shazzam, everybody's complaining about problems with the site tonight. Another post is mentioning something about black screens. Hmmm.
I don't seem to suffer any of this. My settings are as follows and as a general rule of thumb, I like to be in control of my computer, by allowing
only limited access by adds, etc. when surfing:
I use Firefox period. No IE. IE is horrendous for not stopping intrusive add content, pop ups (even with the new IE popup blocker). Adds are ok.
Thats how companies make the net work, but they are not ok when your computer speeds and ease of browsing is affected. Without proper controls, you
can have spyware on your system in less than a minute no matter where you browse.
I use Ad-Aware and Spybot Search and Destroy at least a few times a week. Both are free spybot removal software programs.
I also have a bunch of other specialty protection programs, From DiamondCS.com.au.
You should only allow cookies for the site being visited. Turn others off.
Clear your caches every time you turn your browser off. I am so paranoid about it that I not only clear my cache, I also use a specialty erase
program to clean out all the internet based logs, files, etc. Usually, I will pick up 40 to 80 files that all store specialty information, tags etc.
that don't help you but help someone who is mining for data. Get rid of them.
Just for kicks, go up to sysinternals freeware and download the rootkitrevealer freebie. It won't do anything to your computer but will inform you
of out of spec root level files (you cannot see them even with hidden files turned on) that don't match standard windows file profiles. This would
be an indicator of a root level file that has been changed and may be being used as a trojan or hacker access. Be careful what you do with the
information. Recommended for those who know how to not screw up the system files. But it will tell you at least if you have a problem.
Run Defrag once a month.
Lets see, . . . what else . . . hmmm.... be sure you are running a lightweight antivirus like ESET's NOD32 or something like that. Get rid of
Symantec and MacAffee. Both those are too intrusive for my taste.
Make sure firewall is on.
Make sure you are careful about Windows updating. Not all are good. I found for example that one recent one will lock up purchased DVD movies after
a couple of views. But in general, make sure you keep it all up to date re MS UPDATES.
Keeping a clean system takes time and effort, but if you don't do it your machine will be toast sooner rather than later.
md
[edit on 3/1/06 by dogberts not]
[edit on 3/1/06 by dogberts not]