Securing Your Computer For Free Complete Guide

As we all know our computers contain all sorts of important information and a lot of us can lose it all if we are not careful. You bank, shop, and work from computer and imagine what would happen if you lost that information or your files were deleted by a virus or stolen by a trojan. There is even the chance that your computer could have a keylogger on it right now stealing all of your passwords. So how will you protect that computer and all of its content? Well that is what we are here to help you with.

Internet Browser

The fact of the matter is that your internet browser is the main gateway for your computer to contract malware. The most common way to get malware is from going to a malicious website were an unsafe script was running. So you will want an internet browser that is safe, but more importantly you want tools for that browser that can make it even safer. So let us begin here.

Google Chrome   - Click To Go To Download Page
Google Chrome is the most secure browser that is currently released. So why settle for something like Internet Explorer? Some places of work do this because the websites they use are so out of date that only old version of Internet Explorer work. The built in protection from Google Chrome surpasses that of Bing. This can be seen from a recent Av-Test were bing contained 5 times the amount of malicious sites compared to Google which was the most secure. The journal can be downloaded from their site here.

Extensions
WOT- Scans all websites and images and gives them a rating from users this greatly increases the security.
Bitdefender Traffic Light- Scans all websites and gives their ratings from Bitdefender.
Avast Online Security- Gives website ratings by avast antivirus databases.

Use any 2 of the above or use all 3. But note that this can reduce search speed for older machines.

Firewall

The firewall is the main form of defense to protect your computer from malware and infected sites. You can think of the internet browser as some sort of Gateway, but the Firewall is your computers get keeper. Now as a home user you should not bother with buying a firewall but you should also not use the stock firewall that is built into windows. This firewall has always scored low on the Leak Tests so you will want a firewall that is free comes pre optimized and has a nice UI.

Comodo Firewall   -  Click To Go To Download Page 
Comodo firewall scores very well on the leak test and it comes with a sandbox for you to test newly downloaded software. The best thing is that this program comes pre configured for your experience. You shouldn't try to mess with the settings and configure them because there is a chance that it could backfire, and you cut off your own internet connection.

Antivirus 

We all want some form of antivirus on our computer because this is whats going to stop our computer from getting infected from the malware in the first place. Now Windows does have its own antivirus product, but this scores so poorly in testing that it is not worth your time especially when there are better free alternatives. Please make sure that you only download well known and trusted antivirus products because there are plenty of fake antivirus software out there.

Avast Free Antivirus - Click To Go To Download Page
Avast Free Antivirus is one of the very few programs that offer complete protection. Not to mention that the Avast user interface is so easy to use and it allows people to block websites from within with their own custom list. The great thing is that it blocks those as well as those blocked by Avast from their updates.

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What Is A Trojan:JS/Seedabutor.B

This piece of malware has grown very quickly and is becoming a very troubling form of malware for home users. This piece of malware was first classified by Microsoft on January 11th of this year. They were able to patch their program to detect this malware, yet it has become a growing threat because of out dated or just the lack of antivirus. So if you want to remove the malware skip to the bottom of the post and follow the very simple removal guide.

What Is It?

Well to take it from the name classification you will notice that it is a trojan, but there is more to it. This particular trojan was meant to be transmitted through Javascript which is what all website include. Well most of them do there are some who try to accommodate to those who don't use Java. This particular trojan is put into your temporary internet files and will start to redirect your browser to other sites. Now the sites seem to have been random in order but they were put there for someone to make money. The trojan is easily removable, and anyone can do it with a very simple tool or by going into their browser and deleting the temporary internet files. Something I found interesting is when the trojan activated some of the servers it sent were not available which meant that the trojan probably was from some sort of hacked website that was repaired.

Interesting though that this became such a large threat so quickly. This issue while not very large in the public did get the attention of security experts quickly.

Removal

Very simple removal process by deleting your temporary internet files.
Download Ccleaner- Then the process should be self explanatory. http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner
Afterwards, you can uninstall or keep the software it is free so it is up to you.

Now I recommend that you use a form of secondary scanner such as Hitman pro. This will scan for any remnants of the malware if there are any. It will also scan for other forms of malware that you may have contracted from the infected links. If you want some powerful secondary scanners then check out my post here were I give you a very quick list about secondary scanners.

List Here

After Removal

Alright after you removed the malware the next thing that you must do is update or in some cases install some sort of antivirus software. If you need to update your program just launch it and look around for the update. It might be under some sort of tab such as maintenance, settings, update etc..

If you are looking for some sort of antivirus software then try one of the free programs below. Please remember not to download both only use 1 of them. Also make sure that you don't have any other form of antivirus software on your computer while you download these or there can be possible conflicts. 

Ad Aware- http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Avast- http://www.avast.com/index

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What Is RAM?

RAM which stands for Random Access Memory is one of the needed items for your computer it is also one of the most overlooked item however it is one of the best for increasing computer speed. So I will break down what RAM is why we need it and why you might need more of it.

What Is RAM

As I said in the little introduction RAM stands for Random Access Memory. Your computers memory is another type of storage. It simply works by writing information to the RAM so that it is able to run. For a process to work it needs to go to the RAM and store that information to run. Now since every program requires a certain amount of RAM to run the more you have the more programs that you can use at 1 time. Did you ever see the option of a 32-bit software and a 64-bit software and it asks which type your system is there is a reason for that. A 32-bit operating system can't use more than 4gb of RAM regardless of the actual amount that you may have. You also download those specific types because they can each access that RAM differently.

So basically you can think of RAM as another type of storage for your computer. Instead of something being written to the RAM it is changing dependent on the items that are running. This is why it is called Random Access Memory. While it could be made to sound more complicated this is the idea in a Nut Shell.

How Much Do I Need

This depends on most modern operating systems you should be using 4-8gb depending on what you do. If you are a gamer then 8+ is recommended. However if you use your computer for web browsing and using Microsoft Office then you will only need 4gb. Don't go over board and buy a ton of RAM because the amount you have is dependent on your mother board. Now while the more RAM you have the better your computer will run you don't need an astronomical amount.

Were Do I Buy RAM?

Well you can go to most tech stores such as Best Buy or Frys Electronics to find it but most people prefer to order it online. For instance below I have a couple of highly rated RAM from customers on Amazon. They are also 2gb so you can use multiple to get you 4gb for your basic home computer. Also remember you don't need to use all of the same kind of RAM you can use different brands but they both have to be the same speed. Also the Brand does not matter as long as it is from a reliable company and has a good review. While an item can be good if it is cheap and breaks right away or doesn't work then it becomes more of an issue for you.

Since this one is 667mhz then you can only use RAM with that same speed.


Those are just a couple of examples. I recommend that you buy the same brand and type just so that it is easier on you and it reduces chances of incompatibility.

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List Of Second Opinon Malware Scanners

Why Do I Need A Secondary Malware Scanner?
You want a secondary scanner because no 1 antivirus program can keep you safe from every threat it is completely impossible. You can't expect a company to do that either it would be insane we would need thousands of technicians and programs scanning every website every IP, and it would be chaos. To make an example out of this. Does a sports team ever go in without a reserve? NO they always carry a reserve why? Because if one gets injured then they are out. The same thing applies to malware scanners you need more than one.

Below Is the list that you are looking for.

1. HitmanPro- http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro/
2. Panda Active Scan- http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/
3. Malwarebytes- http://www.malwarebytes.org/
4. Super AntiSpyware- http://www.superantispyware.com/
5. Bitdefender Quick Scan- http://quickscan.bitdefender.com/
6. Norton Power Eraser- http://security.symantec.com/nbrt/npe.aspx
7. Kaspersky TDSSKiller- http://kaspersky-tdsskiller.en.softonic.com/
8. McAfee Stinger- http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/stinger.aspx
9. Trend Micro House Call- http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
10. Eset Onlne Scanner- http://www.eset.com/us/online-scanner/
11. Dr.Web CureIt! - http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/

All of these are working as of the time of this post.

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What Is A Second Opinon Malware Scanner?

A second opinion malware scanner is one of your best friends in the world. No but seriously a second opinion malware scanner is something that everyone should use but most don't. Many people believe that since they an antivirus program that they are safe from malware completely without question. Then they end up on the phone with Geek Squad asking "how do I remove this virus"? To which the Geek Squad member replied "you need to buy the newest Microsoft office". The only way to stop malware is to avoid bad sites, but having some already and not knowing is the worst thing that you can do to your computer.

What Is A Second Opinion Malware Scanner?

This is basically a scanner that you have on your computer that offers no protection, but scans for malware to try and find what others miss. These are so crucial especially when there is such as spike in malware distribution you need to make sure your computer is safe. Now these scanners don't replace an antivirus program but they are crucial to have around for the safety of your computer. The amount of malware in the world increase by thousand's daily whether it is a different variation or an entirely new type of malware all of them are bad.

Why Do I Need A Secondary Malware Scanner?

You want a secondary scanner because no 1 antivirus program can keep you safe from every threat it is completely impossible. You can't expect a company to do that either it would be insane we would need thousands of technicians and programs scanning every website every IP, and it would be chaos. To make an example out of this. Does a sports team ever go in without a reserve? NO they always carry a reserve why? Because if one gets injured then they are out. The same thing applies to malware scanners you need more than one.

How Many Should I Use?

Well I say use 2 in conjunction with your main antivirus. This will reduce your chances of getting controlled by malware and possible destruction of the computer. You could lose everything if you don't get rid of the malware then it causes Windows to crash at launch, and this is something that you don't want. You should run them weekly or daily depending on how active you are on the computer and what it is you do. Run them if your computer has a strange slow down or there is an unusual slowdown of your computer.

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Does A Home User Need To Pay For Antivirus?

There are a lot of people out there who think that it is necessary to pay for an antivirus program, but the sad truth is that is not true at all. While paid programs do offer more protection the average user won't do anything that a free program like Avast, or Ad Aware couldn't handle. If you are business then yes pay for the extra protection because there is a lot of vital information on those computers, but the home user does not need it. People think that if it is free it is not effective but the sad truth is on tests the paid version does score slightly better sometimes but most of the time they are EQUAL.

Why Is Free Antivirus Good

To make it simple when it comes to protecting your computer from malware such as viruses and trojans a free program is effective to keep you safe. You also don't have to shell out the money to pay for the license of the paid version. To make it simple when an antivirus program scans your computer is looks at what the file is doing and sees if it is in the database. A paid program and a free program still have access to the exact same database so why pay. While malware is evolving and becoming more complex there are a lot of free programs for your computer that save you money and are just as good.

Paid Comes With More Features

That is true a paid program does come with more secure features, but let me ask you. Do you know how to use those features? If yes then the offer might entice you. But if you don't you are taking their word thinking it is more secure even though you have no clue how it works. While the features are nice you don't need them for a home user. When will you need to configure your own custom firewall and block ports? Most people don't know what that means or how to set it up. So it is not necessary for you so don't waste your money on it.

What Should I Do Then?

You need a good combination of firewall and antivirus. So I have a guide that can be found here on that but below I will give you a basic set up that I recommend.

Avast Free Antivirus- Really good protection simple and comes great right out of the box.
Online Armor Free Firewall- One of the best firewalls in the industry and comes with a lot of nice features to protect your computer.
Spyware Blaster- Does not provide protection, but they update the program to add unsafe sites to your block list.

Links

Avast- http://www.avast.com/en-us/index

Online Armor- http://www.online-armor.com/products-online-armor-free.php

Spyware Blaster- http://www.brightfort.com/spywareblaster.html

My Article - http://thedailyexposition.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-to-secure-my-computer-for-free.html

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What Is Ransomware

Ransomware is another form of malware that is one of the hardest forms of malware to remove. One of the worst things about ransomware is that it can come with other forms of malware such as viruses, trojans, and many other forms of malware. The main thing that you must keep in mind with ransomware is that antivirus software has a hard time detecting it. That and you will have a hard time removing it, so below I will go into ransomeware into great detail. I will also give you some tricks that you can do to try and remove it.

What Is Ransomware

Ransomware is a form of malware that is disguised as a legitimate program such as an antivirus program. This is why a lot of people tend to fall for these programs but what makes them worse is that they bring more malware with them to put your system in danger. You could say ransomware is some form of double agent that gets into your computer and looks like a friend but is really working for the enemy. It is pretty easy to notice ransoware once it is on the computer and it is infected but it may not be so easy when you are searching around on the web. The big hit for your computer is some weird fine or cost to use the program or in the case of the money pack scam  a way to unlock the computer.

What Is It Meant To Do

Ransomware is meant to steal credit card information and to take your money. This is a form of scam that people have been making millions of dollars from. The above example is what is known as the money pack scam which is where the person gets that message and it blocks them from connecting to the internet. The worst part is even if someone does "pay to unlock their computer" it will still be locked.

What To Do If I Have Ransomware Removal Guide

If you suspect that you have a ransomware program then you will need to determine your situation. Can I connect to the internet? Can I use a system restore? Generally your best bet is to try a system restore and if that does not work then you will need to try some other tools.

1. Use the AVG rescue CD. This nice tool is very nice for detecting malware and removing malware that is preventing your computer from starting up. It can be downloaded here. Download from another computer and burn it to a dvd like they show on the site.

2. After you have run the tool and you launch your computer determine the situation. Can you connect to the internet? If so then continue with the steps with the letter A marked. If not then follow the numbers with the letter B attached to it.

3A. So now you can connect to the internet you will need to go to another site and scan your computer for malware I recommend using Hit Man Pro which can be downloaded here.

3B. So you can't connect to the internet which means that you still have malware attached to your computer. So instead of you trying to go into the registry right away lets try to use another tool to remove the malware. I recommend that you try the Kaspersky Rescue Disk to try and remove more malware. You can use a Disk or a USB for this scanner. This disk can be downloaded here.  

4A. After you have removed any remnants of the malware I recommend that you download some sort of antivirus. I have created a guide on securing your computer which you can see here.

4B. Alright now that you have used both of those rescue disks your computer should be able to connect to the computer but lets just say that it does not below I will give you some more tips.

5A. After you have selected your choice of antivirus and firewall then you should be good just remember to not download anything that seems suspicious unless you are in a testing environment.

5B. You can try one last rescue tool and if that does not work we will need to find the files manually. The last tool that I recommend using is the Hitman Pro Kick-start which will scan everything on boot up and remove it. The best thing is that this tool can remove the money pack scam. You can download that here.

6A. You have concluded this part of the removal and protection process.

6B. After all of that you should be able to boot up the computer and log into the internet. After that follow my guide on protecting your computer from malware and you should be safe. That guide can be found here.

**If that does not work still then please try getting a friend to help you remove the files by hand**

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How To Boot Into Safe Mode On Windows 8

While booting into windows 8 might seem to be complicated it is really not and below are the simple ways. I also give all of them in the video above but with clearer steps. Please keep in mind that you should only use safe mode if you can't boot your computer normally or are uninstalling certain software. This mode is very limited and the average user will boot into here and could potentially delete something they should not.

Possible Ways
1. hold down shift while restarting.
2. Press shit (+) F8 after the bios while booting up.
3. Insert Windows 8 Installer Disk
4. Go windows key r. Then type Ms Config and go to boot options and hit safe mode.

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What Is A Keylogger?

A keylogger is another form of malware that is specifically created to steal your passwords for malicious intent. There are a lot of keyloggers, and they are also one of the easiest forms of malware to create and they are very easy to spread. Now they are generally able to hide themselves from your detection, and this is why they are such a threat to you and your security. If you think that you have a keylogger please go to the bottom of this post and use the malware scanners and see if they find it.



In the video above I give you the basic over view of a keylogger and common ways to detect this form of malware. There are a lot of easy ways to prevent key loggers, and you can easily avoid them if you stick to sites that you know are safe, and you don't download any unknown programs. At the bottom of this post I will give you common software that you can use to scan and detect for malware. You can use any of them for free, and they are only a secondary scanner if you are looking for a free antivirus software. Go here to download Ad Aware Free Antivirus +

What Does It Do?

The name really gives it away, but a Keylogger is able to log the keys that you hit and the application that it is used in. They are used for stealing passwords or used to help remember passwords. Now you will be wondering what do you mean "helps remember passwords" this is very simple anyone can create their own keylogger, and they can use it monitor their own passwords so they do not need to rely on the browser or risk the chance of forgetting them.

The worst part about Keyloggers are that they are generally un detectable by the task manager and that makes it very hard to catch them. The longer you can find it the more passwords that the person mining this information has. Now you might be able to configure your firewall or see were the information is being sent but that is a big if and the general users will not be able to find or block the connection.

How To Prevent It

You can prevent this by downloading an antivirus software and by only using trusted website that you know are safe or by using a website scanner. How ever it is hard to tell the difference between safe software and unsafe software. To make it simple don't download any unsafe software and these programs can be usually found if the program is not from a safe or well trusted company.

Scanners

HitmanPro: http://www.surfright.nl/en/hitmanpro/

Panda Active Scan: http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/

Malwarebytes: http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Super AntiSpyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/
Bitdefender Quick Scan: http://quickscan.bitdefender.com/

Norton Power Eraser: http://security.symantec.com/nbrt/npe.aspx

When you use the Norton Power Eraser please be careful so that you don't delete any important files that are necessary for your computer.

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How Often Should I Defragment My System?

The question that I get a lot from my friends and the answer has no real answer and here is why. Every time you use a file it can be misplaced which means that you would need to defragment again, but they will not affect your system in any major way. So I will be discussing my rule of thumb on my own computer and I will give you a good defragmenter that is really fast, free, and optimizes the files so that they are going to speed up your computer faster.

What Does Defragmenting My Hardrive Do?

To put it in simple terms if puts your misplaced files in their correct positions. So they will not affect your documents but the files that you download such as those that are in Google Chrome. Now when it optimizes your files is where it gets kind of complicated, but I will make it simple. Now when your program defragments the files it will detect when they are most used. Now optimization will take the most used files and put them first in the list so to speak. So if I use Google Chrome daily, but I never use League of Legends. Then League of Legends will be put behind it so to speak. Meaning that chrome will load even faster and while League of Legends will load faster it is not a main priority. This will not make League Of Legends load slowly in any way so don't fear optimization embrace it.

How Often Do I Need To Defragment? 

You should defragment your system once a week to a month. The more often it is done the faster it will be, but I recommend once a week if you download a lot of programs like I do. The reason is the more you download without defragmenting the slower your system will get and you don't want to do this. So do it once a week if you download a lot or once a month if you don't do a lot on your computer. Now what I do is I do it daily because my computer can do it in roughly 5 to 10 minutes which is pretty good, but this varies depending on how much I have downloaded that day.

So do it daily, weekly, or monthly any of them and your computer will be running smoother.

What Program Should I Use?

Now many people like to use the default windows program however I like to use other programs that give me more information and they are A LOT faster than the default windows one. So I recommend using Iobit Smart Defrag or their full system speed up tool program Advanced System Care.  Either of these programs will practically do it all by themselves, and they do it faster than any other program I have seen. Not to mention the fact that they automatically give you the files that needed to be defragmented and give a lot of useful information, but that is just something that I like. But these are the programs that I recommend you using for defragmenting your computer.

I HAVE NO AFFILIATION WITH IOBIT I JUST THINK THEY MAKE GREAT PRODUCTS.

Links

http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html
http://www.iobit.com/advancedsystemcareper.php

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How To Speed Up Your PC

As we all know our computer seem to slow down with age and a lot of us are hesitant to go out and buy a new computer. Now I have done another post where I gave you all a program to use that can help you speed up your computer and that article is located here. So today I will be giving you more methods to help speed up your computer that can be used along with the above article. This way you can get the maximum increase to your computer's speed.

Below will be a list of ways to increase your computer's speed in general.

1. Empty your recycle bin. A lot of people think that just because the files are in the recycle bin that they are gone. Well if you empty it your computer can see a speed increase when it comes to loading your desktop at initial launch.
2. Limit the amount of start up programs. I know plenty of people who have 10+ programs starting at launch and what comes to my mind is do you even use them? If you don't use the product or it is not essential put it on a delay or stop it completely. You can turn off a startup program by entering the task manager. You can enter the task manager by using control ALT delete and then go to start up.
3. Don't have too many running programs. If you are playing a game, and you are downloading, and converting a video file then your computer will be slower you need to limit those. Stop playing the game and both the conversion speed and the download speed should increase.
4. Limit the amount of programs on your desktop. This can help with older PCs because of the initial launch of the desktop it is going to have to load all of the images for those programs. You can help by placing those icons into a folder.
5. Have a static background. This just means use 1 image as your background instead of it being a slideshow.
6. Scan for malware. Malware such as viruses can easily slow down your computer and the tools at the bottom of this post can help you speed up your computer and help remove malware.

Free tools to help you with your computer issues.

Here is Malwarebytes which is the most powerful secondary scanner on the market.
http://download.cnet.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html

Here is Iobit's Advanced System Care. The best thing to do here is go to the expert mode at the top and when the options come up click select all and let the program find issues.
http://download.cnet.com/Advanced-SystemCare/3000-2086_4-10407614.html

My previous article which contains more useful tips to speed up your computer.
http://www.thedailyexposition.blogspot.com/2013/01/is-your-computer-running-slow.html
 Ways To Help Speed Up Your Computer

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