Mods please edit as you wish. Thanks!
Do not force Safe
Mode with MSCONFIG
Keep your system updated
Microsoft releases patches for Windows and Office products
regularly to patch up Windows and Office products loopholes and fix
any bugs found. Please ensure that you visit the following websites
regularly or do update your system regularly.
Install the updates immediately if they are found. Reboot your
computer if necessary, revisit Windows Update and Office update
sites until there are no more updates to be installed.
To update Windows
Go to Start > All Programs
> Windows Update
To update Office
Open up any Office program.
Go to Help > Check for
Updates
Alternatively, you can visit the links below to update Windows and
Office products.
Windows
Update
Office Updates
If you are forgetful, you can change some settings so that you will
be informed of updates. Here's how:
Java is another program that updates regularly to fix bug issues
and loopholes in it. Here's the instructions for updating
Java:
Remember to remove all previous versions of Java when you update it
to a new version to prevent exploitation of the older versions left
on your system.
Besides Windows and Java that need regular updating, antivirus,
anti-spyware and firewall programs update regularly too.
Please make sure that you update your antivirus, firewall and
anti-spyware programs at least once a week.
Make your Internet Explorer safer
For Internet Explorer 6
For a pictorial guide, please refer to this article.
For Internet Explorer 7
Please read the article by Microsoft to configure Internet
Explorer 7 properly.
Prevent a re-infection
Use an alternative email client
If you are using Outlook Express as your default email client, try
using Thunderbird or Pegasus Mail instead.
P2P Programs
The advice is not to use P2P programs. But if you wishes to, here
are some P2P programs which are spyware-free.
List of
Clean and Infected P2P Programs by Nexus7
List of Clean and Infected P2P programs by Spyware
Info
List of Clean and Infected P2P programs by
Patrick M. Kolla, maker of Spybot Search & Destroy
Download Managers
Download managers can help to make downloads faster, but some
download managers are full of spywares or they bundled it with
spyware.
A review of clean download managers can be found here.
Here are some more things to read about:
Safety when using P2P
Configuring Skype
Greater email safety
Phishing - what is it?
Configuring Outlook Express
Configuring Firefox 1.5
Securing Safari for Windows
The
Unofficial Cookie FAQ
Securing your home wireless network
80 Super Security Tips
The different classes of security
softwares
Child Lures
Protection
The
Children's Partnership
Counter Pedophilia
Investigative Unit
Crimes Against
Children Investigation Unit
Cyberlaw Enforcement
Organization
Cybersmart
Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse Agent
FBI - Crimes against Children
Get Net
Wise
High Technology
Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA)
National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children
National Center
for Missing and Exploited Children
National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Predator
Hunter
Internet
Safety for Kids
Perverted Justice
Safe
Kids
Safe
Teens
Anti Rootkit
Note: You have to re-download them each time you do a scan to make
sure that the anti rootkit is up to date.
Internet Browsers *
See this post
Be careful when downloading via
P2P!
List of Do Not Go
sites:
When visiting untrusted
sites,
When you have an
infection,
FAQ
