New Computer...want to keep it safe

[BizKit123]

I just built my first computer and powered it up, but before i hook it up to the internet what do you guys suggest i use to keep my computer at optimal performance for a good amount of time? I currently have XP service pack 2/ with nvidia active armor. My mobo cd came with norton 2005 should i put that in? I heard it sucks too much cpu and ram.

[towert7]

I do not know how much CPU usage norton 2005 would take up on your CPU when doing a full system scan, but it remains to be one of the best antivirus applications for the general public.

A firewall is a must. There are many free firewalls out there, but i recommend looking at ISS BlackIce. Its a very simple, yet powerful firewall from my experience... and of course you can also use the built in firewall with SP2. Heck, you might even get a 20-30$ "upgrade" mail in rebate if you can provide proof of ownership of the norton 2005 software.

And of course a spyware removal tool, such as adaware6, or something that i would recommend, Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta1. You can download it directly from microsoft.com for free, and it seems to be a very good program.

Other then that, as for a internet browser, something like FireFox should work good, eaither that or use Internet Explorer 6 if you secure it correctly... and when i say secure it, i mean disable activeX, active scripting, no download to desktop, no paste operations, no iFrame, ... etc.
I use IE for daily internet browsing, with it being on a custom security level, and if there is a website that requires more advanced features, i eaither add it to my "trusted sites" list, or just browse it on Firebird.

As for e-mail, if your program has an option to not display HTML content, and not automatically download images, that is also a plus. The program might even have rules you can set up on how to handle certain types of content. I myself use Thunderbird, a great program for free!

That's really all it takes... and avoding "bad" websites is always a plus.

~Hope this helps.

[Scheizekopf]

Get a router.

Run AVG or Avast Antivirus software. Both are Free.