Best way to protect a Windows PC

[timwhit]

I'm currently in the process of reinstalling my Dad's OS + applications. He has a tendency to acquire malware, virii, rootkits, etc. What resident anti-virus and anti-malware applications would you recommend? The apps need to update automatically, if he gets a notice to update the definitions or the application, he will not know what to do. I have automatic updates turned on. I also installed Avast home edition.

He already surfs with Firefox and Adblock Plus. I don't think I can install NoScript, because he wouldn't be able use it effectively.

I was also thinking about taking an image of the system when everything is installed and then just reimaging it every time it becomes riddled with malware.

Any other ideas?

 

[ddrueding]

I have installed NoScript on computers whose users are naughty, without telling them how to bypass stuff. I just tell them they can't go anywhere it won't let them. You seem to have the rest fairly under control. Unless you feel like setting up a scheduled Acronis imaging as a backup.

 

[Mercutio]

In the articles section here, there's a whole bunch of things I recommend in my 2009 Malware protection guide. Most of them apply.

I suppose you'll be wanting paid versions of Spybot and SpywareBlaster. They're both fairly inexpensive. Paid apps along the lines of SpySweeper and Norton Internet Security are NOT worth the money.

Big things that seem to be helpful these days:
Ditch Adobe Reader. Use Foxit. The flaw in the Acrobat plugin for both IE and Firefox was deliberately left open for months. and they told everyone that they couldn't be bothered to fix it sooner than that.

Also, Windows Media Player. Use Media Player Classic or VLC instead. And set up WMP to not download Codecs automatically, just in case.

System Images work really well. You might find it easier to just pop in a large-enough hard drive and set TrueImage or the like to run a backup once a day. If you're serious going to just revert an Image whenever there's an issue I'd at least set up FoxMarks for his bookmarks and move his Documents folder to another partition.

 

[timwhit]

I installed the free version of Spybot. Do you normally start that up with Windows or just immunize all the apps and then manually scan once a week?

I installed FoxIt, I never install Adobe Reader on my PCs. I installed Media Player Classic with K-Lite Codec Pack and set it as the default app for almost all media.

I'm going to take a system image with Acronis and keep it around in case he is able to get a bunch of crap installed on here.

 

[Santilli]

My initial response was to lock it in a safe...
;0
What was that setup from MSFT that locks the system down, writes everything in sequential cache, then deletes it on shutdown????

Check the SSD thread for the name, and setup.

 

[timwhit]

My initial response was to lock it in a safe...
;0
What was that setup from MSFT that locks the system down, writes everything in sequential cache, then deletes it on shutdown????

Check the SSD thread for the name, and setup.

It's called SteadyState. I don't think he would like that too much though. He wouldn't be able to use bookmarks, save passwords, etc.

My other idea was to install Ubuntu on the box, but I'm not comfortable administering a Linux desktop.

I have an image backed up now, so the next time that the machine is screwed up, I'll just reimage it.

 

[Mercutio]

I've evaluated Steadystate on PCs before, as well as Deep Freeze, before returning to image-based maintenance. My coworkers, who are at least theoretically software trainers, had difficulty with the concept of "changes go away on reboot."

You can redirect My Documents to another location but then you get bitched at because someone left something on the desktop.

 

[Santilli]

Why not remove the My Documents folder from the desktop, and replace it with a shortcut to a My Documents folder on another drive?

 

[ddrueding]

If someone saves a file directly on the desktop, it doesn't matter where "My Docs" is.

 

[Santilli]

Mirror the desktop folder, software wise, on another disk????