updated 8/3/2010

Here is how to run Windows as safely and efficiently as you can. Stuff you actually need to know and do.

Over the next little while, I’ll make each green title a hot link to a proper explanation and “step by step how to” instructions.

1. 1.Windows XP Professional is the best version to use. Do not get Vista. Windows 7 is very new and I advise you to WAIT. Nothing brand new from Microsoft is ever good. Do not jump in yet. If you are buying a new machine, make sure you have specified Windows XP Pro. If they don’t have the option, tell them you wont buy it, that works wonders, they will change quickly. XP Home is no good as is Windows Media Centre Edition (MCE), Get XP Pro!!!
   

2. 2.Service Pack 3. A whole bunch of bug fixes for Windows. Right click My Computer and go to properties, general. If it doesn’t say Service Pack 3 on that screen, panic!!!!! XP is no good at all without it. There are a few AMD machines that die when Sp3 is applied however.
   

3. 3.Firewall on. XP has a firewall and you should turn it on. Right click My Network Places, properties, and again properties on your network card, under advanced, make sure the firewall is ON. Don’t buy add on software firewalls (eg Zone Alarm), they are not required and make life harder. Internet Security packages are annoying overkill.
   

4. 4.Anti virus. Gotta have it. Best today is the free Microsoft Security Essentials. If you have to spend money on anti-virus, don’t get Internet Security or the free AVG, it’s crap.
   

5. 5.Office. You’ll need Microsoft Office. I prefer 2003 but you’ll probably have to get 2007. Office XP was crap. Be careful what is included with the different versions. Some bundles don’t come with Power Point or Publisher. Check if you need these. There is a free Power Point player if you just want to watch PP shows and not make up your own. Microsoft has gone all Open Document and Office 2007 documents are XML format by default. No one can read these (unless they have Office 2007) so stick to the older Office “DOC” format when saving documents if you need to share them. Open Office may be an alternative to Microsoft Office and it’s FREE. Microsoft Office needs updating too. There are plenty of holes and flaws waiting to let the bad guys in.
   

6. 6.PDF Reader. Windows doesn’t know about PDF files. You absolutely have to have a PDF reader. The Adobe one is Ok but has had security scares, best to avoid it. Its also HUGE and slow. Foxit is supposed to be better. Get a free PDF creator too if you want to make PDF files. Adobe Acrobat is not something I am prepared to pay for. It works well but is very costly. There are free alternatives. PDF is supposed to mean Portable Document Format, not profitable!
   

7. 7.JAVA. You will need this.
   

8. 8.Flash. Ditto.
   

9. 9.VLC. A free video player that is better than Windows Media Player.
   

10. 10. iTunes. Free music manager from Apple. Supports RSS for podcasts. A must have. Comes with Quicktime which is another of those plug ins you will need anyway.
    

11. 11. AnyDVD. If you want to watch DVDs from other countries, buy AnyDVD. Don’t steal this, pay for it. It is cheap and updated regularly. Removes region coding. Accidentally seems to wipe out DRM too for some reason...
    

12. 12. DVD Shrink. Free DVD backup program. Copies non DRM protected DVDs (see above) from 9Gb dual layer to 4.5Gb single layer using compression. (that means it copies DVD movies) Makes good copies.
    

13. 13. Nero. CD and DVD burning suite. works well. Better than the free burner software built in to Windows. Has backup and scheduler too. Worth the money. If you just want to burn ISO files (downloaded CD/DVD images) then ISO Burn (free) might be all you need.
    

14. 14. Azureus. If you really must download stuff, this is the best bit torrent client. Just make sure you close it completely when you have finished. Don’t use Limewire, it sucks. And Kazaa - <vomit noise>. Downloading copyright material is of course illegal. Uploading is worse as you are publishing copyright material. All of these file sharing systems (by design) upload automatically as well as download, so you become doubly guilty.
    

15. 15. Firefox. Browsing the Internet with that blue     “E”     icon is really bad, bad, bad. Do NOT use Internet Explorer. Get Firefox. Much less prone to attacks. There’s also Safari and Opera if you want alternatives. All free.
    

16. 16. No Script, Ad Block, Filterset G. All free add-ons for Firefox. These block pop up ads, scripts and lots of viruses. Must have.
    

17. 17. Backup. Purchase a laptop hard drive and external USB case ( all up about $120 ). Please make sure that you NEVER get into the situation where your hard disk has the ONLY copy of anything you value. Make multiple copies on different disks. USB sticks or CD/DVDs make cheap backups. You can never have too many backups! The alternative, data recovery, starts at $1500 and is only about 25% successful. Laptops get stolen, disks fail, people erase things, mistakes are made. Data is lost. It hurts. Just freakin’ do the backup!!!!
    

18. 18. Crap removal. Get Spybot Search and Destroy and run it once a week. This will remove anything that your anti virus might have missed. Malware Bytes is more powerful, Adaware is easier to use but not so strong. All of these are FREE. Yes you still need anti-virus and one of these, they work together.
    

19. 19. Immunise Windows by modifying the HOSTS file to block bad sites. It’s a bit technical, but very effective.
    

20. 20. Windows Update. Make sure it is on and running automatically. There is a slight risk that it will decide to change a driver and break your PC, but let’s not dwell on that. It will grab the security patches and keep your Windows up to date. There are new holes found in Windows every day. Better not be bitten by something that could have been prevented.
    

21. 21. E-mail. Use Outlook (comes with Office) and NOT Outlook Express (free with Windows). Stupidly named almost identically, but Outlook Express is much more prone to viruses etc. Consider Gmail or Thunderbird or just about anything else.
    

22. 22. Internet. Make sure your broadband router (modem) has a firewall. Get a Linksys, don’t let your ISP provide the modem, buy it yourself. ( $100 ) Yes, you need this as well as the firewall in Windows.
    

23. 23. Wireless. If you run wireless in your house/office, make sure you have WPA (And not WEP) security turned on and use a LONG password. Save the password in a file (a Word doc or TXT file) and cut and paste it in rather than type it. 64 characters at random makes a good password. Get one generated for you at GRC if you like. The long password will keep your wireless safe. Every kid in the neighbourhood WILL try to break in to your wireless. Not only will they have Internet that you pay for, they can access your PC too! Wireless networks must be secured properly.
    

24. 24. Hardware. See my “what to buy” article. Basically Dell and get a 3 year warranty. If you really have to buy from Harvey Norman, get extended warranty.
    

25. 25. Printer. Probably an Epson or HP. Brother is quite popular too. Be aware of the warranty differences and support choices. Dell make good cheap laser printers. See my “what to buy” article.
    

26. 26. Finance. Please don’t use rental finance unless you like paying too much. See the article. Talk to your accountant, bank, heck even a loan shark.
    

27. 27. Read up on Phishing, scams and other crap. Be aware that just about anything that comes in your email about security, patches, updates, etc is probably a con and don’t open any of it. You are a target, you need to be careful, THEY ARE OUT TO GET YOU, and you have a 1 in 4 chance of being got. The great thing about Windows is that there are so many people using it (over 1 billion legal copies) that there is everything you could want (in software) available to you. Any hardware you can dream of will be available for Windows. You are the dominant species, but you are not the top of the food chain. The best programmers don’t work for Microsoft, they work for organised crime developing ways to make money out of you. Understand that your bank knows your phone number and they are not afraid to call you if there is a problem. They will NOT email you. Banks don’t do that.
    

28. 28. Sandboxie. This is wonderful. It makes what happens in your web browser stay in your web browser. Anything you browse to can not change your system settings. Even if you don’t surf the dark side, this is still a must have.
    

29. 29. Open DNS. Your ISP usually provides DNS service to you and you don’t think about it. This is not so good as it turns out. Changing to Open DNS can not only protect you from nastiness, it can make your Internet go faster. Free too.
    

30. 30. Virtual machine. If you really must surf the dark side, run a copy of Windows inside a virtual machine. Nothing escapes the matrix.
    

31. 31. Fake AntiVirus. Know that pop ups warning you that you are infected are trying to trick you. Anti-Virus 2010, Anti Virus XP and many more are ALL FAKES. See Wikipedia.
    

32. 32. Disable AUTORUN on  CD’s, USB sticks, network drives etc. Whilst it is handy for thumb drives and cds to just work when you plug them in, it is also a way viruses can get in. Turning this feature off is hard but well worth the effort.
    

I will do a follow up article with all the links to these things so you can download them easily.