Windows Vista Update

You find yourself with a shiny new Vista laptop or desktop, one that you paid quite a bit to buy or upgrade it, (because there would be no point in having Vista without the processing power to enjoy all of the new features and graphic interface it offers) and you know that you have to take steps to protect it or soon it will be a shiny new host for computer parasites. 

Malware, spyware and viruses, but you don't have a big budget.  Never fear we're going to protect your system on the cheap.  In fact we're going to do if for free.

You, like many other people, might think that using free software to protect your computer isn't as good as buying commercial software.

Many of the freeware are versions of commercial software without the access to advanced features, and true freeware, that give you full access for free, can actually have an advantage over commercial systems.

Developers can improve the software as many times as they want to, without having to wait for a new release in order to make extra revenue from their product.

The system already gives you a strong foundation to work from.  Each Vista system comes complete with Windows Defender. 

Widows Defender is a tool that helps you to increase your systems performance while keeping your computer from becoming vulnerable to spyware that can damage your computer,

or just make it so slow that you want to throw it across the room. Another blessing is that it will run in the background, with no effort on your part and it self updates. That's an alright start to protecting your investment but, we're not going to stop with the minimal amount of protection.

After all you wouldn't give your new sports car to a random 15 year old, but if your computer is unprotected then you may just be giving it to a random 15 year old as part of his botnet.

We'll start with prevention.  It's much easier to stop a problem than it is to fix it.  Clamwin is free and reliable anti-virus software.  To deal with spyware we'll use a freeware called Spyware blaster.  Finally you'll need a firewall. 

We'll be using Zone Alarm. Zone Alarms is my product of choice because a user friendly Window pops up to tell you when a program is connecting to the Internet, and lets you choose on an individual program basis, which has been an issue with other free firewalls.

All of these programs should, ideally be downloaded to a folder with a name like "security freeware" or "PC protection" so that you can find them without wasting precious desktop space and ultimately succumbing to clutter.

One final word, virus software, adware, and spyware detectors are only as good as their definition files so let those programs update at least monthly, Just because Windows Defender updates itself regularly do not assume that other programs will.

It is better to be safe than sorry, so make it part of your monthly maintenance and cleaning. (You do clean out your PC each month to eliminate files you don't need anymore, don't you?)