIREWALL

if you're not running a firewall you are seriously at risk and have likely already been compromised.

ZONE ALARM 5 stars
ZoneAlarm is designed to protect your DSL- or cable-connected PC from hackers. This program includes four interlocking security services: a firewall, an application control, an Internet lock, and Zones
Warning only install 1 firewall on your computer. windows xp users please shut off windows built in firewall. Its better than nothing, but once you have a real firwall installed it will just get in the way

SPYWARE BLOCKER / REMOVER

SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY 5 stars
Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware, a relatively new kind of threat not yet covered by common anti-virus applications. Spyware silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies. If you see new toolbars in your Internet Explorer that you haven't intentionally installed, if your browser crashes inexplicably, or if your home page has been "hijacked" (or changed without your knowledge), your computer is most probably infected with spyware. Even if you don't see the symptoms, your computer may be infected, because more and more spyware is emerging. Spybot-S&D is free, so there's no harm giving it a try to see if something has invaded your computer.
Warning update daily, you can have more than 1 spyware remover installed on you

BROWSERS,
You can still have your internet explorer,It will still work after installing a different browser but after using Firefox or Opera You will never go back to internet explorer

FIREFOX 5 stars

OPERA 5 stars

ANTI-SPY SOFTWARE
Big brother Bill Gates Is watching you

XP ANTI-SPY 5 stars

The xp-AntiSpy is a little utility that lets you disable some built-in update and authentication 'features' in WindowsXP and Shuts off balloon tips and so much more!!!!

For example, there's a service running in the background which is called 'Automatic Updates'. I don't know what this service transfers from my machine to other machines on the internet, especially the MS ones. So I play it safe and disable such functions. If you like, you can even disable these functions manually, by going through the System and checking or unchecking some checkboxes. This will take you approximately half an hour. But why wast time when a little neat utility can do the same in 1 minute? This utility was successfully tested by lots of users, and was found to disable all the known 'Suspicious' Functions in WindowsXP. It's customiseable, but comes up with the Default settings, which are recommended. This utility is DONATIONWARE! This means, you don't have to pay anything for this program and you can give it to anyone who's interested in it, as long as you don't sell it. If you find this tool useful, and wanna gimme something back, think about donating a small amount of money.

YAHOO TOOLBAR
Search the net, stops popups, and has a great spyware checker...and its free


TAGS
free software