Internet surfing on a defenseless pc

[Hmarroqu]

what are some good antivirus and anti malware for a regular laptop xp user?

free of course, :)

[LaRoza]

The most important defence is the user. Browser smart, use a good browser NOT IE. Firefox and Opera are good choices. I am using Opera now.

Disable scripting when browsing, NoScript extension for FF, Tools->Preferences in Opera

Be careful of what you do and open, remember, Windows will execute anything it can, including scripts.

Unhide file extensions.

Don't use the Admin account, make a new one with limited privileges, and use that, unless you need admin rights.

AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/) is good I here, and Avast (http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html), but I have never used them.

Use Linux

[monsieurdozier]

I use AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/) and Spybot S&D (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html) (With Immunization).

If I happen to run across anything, it doesn't have time to do anything before one or the other catches it and destroys it.

Only thing is that you have to manually update Spybot. AVG is so unnoticable, I often don't think about it running. Updates itself, runs very easily. I enjoy this program.

When I run into a problem, mainly with other people's PC's, I carry Clamwin Portable (http://portableapps.com/news/2007-08-23_-_clamwin_portable_0.91.2) on my flash drive. It works very well.

Monsieur Dozier

[digital_exhaust]

AVG used to be really good for a free a/v, but has really started to become bloated and is not as effective as it once was... If it must be free, Avast! is the only one I would recommend.

For about $30, you can get NOD32 (http://www.eset.com/), which is the lighetest and most effective a/v I have ever used.... you literally won't know it's there.

And always run behind a hardware firewall....

[Hmarroqu]

Great, ill try those out. As for the browser im using flock.

[BoyOfDestiny]

Great, ill try those out. As for the browser im using flock.

http://www.privoxy.org/

Great proxy, I still use it with Firefox on Ubuntu.

Consider making cookies last per session, tracking cookies can stay on your machine for decades otherwise.

http://www.clamwin.com/

For anti-virus

Both are GPL'd.

P.S. Is that all the PC is used for primarily? Perhaps migrate it to another OS ;)?

[Arwen]

I used nod32 and avg-free for antivirus and spyware doctor,ad-aware and spybot search and destroy for anti-spyware.But I don't think it's right to use so many at a time.I've heard good comments for Kaspersky and avast of which there's a free edition.I occasionally had problems with viruses,formatted twice and soon after I installed VMWare workstation and browsed in XP in it.All good since then,but my brother uses that pc now though he hasn't told me about any problems with viruses so it's OK.
You should consider virtualisation if you don't want to change OS :P

[dca]

Prevx is pretty good. You can use the free trial...

[digital_exhaust]

I used nod32 and avg-free for antivirus and spyware doctor,ad-aware and spybot search and destroy for anti-spyware.But I don't think it's right to use so many at a time

Using multiple a/v programs on the same machine is fine as long as you don't run multiple scans at the same time. Doing so can cause problems, for instance, one program may detect the others definition files as viruses...

But really, one good one is all you need.... try the 30 day NOD32 trial, you'll be glad you did.....

[Beau D.]

Avira antivirus is very good..and pretty light. Kerio Firewall for a software firewall has been good to me in the past. Anti spyware worked for me. All three are free. Good luck

Beau D.

[victor_c26]

The most important defence is the user. Browser smart, use a good browser NOT IE. Firefox and Opera are good choices. I am using Opera now.

Disable scripting when browsing, NoScript extension for FF, Tools->Preferences in Opera

Be careful of what you do and open, remember, Windows will execute anything it can, including scripts.

Unhide file extensions.

Don't use the Admin account, make a new one with limited privileges, and use that, unless you need admin rights.

AVG (http://free.grisoft.com/) is good I here, and Avast (http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html), but I have never used them.

Use Linux

Best advice for Windows, minus the Use Linux line. :)

Also, I would like to add, use a hardware router, always always use a router when ever possible.

If you do all of this, which isn't much if you think about it, your Windows install will be as secure as Fort Knox.

[Chrisj303]

NOD 32 is a fantastic AV software. However, it is not free.

If you cannot afford to pay, and have a problem with cracked software, then check out Clamwin.