Computer newbies forum: Reformatting and Internet security advise

1.) Reformatting erases all data, though it may still be recoverable using special software.

2.) Windows XP w/ SP2 is the latest version available on CD. There's no need to purchase anything, just download the latest updates after installation. The time varies based on your internet connection, but here it takes about an hour.

3.) ZoneAlarm is an excellent free firewall and a better alternative than the Windows firewall.

Hope this helps,
John

Is Comodo Firewall Pro. I used Zone Alarm for years with no problems, I just like Comodo better. It's a matter of personal choice.

John Wilkerson's post is 110% true, so I'm not contending it, merely adding:

I'd ditch Norton, in exchange for the following software:

AVG Free
http://free.grisoft.com (free updates, basic virus scanning, works great, very small memory image too)

CCleaner
http://www.ccleaner.com/ (replaces extended functionality of Norton, such as cache cleaning and registry fixing)

ZoneAlarm or similar, unless you have a router, in which case you can just disable UPnP and should be more or less fine (disable WAN-side ping while you're at it).

Also I would suggest, for keeping the system clean, some (or all) of the following software:


Opera 9.x internet browser (Firefox has become so mainstream that it has nearly the same number of exploits as IE, so its lost that security over IE, Opera only has about 7% market share, so security exploits more or less don't exist)
www.opera.com

Spybot Search & Destroy (anti-spyware/worm/trojan software, excellent, also includes protection plug-ins for Opera and IE (pretty sure it has Firefox as well), just DONT enable the Registry Watch (or w/e its called) that asks every time the registry is changed (it'll eventually A) drive you insane B) cause more problems than it solves))
http://www.safer-networking.org/
-or-

Windows Defender (which is kind of a half'n'half combo of Spybot and CCleaner, gets the job done, but I'd prefer Spybot and CCleaner to Windows Defender, all three are free as well)
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

and a few other clients for things:

If you use Instant Messaging (or anyone that uses the system does) ditch the vendor client (AIM, Y!, etc) and go for Pidgin IM, which removes ads (and therefore connection to marketing (read: spyware))
www.pidgin.im

If you want office software, choose from Microsoft Office, Corel Office, OpenOffice, or Sun Star Office, all are good choices, OpenOffice is free to all, Star Office is free (or highly reduced) to educational use, and Microsoft/Corel are commerically available

http://www.openoffice.org
http://www.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/index.jsp
http://office.microsoft.com
http://www.corel.com

I'd ditch any P2P client you have, as P2P opens the computer up to loads of spyware, adware, and worms, which makes it bad (and then add the whole legal grey area part on top of that...generally its a bad idea).

Service Pack 2 is available from Microsoft, although I would suggest downloading the direct package instead of using Windows Updater (so much easier to do it this way).
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=049C9DBE-3B8E-4F30-8245-9E368D3CDB5A&displaylang=en