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Best way to nerf the Internet?

H

HeaterCore

Senior member
My grandfather's 6-month-old PC is so ridden with spyware/malware/you-name-it that his screen resolution randomly changes. A Spybot scan turned up a veritable "who's who" of applications whose creators are going to hell. He's fascinated by this whole internet thing, but fascinated the way a child might be fascinated with power tools -- his interest isn't matched by any idea of how to handle it.

Now I can clean the system, or at worst reinstall WinXP for him, but I obviously can't look over his shoulder all the time. Worse, he's not quite -- at all -- up to to effectively managing a firewall, antivirus, or spyware solution. (To put it another way, he occasionally loses his desktop icons.) I can't just install Zonealarm and AVG and be done with it, because he won't be able to keep either up to date.

Is there some way to totally nerf the internet? Based on their annoying commercials, I'm thinking something along the lines of AOL for broadband. Anyone know how easy those packages are to maintain? Any other ideas?

-hc-
 
It sounds like you are local so I would say:

NOD32 (not free but seems pretty good)
ZoneAlarm (if on dialup, if broadband behind router use WinXP firewall)
Limited User account (icing on the cake)
 
Above suggestions are good. Just get some real-time scanners (agressive firewall, plus some sort of active spyware might be good) updated and setup, and he should be fine for quite a few months. I don't really see a huge need for them to be very up-to-date. Properly configured and updated right now they are still extrememly useful.

Also, no mention of Firefox? That and limited user are vital... I can't see having any problems with all of that stuff. Plus a large HOSTS file like the one from mvps.org might be useful.


Or... get him a Mac!! If they weren't so expensive, this would be the easiest solution.
 
Get the Microsoft Anti-Spyware Beta. It's good, free, updates itself, does scheduled scans, and also looks at changes happening to the system in realtime. The only potential downside to MS Anti-Spyware is that it's supposed to come out of beta soon and it will be a retail product, therefore it eventually will stop updating itself and stop getting new spyware definitions.

I second what the poster above me said, get him to use Firefox. That will nerf a lot of spyware right there.
 
Also try spybot 1.4 - install TeaTimer and use the Immunize option.

Firefox is key. Make IE go away. It's more like Internet Lint Brush - attracts all the crud out there.

AVG Free is a good free for personal use anti-virus. Zone Alarm is mixed; it sucks, but everything else out there seems to suck worse or go away / go non-free. AVG auto-updates and that works okay. Zone Alarm does not auto update but even an out of date version delivers decent protection.
 
I suggested IE on a User accout because it properly renders pages and doesn't execute code. Where as Firefox doesn't render pages correctly.
 
What are you talking about? the only pages firefox doesn't render correctly are those that were poorly written.
 
Originally posted by: PorBleemo
I suggested IE on a User accout because it properly renders pages and doesn't execute code. Where as Firefox doesn't render pages correctly.
Click to expand...

Really? I can get your IE to execute any code I want (gaping security hole), and what pages does FF fail to render?
 
In my understanding, firefox needs extentions in order to render all pages. IE does so out of the box. A secure IE would be ideal for a novice user.

Limited user account would be a very, very good idea in this case.
 
A User account would be good, but I'm not so sure that's a great idea either. What if he wants to install some legitimate software like TaxCut or Quickbooks or something? The installer probably won't work properly in a User context.

Firefox is fine 95% of the time, in my experience. Just make sure you install Quicktime and the Macromedia Flash and Shockwave plug-ins after installing Firefox.
 
the pain rendered potentally installing a single program a year is negated by the mountian of advantages to a limited account and the inability for malicious software to ruin the system.

tbh, what I did with my brother in law (had a craptastic older system) was install linux with XFCE4, firefox, and evolution. They marvel at how fast everything is now, and I can have them dial up, and I'll ssh in to do updates every couple months (or I'll do it when I visit). The browse the web, check email, and that's it, good sweet spot for Linux imho.
 
Firefox is a given, I'll set him up with that. How limited is a limited user account on WinXP? Will it allow, say, Zonealarm upgrades? Installing FF plugins?

-hc-
 
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