Protect Your Computer 

Firewall

Simply put, firewall software does its best to monitor the information traveling between the Internet and your computer. It is an effective tool in preventing unwanted data from finding its way from the Internet to your personal computer.

While a number of software firewall applications are available, for the sake of simplicity we recommend using the built-in firewall provided with Windows XP Service Pack 2. If your version of XP has not been upgraded to SP2, we recommend visiting http://www.windowsupdate.com before proceeding with this guide. To find out which service pack you are running, right-click on the My Computer icon on your desktop and select Properties.

The Windows Firewall can be turned on and off through the Security Center, which is in the control panel. To access the control panel, click on the Start menu in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

IP setting

The following is a suggestion we make for most students, but it is not required. If you use services such as remote desktop, you may want to skip this section. For most computer users, however, this step will increase your security.

  1. Right-click on My Network Places and select Properties.
  2. Right-click on Local Area Connection and select Properties.
  3. Scroll down to and double-click on Internet Protocol (TCP/IP).
  4. Click Advanced.
  5. Select the DNS tab at the top of the Advanced window.
  6. Uncheck the box titled Register This Connection’s Addresses in DNS.
  7. Select the WINS tab at the top of the window.
  8. Uncheck the box titled Enable LMHOSTS Lookup.
  9. Select Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP.
  10. Click OK three times and close the Network Connections window.
  11. Reboot your computer.

Conscientious downloading

Think before you download. The majority of Internet threats are not clever enough to sneak onto your computer without you opening the door for them. These simple rules can help prevent you from welcoming unwanted downloads.

 Never  


Never open email attachments from people you don’t know.
 Never  


Never open suspicious and unexpected email attachments, even from people you DO know.
Never  

When pop-up advertisements appear on your screen, do not click on them or follow their instructions. Be especially wary of pop-ups warning you about viruses or spyware on your system. If it’s not coming from your anti-virus program, it’s probably not valid.
 Never  

Do not use file-sharing software. (Kazaa, eDonkey, Limewire …). Not only is it illegal to download and share music and movies you do not own, they very often are packed with viruses and spyware. For more information about problems with file-sharing software, visit our File-sharing and p2p page.
 Do not use file-sharing software  

When downloading shareware and freeware, try to download from reliable and well-known sites such as www.download.com. Be cautious of less reputable sites or ones you haven't previously used.

Logon password

An important part of ensuring security on a Windows XP computer is to make sure you have an administrator password set. We also recommend keeping passwords on any other accounts as well. This not only provides local security for your machine, it also makes unwanted remote connections more difficult.

To check, change or create account passwords in Windows XP, all you need to do is access the User Accounts control panel. This can be found by clicking on the Start menu, then selecting Control Panel.

Recommended applications

If you’ve just been through our Virus and Spyware removal section, you may have many of these programs already. For those of you who just got here, the following is a list of applications we recommend, and links to download them.

AdAware

SpyBot

McAfee AntiVirus

Windows Defender

Spyware Blaster

 

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