[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
Terry Hill wrote: > On 06/09/07, peter <peter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: >> Hi >> >> I currently use my Windows stuff very rarely for the internet. I am >> wondering if I still need McAfee and could I use something instead? McAfee? *shiver*. Don't. It's horrible. It's the buggiest, slowest, most bloated, self-inflating piece of "software" I have ever had the misfortune to use. I recommend a format to clean it out properly as well, since I'm sure the uninstall won't do the job properly (though if you don't want to format I'm sure it will do for now). For your antivirus- get avast (also called AVG), you have to register, but it is free, and doesn't make your idle CPU usage 100%. >> Most (almost all) of my Internet work is done in Linux. This is good. One assumes that you have a router then- or maybe an ethernet modem? I highly doubt you managed to get the USB rubbish they send you working in Linux, but if you did- don't bother. Get a router. Then you don't need a firewall in Windows and it will speed up big time. > I'd say it's a risk - depends what you're doing with windows over the > net. Personally I wouldn't connect a windows pc unless it was > properly firewalled, malware protected and fully patched, but then I'm > paranoid. I've seen lots of infected PC's in my time. > > Windows + Internet = Paranoia. Rightly so, it takes less than a minute for an unprotected clean installed Win98 machine to come under the control of someone out there on the net. WinXP is less than 10 minutes I think. But that's because the local services like samba are open to the net. Behind a NAT a windows machine left running will never get infected, because it will never ask for anything questionable (unless someone manages to spoof your DNS or your router sucks). And I would NEVER bother with the windows updates. They slow it down too much and are totally unnecessary. All you need is a NAT firewall (i.e. a router or another PC with internet connection sharing). This stops all attacks. The only things that can get in now are things you ask for- in your case just web pages and emails. The solution- use firefox, thunderbird and common sense. Don't visit websites which are likely to have viruses and don't open suspicious attachments. This is the setup we have on my network and I've never had any problems. It's a good idea to have at least one machine with antivirus though- that way you will get at least some notice if a virus gets in. Firewalls are the most common cause of unusably slow Windows machines- and it's totally unnecessary. Get a router (or other NAT). If you really must have a software firewall on windows get comodo. Like Avast, that also works without making your idle CPU usage 100%. Do not ever use commercial firewall or antivirus software- especially the big names like norton and especially not mcafee. Hope this helps Simon (Terry- you annoying top poster, you) -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/linux_adm/list-faq.html