Matt Van Stone

It’s simple… because I know how to use my computer. OH SNAP!!!!!

But seriously… I don’t need any kind of Adaware, Spybot, anti-spyware software because I follow a few simple rules. These rules are as follows:

1. I do NOT use Internet Explorer, I use Mozilla or Firefox. There are only three exceptions to this rule. One is when I press the mail icon on MSN Messenger it opens in IE because that’s the way Microsoft rolls. The second is when doing Microsoft Updates. You can do them in Firefox, but its no big deal to use IE for this. The last time is if there is no possible way the page will load properly in Mozilla (or Firefox depending or your preference). Some pages are like that if they are poorly written (using IE-proprietary non-standard markup).

   I bet 50% of spyware comes from just using Internet Explorer. If you are ever asked “do you want to trust site X, YES or NO” if you say YES you are giving that site the ability to install or run software (or spyware) on your computer. Sometimes this is a good thing, like if you are giving Adobe the OK to install Flash player in your browser. It is usually a bad thing if you visit a site that you aren’t expecting to install software.

2. I do not install fancy browser toolbars. Chances are if you are using Firefox, Mozilla or Opera as a browser in the first place it has every pop-up blocking Google searching feature a toolbar would ever be able to offer. Do yourself a favor, don’t install any IE toolbars, just go download Firefox. It looks cooler and works and protects you better. And if it makes you feel better, download Firefox from Google with the Google toolbar pre-installed.
3. I don’t install cool screensavers, desktop wallpaper rotating applications, free games, or pretty much anything that offers free fun!! It may not cost you money, but it will cost you the speed of your computer.

   If a company doesn’t charge money to use it’s software sometimes they embed spyware into it so they can sell the information it collects (usually about people’s web browsing or computer use habits). In a lot of cases a company will create a piece of software and market it as free. The software is actually used as a front to get spyware on your workstation. Usually the company will tell you this, but most often it is buried in the terms of use agreement where you will never find it.

4. I always choose CUSTOM options over TYPICAL when installing a program. If you choose custom you can just click next, next, next, finish because most of the time the default settings will be the same as typical. If you choose custom you may catch it saying something like “would you like us to install spyware app x on your computer”. If you chose typical, you would never see that.

   Here’s a basic rule, if you have to pay for a program it probably won’t have spyware in it. If a program is open source and free it is probably also spyware free. If a program is commercial but free, you can probably find out if it contains spyware by doing a search on Google like “program-name-here spyware”. If you get some hits that sound like it contains spyware, don’t install it.

As for firewall programs, they aren’t worth it. Do yourself a favor and buy a small 4 port router if you don’t have one. You should NEVER plug your Internet connection from your cable/DSL modem right into your computer. That pretty much opens you up to every Microsoft bug out there. Spend $49 on a router and put it between your modem and your computer. That combined with the software firewall that is integrated into XP, you’ll have nothing to worry about.

By following these steps not only will you preserve the performance of your XP installation, you will also be a lot cooler. You wont have a computer that’s bogged down with spyware or with anti-spyware apps or firewalls.