I'm running free avira w/active guard on vista64. My main webbrowser is firefox 32 bit. I use windows firewall with a router. Do certain settings on router have to be anabled in order to provide firewall safety? I disabled my security on my router settings. Does this mean my router is no longer working good as a internet firewall? I have windows defender enabled. Is this good to keep enabled? Should I have a spyware program? recommendations? Is it really much more safe to create a guest account for webbrowsing? I don't want to bother unless it makes a big difference. I do regular torrents from the piratebay. With this in mind, are there additional precautions I should take?
Woah... that's a lot of questions. I'll try to answer them. 1. A router is a good defense, and you probably should turn the security on. I don't know whether it will still work as a firewall without the Security turned on, because it depends on what model your router is. Probably best to keep it turned on. 2. Windows Defender is good to keep enabled, and if you feel happy with it, keep it. I will also recommend Malwarebytes Anti-malware and Superantispyware, both of which are excellent antispywares and can be used to scan your computer/files for malware. 3. It does provide extra security to create a guest account for web browsing, so that javascript and drive-by exploits will not be able to harm your computer. Then again, safe surfing is best surfing. 4. I will recommend you not to download torrents, as they can be bundled with malware. However, if you must, I will recommend scanning them on www.virustotal.com first before installing any programs downloaded through torrents. 5. See here for extra precautions you can take: http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/718005 Best Regards
Thanks, windows defender is antispyware right? So Malwarebytes Anti-malware and Superantispyware you recommend would be to use instead of windows defender or in addition to? Torrents I download are mostly videos and pictures. Are these considered less dangerous since they don't rightly install? How likely are javascript and drive-by exploits going to harm computer? What is a scenario this would happen and how bad could it be? I wonder if it's really worth the trouble to create a guest profile. Or maybe it's easy to setup and swap between? I don't know because I haven't done this before.
Hey leiff Windows Defender is an antispyware. However it has poorer detection than Superantispyware and Malwarebytes, but has real-time protection which the free versions of SAS and MBAM do not have. Video files can be infected with malware, so it is a precaution to scan them before running them. Drive-by and Javascript can download malware onto your computer through the browser. This can be pretty bad, but if you have an antivirus and antispyware, you probably are safe. I'll leave the "I wonder" questions for yourself. Best Regards
