How to Protect Vista

Ranger SVO · 7th February 2008

In my XP computer I use many different things to protect it. My son just bought a new computer with Vista Home Premium (his way of dealing with a badly infected computer)

Can I use a custom host file like I do with XP?

So far I have installed AVG Free and Spyware Blaster. I would like to see the new computer last longer than a 14 months his old one lasted.

James · 7th February 2008

I'm a great believer in a hardware firewall (i.e. a router) in addition to a software firewall (a two-way firewall blocking both incoming and outgoing programs). They're relatively inexpensive and easy to set up.

Also, I believe you get what you pay for and since free doesn't really pay for much, I'm not convinced you receive much in return. For anti-spyware in my opinion the best is CounterSpy from Sunbelt. It's not expensive and it will provide you with a great spyware program to keep things safe.

**mailman** · 7th February 2008

Hi, Ranger.

While Sunbelt's CounterSpy is reputable, my opinions (and perhaps yours) differ from James'. A single application may be sufficient for someone such as James (who might actively avoid the "dark side" of the Internet). Your son's level of protection might need to be different (depending on his habits and level of computer experience).

I believe one can attain pretty good protection from using multiple free (and reputable) anti-malware applications as long as they do not conflict with each other, with the OS, or with other 3rd party software. I also believe having more than one anti-malware application might be prudent. They're also handy for investigating possible "false positives."

Your son should not have two anti-virus apps running memory-resident protection at the same time. Likewise for anti-spyware apps. Only one software firewall should be installed and running. I expect your son can gain good firewall protection from a reputable free firewall (if one is available for Vista). If your son uses a 3rd party software firewall app, then I expect he would need to disable Vista's built-in firewall.

I am not intimately familiar with which reputable free anti-malware applications are Vista compatible. Perhaps other people will chime in.

Spybot - Search & Destroy (free) is apparently compatible with Vista.
Spybot includes a memory-resident component called "TeaTimer" which can be disabled if necessary (at least in Windows XP).

Ad-Aware 2007 Free is also apparently compatible with Vista (32-bit).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ranger SVO

Can I use a custom host file like I do with XP?

MVPS.org: Updating the HOSTS file in Windows Vista

**TeMerc** · 7th February 2008

This is what I found on Vista and its hosts file from MVPS HOSTS

Quote:

Due to the restrictions imposed by UAC (Users Access Control) users are prohibited from running any batch files, so the included installer "mvps.bat" does not work unless you turn off or modify UAC (not recommended).

However I have come up with a fairly simple solution ... using the power of SendTo.
[or]
You can Update the HOSTS file via "Elevated" Command Prompt

**Dennis L** · 7th February 2008

Part of the "Protection" regime should include image backups. Multiple archived images stored on internal and external drives provides the highest level of protection. This protection defeats the "World of Nasty", smooths over hardware blowouts, and the most difficult culprit, human rodents we loving call our children.