Securing your new windows computer
Here are some instructions I believe will help you make your new Windows computer more secure as a home user. The source of most of this is from here.
So you're going to have to maintainin your own computer and for whatever reason you've chosen Windows. The single biggest security hole with a Windows computer is Internet Explorer. Stop using it. This is the simplest solution to the problem of spyware and many viruses for home users. It's probably the simplest solution for professional administrators as well, but they have a vested interest in keeping their jobs, so they need to keep themselves busy ;-)
Follow the procedure below. You should consider it unsafe to connect your computer to the internet before you've completed this. Doing this means that you won't need to run anti-spyware software and greatly reduces the need to run anti-virus software. This will improve the performance of your computer and dramatically reduce the incidence of "mysterious software problems".
Step 1.
Download and install Firefox (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/).
Download the installer and save it on a usb thumb drive or burn to a CD from another computer.
Step 2.
Set firefox as your default browser using the following menu options:
Firefox 2: "Tools -> Options -> Main / System Defaults -> (checkmark) Always check to see if Firefox is the default browser on startup -> Check Now"
Step 3.
Secure Internet Explorer
Unfortunately Microsoft have made it almost impossible to completely uninstall IE. Use the following procedure to secure it and remove as many traces as possible of it from the system:
Secure Internet Explorer
* Open Internet Explorer
* Go to Tools | Internet Options... | Security
* Set the security level for all zones except trusted sites to high
* Set the security level for trusted sites to medium
* While the trusted sites zone is selected, click on the Sites... button
* Uncheck Require server verification (https:) for all sites in this zone
* Add:
o http://*.update.microsoft.com
o https://*.update.microsoft.com
o http://download.windowsupdate.com
With only the above three sites in the trusted sites zone, the trusted sites zone set to medium security, and all other zones set to high security, Internet Explorer is as secure as it can be while still leaving Windows Update functional. To be as safe as possible, use Internet Explorer only when absolutely necessary. IE generally has known highly critical security vulnerabilities, and even well-known sites can contain exploits that a fully patched version of Internet Explorer is vulnerable to. In addition to securing Internet Explorer, you may also want to hide the icon as described in the next section.
[edit]
Hide the Internet Explorer icon from the desktop
Right-click on the Desktop -> click Properties -> Desktop -> Customize Desktop -> Desktop Icons -> Internet Explorer <uncheck this
Another way (in Windows XP, possibly different for other versions of windows) Start -> Set Program Access and Defaults -> Add/Remove Windows Components -> Uncheck Internet Explorer -> Click Next. Now Internet Explorer has been partially uninstalled.
OK, now it's much safer to connect your computer to the internet. Be sure to install your operating system and especially web browser updates regurlarly!
