running lean

[HH_RitterCuda]

on the Laptop I have like 3 AV's and Spyware/adware running all the time but the New Game machine is ONLY for Il2 , teamspeak, Hyperlobbie, and use IE to DlL up dates. that is it. The question is can I run Naked..... Run only the windows Firewall ?

[gec]

if u connect a "naked" winxp computer to the internet u have 20 minutes max before u'll get infected. that's a proven fact. Also having more than one AV on computer can make you more trouble than benefit. ( was that even in English

[B16Enk]

The Firewall in 2008 is pretty good, unlike the pretender in XP as GEC so rightly says.

Plus you are behind, I assume and you should confirm this, a hardware firewall in router.

That said you used the magic word (or in your case strictly speaking three characters) 'Downloading'.

That means that you are at risk of downloading an infected file, being reliant on the file poster having a clean system.

In my experience an Antivirus solution is not going to tax a system, you can configure most to only scan when writing files as opposed to reading and writing, this will lower the system overhead.

Antivirus is not a guarantee of safety, but it goes a long way towards it.

More than one AV solution is a recipe for a an unresponsive system because they will fight for access rights to scan files.

[DD_Arthur]

RitterCuda, I had the same idea when I built my IL2 only rig last year.

Then the kids started using it, then my wife started using it..............three weeks later I had to reload XP, install AVG and learn my lesson

[DD_Brando]

For some reason I have been incredibly lucky over the years and only had 3 serious infections overall, which runs at about 1 every 4 years.

Getting behind a hardware firewall, as Rog explained, is a big benefit. I would use a router even if I was only running one PC, just for the added security that it brings. A good one (I use a Draytek Vigor 2700G) costs just under a £100.

Select a reliable anti-virus and stick to it. Don't do the panic Googling thing if you suspect an infection - there are many traps and fake AV sites out there which can just get you into more serious trouble.

I've used Avira for the last 12 years and they are top-notch. The free version is excellent - the paid version with extra features is even more so. Real-time protection is included with the free version.

I also use Spywareblaster from Javacool, which is a passive software which blocks access to (currently) 12,148 malicious sites and is regularly updated.

And that's it, except that I avoid products like Internet Exploder, Yahoo, MSN, Outlook Express and all the rest. Mozilla's Firefox browser and Thunderbird E-mail client do everything I need.

I also get real-time protection from my ISP which is Eclipse

All that, and a level of self-restraint with the mouse-clicking(!), seems to do the biz for me.

B

[HH_RitterCuda]

ok I will make the game machine get dressed thanks.

[B16Enk]

+1 on the Alvira

Being an un-employed cheapskate my Kaspersky trial expired, Zone alarm doesn't do 64Bit XP, and there was a 90 day trial of Avira suite on my PC Pro Cover Disk..

So far so good