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Coming back to Windows after five-ish years. What do I need to know?
Divebommah
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I like to think I know a lot about computers -- built many of my own, I enjoyed tweaking the crap out of them, loading fun software, etc. About five or so years ago I got sick of keeping my patches, AV, malware, spyware, etc. constantly up to date and I bought a Mac. I've been supremely happy with it! Long story short I'm getting a Windows computer again (I won it) and I'm afraid I don't know what things are like these days.
Do I still have to be religious about AV/spyware scanning? Are the apps I used to use all the time (utilities like CCleaner, etc.) still needed or relevant? What do you instantly install on a new computer you get?
ps. Holy crap, I've been a part of this forum for eight years.
Do I still have to be religious about AV/spyware scanning? Are the apps I used to use all the time (utilities like CCleaner, etc.) still needed or relevant? What do you instantly install on a new computer you get?
ps. Holy crap, I've been a part of this forum for eight years.
Divebommah on
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Use something that isn't Internet Explorer (generally Chrome or Firefox)
Use AdBlock (browser plugin)
If using Firefox, use Noscript
Use Microsoft Security Essentials for free AV
If you do end up with malware on your system I recommend Malwarebytes Antimalware but I'm sure people have lots of opinions on this one.
You might want to take a look at ninite.com for installers for common fundamental apps. I highly recommend 7zip and Notepad++ at the very least.
EDIT: This all assumes you're using Windows 7. If it's 8, I haven't personally used it long enough to make recommendations for antivirus/antispyware, but the rest still holds.